SADC SECONDARY SCHOOL ESSAY COMPETITION 2023

admin April 21, 2023

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SADC Secondary School Essay Competition 2023

DEADLINE: 31 May 2023

SADC Secondary School Essay Competition 2023

1. ELIGIBILITY

All secondary school going students from all 16 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States are welcome to participate in the Competition.

2. TOPIC

The topic for the 2023 SADC Secondary School Essay competition is; “How can SADC promote Industrialisation for inclusive, resilient and sustainable economic growth?”.

The topic is derived from the theme of the 42nd Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa on 17th August 2022, which is; “Promoting industrialisation through, agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth”.

The Summit theme seeks to accelerate the implementation of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan

(RISDP) 2020–2030, in particular, the Industrialisation and Market Integration pillar.

3. INSTRUCTIONS

To this end, the SADC Secretariat is calling for submissions of essay entries from active Secondary school going learners. The wording of the think piece and content should aim at addressing the topic and at the same time promoting the SADC’s Objectives and Common Agenda.

All entries should be typed and submitted in electronic version in Microsoft Word document format, and in hard copies. Entrants should sign and initialise each page of the hard copy document to make sure that they have not been altered. All essays entering the competition should be in one of the SADC working languages, i.e. English, Portuguese and French. All submissions must be accompanied with a SADC Secondary School Essay Competition Entry Form which should contain full contact details of the entrant, including, passport-sized photograph, physical address, telephone, fax number and email address; and contact details of the entrant’s parent or guardian.

Note: The essay should be 1000 and not shorter than 900 words. The deadline for submission of entries to the Secretariat is 31st May 2023. Essays are coordinated by the Ministries of Education in all respective SADC Member States and will set out a date for submission of entries to their offices. It is the responsibility of Government officials in SADC Member States to submit the top 3 essays to SADC Secretariat for adjudication at regional level. Learners should liaise with their School Heads to submit their entries to the Ministries of Education in their respective SADC Member States. The Secretariat will not accept entries from individuals and as such those entries will be disregarded and disqualified.

4. MARKING GUIDELINES

The set of questions below are meant to guide entrants when responding to the question above. In answering the question above, secondary school learners should ensure that they address the questions listed below in their essays;

Explain in your own words what industrialisation is and how it relates to economic development. (10 points)

The SADC region is committed to continuing implementation of its activities and programmes, especially those that promote industrialisation, because they are essential to the region’s long-term socio-economic success. Provide five specific examples, explain their significance, and discuss how they have contributed to the region’s development. (20 points)

What are the focus areas in which you think the SADC region should intervene to maximize the execution of industrialisation-based projects, and what are the barriers that are impeding industrialisation and access to many markets within the area? (20 points)

The SADC Industrialisation Strategy (2015-2063) and Roadmap seeks to encourage economic and technological transformation in the Region, with an emphasis on initiatives to build regional value chains. Discuss some of the priority areas for regional value chains development in the SADC region and offer examples where required. (25 points)

It is an effort by the SADC region to create sustainable economic growth that benefits everyone and can withstand challenges. In what ways have other sectors contributed to augment industrialisation, and what specific examples can you provide? (25 points)

Judging criteria are as follows:

Uniqueness – unique in its genre or create something entirely new, exciting, original material that stands out from the pack.

Creativity – Creation of new dimension, twist to a style of writing and great new spin.

Communication – Communicating positive message of the region, with brilliance, creativity and imagination in use of words.

The brief – The essay type, subject and content focus, word limit and any other set requirements, conformity to the guidelines.

Knowledge and understanding – Assessing how well one has understood the question and how much they know and articulate the subject matter, and see breadth and depth of knowledge.

Argument and critical thinking – To get the good grades, this is an area to give attention to convincing the reader of your argument, and how one uses information to tell the story or make your point.

Use of sources – These examine all types and range of sources used in the construction of your essay to demonstrate analysis beyond any core texts to include current, respectable works, and maybe even discuss controversial ones.

Style and presentation – This is how one manages to package substance and content, e.g. such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence construction, etc.

