Young writers bring pride

DR RAMCHAND RAMPERSAD

THE VALUE of literary skills and the creation of good writers should never be undervalued as they are representative of progressive nations. Today, I congratulate the Ministry of Education on successfully executing a project which started several months ago, involving primary and secondary schools throughout the nation.

The project would have demanded tremendous effort from different stakeholders, requiring several stages of planning, judging and selection. The outcome, a prize-giving function for the top students of the ministry’s essay writing competition, entitled “Celebrating 60”, which I had the privilege of attending.

I am sure this letter will disappoint many because readers usually seek articles that comply with the four Cs: contemporary, critical, contentious and controversial. In our culture, these are the narrative rhetoric that serve a writer’s objective of catching the readers’ attention and invoking a literary tone that keeps their interest.

A quick scroll through the popular social media handles – Facebook, YouTube, TikTok – reveals that such bacchanal-laden posts would receive much more likes, views, comments and thumbs-up than, say, words of positivity, a daily prayer, or a random act of kindness. Similarly, newspaper headlines hit the jackpot and talk show hosts ascend to popularity when they tackle cantankerous issues.

There are a few hot issues I could choose to write about: the Tobago love affair, the allegations of top-ranking officials’ involvement in human trafficking, or UWI staff withholding students’ grades due to unsettled wage negotiations.

Nonetheless, I believe that praise should be extended when it is due and today, none of those contentious matters tickles my writing fancy. Rather, my thoughts are loaded with the positive vibes I received from attending a function on March 3, hosted by the Ministry of Education: the prize-giving ceremony of the 60th Independence Anniversary Essay Competition for primary and secondary schools, which took place during 2022.

The invitees were based solely on merit of their relationship to the awardees. The function, though intentionally small in numbers, was well-organised and had tremendous positive impact on the successful students, their parents, teachers, peers and schools.

I must admit that although this competition was held sometime last year, I had no clue of my son’s (Saiesh) involvement, until a few days before the award ceremony. Saiesh forwarded a letter to me that came from the ministry via his school. It extended congratulations, informing us that he won the second prize in the Forms 4-6 category.

Now, some of you, in your usual cantankerous manner, may be inclined to conclude that I am using this space to highlight my son and to boast of his achievement. I would have to proudly admit that you are correct, and add that if you follow his accomplishments, you will understand that he is no stranger to success.

In the same breadth, I would also like to “big-up” his school, Presentation College, Chaguanas, for the guidance provided in preparing for this competition. Ironically, to my understanding, students were given this essay assignment as a mid-term test, unaware that it would have been used to represent the school in the national competition.

The importance of the event was stamped with the presence of two government ministers. Camille Robinson-Regis was introduced as the one who initiated the project, although she is the Minister of Housing and Urban Development. In delivering the feature address, she urged students to continue to strive to become great writers.

Lisa Morris-Julian, Minister in the Ministry of Education, in her address, playfully remarked that if she had the writing skills of the winning students, she would have opted for a career as an author rather than a politician.

Indeed, the programme took a celebrative tone as the ministers presented prizes of cheques, gift vouchers and certificates to the winners.

However, the most noticeable positive impact was the two ministers’ casual interactions with the students as they patiently took pictures with them, their teachers and parents. Even though Robinson-Regis announced that she had to attend Parliament at 1 pm, she displayed no sense of urgency to leave.

Forgivably, one would understand her reluctancy to leave to attend a somewhat less-celebratory parliamentary proceedings. The youngest winner, perhaps nine years old, requested that Robinson-Regis express to the prime minister how happy and proud she was to be part of the event. The minister willingly obliged to do so at 1 pm later that day.

If the ministry persists with these initiatives, it will create the human capital required for our nation’s progress. To this end, I do believe that all the winners deserve hearty congratulations as they represent a ray of hope for our country. As Dr Peter Smith, CEO of the ministry, aptly put it: May the force of writing continue to be with you.