An essay is a piece of reflection- can be literary critique, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, personal recollections, etc. Essay competitions at school help harness the energy and creativity of the young in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development.
Recently, our School, in collaboration with Girton College, Cambridge University hosted a second essay writing competition, the last one having been held in 2008. The occasion had an overwhelming participation of 50 schools of both Delhi and across the country.
[gallery link="file" columns="2"]The competition was held on our School premise on the evening of 22 August, 2017. One student from each participant school was enrolled to write the essay on a topic of his/ her choice from the list of topics circulated to participants 3 weeks before the competition.
The topics for the essays were Lost Childhood in Syria; The Origin of Inequality - Rousseau; My Family and Other Animals Gerald Durrell; India at the Crossroads of a Civilisational Debate; and Peace is the absence of War.
The participants were given 3 hours to write from 4-7 pm, after which dinner was served and those present got a chance to meet and mingle. Some of the prominent schools that participated in the event were Sri Ram School, Vasant Valley School, Springdales School, Modern School( both branches), Delhi Public School ( 3 branches), Sanskriti School, St. Columba's School etc. Some outstation schools that participated were Mayo College Girls School (Ajmer), B. K. Birla Centre of Education (Pune), Singapore International (Mumbai), DAV Public School (Hazaribagh), Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls Public School (Jaipur), Sherwood College (Nainital), Birla Vidya Mandir (Nainital) etc.
The judges for the essays were 7 accomplished individuals from diverse backgrounds and achievements. These included Ms. Shernaz Cama, faculty at LSR, Mr. ManashGohain, Senior Assistant Editor-the Times of India; Ms. SyedabBilgrami Imam, acknowledged writer and activist and Professor Ashwini Kanta Ray, former HOD at JNU.
These judges evaluated the 50 essays submitted and shortlisted the top 15 to be sent to Girton College at Cambridge where the 3 top ones are to be named. The results will be declared by end October 2017, accompanied by cash prizes of Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 awarded to the candidates securing first, second and third positions respectively.
The event was a great success. It successfully achieved its objective of engaging school students to stretch themselves intellectually with research, assimilation and impressive expression.
A wave of enthusiasm and animated exchanges amongst the young participants over dinner exhibited a bonhomie built of a shared exercise of unusual exploration.
Ms.Simi Robertson.
In the Press
Admissions