Note: The essay should not depict violence, sexually explicit language, or substance abuse, profanity by substituting symbols or words, and should be overly sensitive on matters of race, culture, tribe, religion and freedom of association.

Competition rules and guidelines

The entrants’ work should not have been published/broadcast by a registered and/or authorized broadcast company, newspaper, blogs, radio station, television station or agency or carried on an online of a registered and/or authorized agency in any of the SADC Member States.

The competition will only accept one (1) submission per writer and is open to all registered Secondary School active learners.

All writers/candidates who are SADC nationals may enter the competition, except those in institutions contracted by SADC, family members/ children of SADC Secretariat staff, subsidiaries of SADC and the SADC Secretariat staff.

All essays entering the competition should be in one of the SADC working languages, i.e. English, Portuguese and French. However, the writer can use some inserts in any national indigenous language of the SADC Region, but provide translation in the glossary. Learners are also encouraged to reference their work where necessary.

The tone/composition of the essay must be reflective of the SADC region; and relate to the people and culture of inhabitants of the region.

Entries will be initially screened and judged by the Ministries of Education in all respective SADC Member States and consequently submit the top 3 essays per each Member State to SADC Secretariat for adjudication at regional level and selection of the top three (3) overall winners.

Entry through adjudication by the three (3) selected SADC panelists/judges, and the decision of the Secretariat shall be final.

The Secretariat reserves the right not to award a prize in any of the essay if the entries do not satisfactorily meet the competition requirements.

Observations from the previous competitions

Students are encouraged to use available information to write well-structured and coherent entries.

Avoid cut and paste of information from research materials and Internet.

Do not use bullet points and short paragraphs with sub-headings throughout the essay rather write a narrative.

Show logic and coherence to indicate that the learner was thinking and linking their ideas in a way which demonstrates understanding of the topic.

In some instances it appeared that some learners are being assisted in writing their materials and it was apparent that the writing was not authentic. Learners are advised to present their own work.

Some learners only concentrated on their countries or neighbouring countries, therefore learners are encouraged to broaden their scope and cover the region.

Essay should have introduction, body and conclusion and this makes style of writing ideal and easy to follow.

Proofreading is key in producing good work, and learners should take care of errors, grammas and punctuations.

Marking Criteria

In marking the essays, adjudicators expected participants to demonstrate clear understanding and complete analysis of the topic, showing originality of ideas and expression and an awareness of expected length of the discussion, scope, and audience. Even though there was no mark allocated to accuracy of language, per se, Adjudicators still expect participants to write essays which showed clear organisational and logical structure, and demonstrating mechanical accuracy of the language.

Winner and Prize

The winning entry will receive a once off prize money which will cover the outright payment of the Intellectual Property Rights of the essay. The monetary prize will be accompanied by a certificate signed by the SADC Chairperson.

The prizes at regional level are as follows; 1st prize = USD1500; 2rd Prize = USD1000 3rd Prize = USD750

the top 10 winners will all receive certificates signed by the SADC Chairperson. The top three (3) winners travel to the Member States hosting the SADC Summit to receive their prizes during the official opening ceremony.

The prizes at national level are as follows; 1st prize = USD500; 2rd Prize = USD300 3rd Prize = USD200

the top 3 winners will all receive certificates signed by the Minister of Education and the SADC Executive Secretary.

The Secretariat reserves the right to use the essay as and when required, and the writer reserves the right to share/ distribute the essay outside the SADC Secretariat sphere without consequences, but will not distort the original content and meaning of the piece.

The writer will not claim any future additional royalties or fees for the piece for future use by the Secretariat. The winning entry will remain the property of the SADC Secretariat.

Enquiries

Barbara Lopi, Head of Communication and Public Relations Unit or Innocent Mbvundula, Communication and Relations Officer (External) at the SADC Secretariat; email: [email protected] or [email protected] or telephone +267 395 1863.

SADC Secretariat, Plot 54385 New CBD Private Bag 0095 Gaborone, Botswana Tel: (+267 395 1863) Fax: (+267 397 2848