By Sabina Elago
WINDHOEK-Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol)’s learners have until July 28 to register for the annual Essay Writing Competition for Grade 10s and 12s.
Uajoroka Kazombiaze, Namcol’s Distance Education Coordinator, and the competition organiser, says the competition has been running for six years now and it is only meant for Namcol’s Grades 10s and 12s learners who have registered for English, Afrikaans, Otjiherero, Oshindonga, Oshikwanya, Rukwangali and Silozi 1st and 2nd languages, as well as learners who have registered for the Grade 12 English Communication Course. “We want encourage learners to also use their mother tongue in this competition,” says Kazombiaze.
The competition is the institution’s ways of getting learners improve their language skills. “We want Namcol learners to improve their writing skills, explore the various languages and be able to manipulate sentence structures, organise ideas and arguments and to improve their language proficiency,” says Kazombiaze adding that note should be taken that not all learners partake in the competition but that “we would like to believe that the Essay Writing Competition plays a role in the improvement of the learners’ performance in the languages of those few who take part.”
Among the topics learners can write about are, “The media should be controlled by the government” an Argumentative essay; “A World without laws” an Descriptive essay, and “Participating in team sports helps to develop good character and employment to immigrants” an Expository Essay and “Life is unpredictable,” a narrative essay. “Learners are expected to write good strong essays with original creative spark, instructions executed, information correctly interpreted, with creative use of vocabulary, idioms, grammar, spelling and interesting paragraph, as that is what the judges are looking for in a winning essay,” urges Kazombiaze.
The competition has two categories, the Junior Secondary for Grade 10s and senior secondary for Grade 12s and there will be three winners from the four regions, the Southern, Northern Central and Northern East regions.
For the Grade 10s the essay must be 350 to 400 words and for the Grade 12s 450 to 500 words. Interest from learners taking part in the competition has been varying depending on the marketing strategies, sufficient support and motivation learners receive from head of centre’s and tutors at their centers’ respectively, “so we encourage all learners to take part,” encourages Kazombiaze.
The winning essay will win a cash prize of N$1500, second N$ 800, third N$ 500 and the overall prize of N$3000, meaning the best of the four first prize winners from the four regions. The essays will be placed in newspapers for the young people in the public to learn from them how to argue or write speeches in an organised consistent manner. Judges are qualified language teachers and experts, assures Kazombiaze.