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Chief
judge Dr Anna Mahase chats with the Trinidad Publishing
Company’s managing director Grenfell Kissoon and Guardian
general manager Ingrid Isaac .
Michael
Phillips poses with Jonathan Barcant of St Mary’s College,
the second place winner, and Nolana Lynch of Holy Faith
Convent, the third place winner.
BY
JOANNE BRIGGS
A plea has been made for a more co-operative effort to improve
children’s writing skills.
The call has come from chief judge of the Guardian in Education
essay competition, Anna Mahase, who says she would love
to see more people grasp the English language.
“But
it can only happen if there is help. (Better English) is
not a means to an end but an end itself,” she told
teachers and the writers of the 24 most outstanding essays
in the competition. She spoke at the prize-giving ceremony
in the Audio Visual Room of the National Library, Port-of-Spain
on Tuesday.
“There
is no excuse for poor written expression... It is high time
we pay some real attention to the business of writing,”
Mahase said.
She said while children could tap into the global village
through the Internet, that technology could not replace
the special chemistry which exists between a truly committed
teacher and his or her student.
“Writing
is a skill. Writing needs to become an easy habit—not
something performed only for a purpose like homework or
an essay competition. Otherwise we will have even more people
with their A-Levels and their university degrees, whose
writing is faulty and in some cases a downright embarrassment,”
Mahase said.
The former principal of St Augustine Girls’ High School,
Mahase also suggested that some classes be devoted purely
to the business of writing.
“Students
can do research into grammar,
writing devices and style,” she said.
The contest was won by Chad John, an inmate of the Youth
Training Centre. He won a scholarship assistance prize worth
$8,000, plus a computer and printer. The YTC received $4,000.
John was not present to accept the prize but a YTC representative
collected it on his behalf.
In his essay, John spoke about his anguish at being incarcerated
and the desire to do better.
John said Olympic medallist Ato Boldon inspired him to become
a better person.
“Ato’s
life story challenged me to become instrospective. I subsequently
came to the realisation that if I were to achieve my dreams,
I needed to change how I see myself,” John wrote.
Second place went to Jonathan Barcant of St Mary’s
College. He won $5,000 and $3,000 went to his school.
In her comments, Mahase praised Barcant for his fluid expression
and smooth handling of standard English.
Barcant was surprised by his achievement, since his focus
at school is mathematics, further maths and physics.
He also praised John for winning the contest, which required
students to write essays based on inspirational talks conducted
by champion cyclist Michael Phillips, former Miss Universe
Wendy Fitzwilliam and Boldon.
“Chad’s
essay was top quality,” he said.
Barcant said he was also inspired by Boldon’s achievements,
but he was in awe of his sense of spirituality and determination
to overcome the odds.
Boldon’s “sense of control over the disappointment
of failure touched me and has since left me criticising
and correcting myself when I am ungrateful and inconsiderate,”
Barcant said.
Third place went to Nolana Lynch of Holy Faith Convent,
Couva. She received a $5,000 scholarship assistance prize
and her school received $3,000.
Lynch left T&T when she was 13 to live in Botswana with
her parents, who were in pursuit of “a new experience.”
She returned to T&T at 17 and says she was very appreciative
of the free education provided here, in contrast to Botswana,
where education is also free, but most youths do not access
it, she said.
“Secular
education is merely seen as an option, and hence most parents
opt to keep their children at home,” she noted in her
essay.
The Guardian in Education school essay project was sponsored
by RBTT, British Gas, Guardian Holdings, the National Gas
Company and Yara.
Phillips
tells youths: Take stock of yourselves
Former
national cyclist Michael Phillips has made another call
for the youth to put a value system to their names and not
in material things.
Relating a fight at this year’s Southern Games, Phillips
said one of the men being dragged away by police shouted
in defence, “he mashed my Clarks (a pair of high-priced
shoes).”
“Too
many people earn money and depend on making their fortune
on keeping people ignorant,” Phillips said at the prize-giving
ceremony for participants of the Guardian in Education essay
contest on Tuesday.
Phillips’ memory of the fight was triggered by Monday’s
fatal shooting of a man in Guaico, after he intervened in
a heated row between his two sons over a pair of sneakers.
“We
have to take stock of ourselves. What are the consequences
of what we are doing?” Phillips asked.
“It
is a clear indication that people need to validate who they
are,” he answered
One way to do so is through community service, he advised.
He also challenged businesses—firstly to contest sponsors
Guardian Life, Yara, RBTT, British Gas and the National
Gas Company—to make community service a prerequiste
for prospective employees.
“We
take it for granted that doing something means writing a
cheque. Who is doing something for these people?” he
asked.
“Somebody
needs to make that move,” he urged.
Phillips also called on the population to take care of themselves
properly.
“Why
make other people millionaires and not take care of yourself?”
he asked. “Nobody owes you anything, so getting ‘no’
is not a crushing disappointment,” Phillips said.
A
student of Bishop Anstey High School reads the Guardian
before the start of the ceremony.
The
top 24 participants in the Guardian in Education contest
pose with guest speaker Michael Phillips during the prize-giving
ceremony.
Photos: Karla Ramoo
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