Students urged to enter Royal Commonwealth Society's essay competition

Students across Barbados and the wider Commonwealth are invited to test their literary prowess by entering the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2018. 

The call came from Brenda Pope, Chair of the Education Subcommittee of the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) Barbados Branch. She was speaking at a ceremony held yesterday to award the 2017 RCS Essay Competition prize winners, at the residence of the British High Commissioner, Her Excellency Janet Douglas, at Ben Mar, Erdiston Road, St. Michael.

 “Go back to your schools and encourage your English or Language Arts teachers to set the topics as writing assignments sometime over the course of the next four months. Help the students to research and write their best pieces and then coming out of that, you can then make the submissions as part of your regular curriculum,” she suggested to school principals present.
 
Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones, who would later make the presentation of certificates to the four local prize winners, also endorsed the contest.

“I am pleased to see that you continue across the Royal Commonwealth Society, to bring the young people of the world, essay competitions,” he declared.

He however called for more creative writers to add to the mix of musical talent that he said already abounds in local educational institutions.
 
The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition was founded by The Royal Commonwealth Society in 1883 and is the world’s oldest international schools’ writing contest. There were over 12 300 entries to the competition in 2017 from 44 countries and over 600 schools across the Commonwealth. The highly prestigious competition aims to challenge young people’s thinking and the means by which they can express their views, using creative forms of writing such as essays, poems, stories or scripts. 
 
There were four winners from Barbados for 2017. In the Senior Category (14-18 years), Guyza Mayers of Combermere and Aisha Waterman of Harrison College emerged as winners.
 
In the Junior Category (under 14 years), Kya Knight of Deighton Griffith Secondary School and Daniela Lascurain of  St. Winifred’s emerged as the winners.
 
Kya Knight, was however declared the overall winner, having been determined to have had the best local entry. She won a special prize from the partner firm KPMG and $500 for her school.
 
Building upon the 2017 theme of ‘A Commonwealth for Peace’, this year’s theme ‘Towards a Common Future’ and its topics ask young writers to explore how the Commonwealth can address global challenges and work to create a better future for all citizens, through sub-themes of sustainability, safety, prosperity and fairness, in line with the theme of the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.
 
It is open to all citizens and residents of the Commonwealth aged 18 and under. The deadline for entries is June 1, 2018. (RSM)