(Delwyn Verasamy/ M&G)
The theme for this year’s International Youth Day, which was celebrated on August 12, is Transforming Education. It serves to highlight efforts to make education more relevant, equitable and inclusive for all youth.
One aspect of transformation in education is to encourage self-reflection, independent thought and creativity in our young people and Read Educational Trust’s annual Word Warrior Competition is an innovative way of doing just that.
The 2018 iteration of the competition saw the introduction of the literary character, Detective WW Inkomba (which means “clue” in isiZulu and isiXhosa). Entrants were encouraged to write a short story based on this colourful individual, and they rose to the challenge.
For the 2019 Word Warrior Competition, our literary geniuses in the making are required to create a scenario in which our intrepid detective writes a letter to the main suspect or witness in a mystery of their own creation; a well written letter posting pertinent questions to the individual.
Naturally, the objective is to state details of the mystery at hand, to paint a picture of the addressee’s alleged involvement in the mystery, and to whet the reader’s appetite to read more.
Teachers and parents are urged to encourage their youngsters (aged nine to 16) to spill those vivid imaginations on to paper, and not without reward: the winning entrant will receive a cash prize of R1 000, and their school will be awarded R5 000’s worth of books.
Entries can be sent by email — to [email protected] — or through the post to PO Box 30994, Braamfontein, 2017, by October 31.
For more information about this year’s competition, please contact the Read Educational Trust on 087 237 7781, or visit the website read.org.za.-