‘THE WRITTEN WORD’: AN ESSAY COMPETITION FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS

Does writing intrigue and inspire you? Do you enjoy writing on things that matter to you? At SaiU, we lay immense focus on writing, both expository and creative. It is an integral part of our foundation courses which will not only help a student become better writers but also good overall communicators. At this juncture, SaiU is proud to present a platform – The Written Word – for students to pen their views. ‘The Written Word’ is an essay writing competition for students from classes 2 to 12. We strongly believe that essay writing helps one organize thoughts, summon evidence, entertain counter-arguments, critique alternative views after doing justice to them, and present thoughts in a succinct manner, all of which are crucial life skills for every young student.

Apart from exciting prizes for top entries, all entrants will be given a participation certificate. The last date for submission of the essay was May 31, 2021, 11:59 pm, IST.

Here are the winners of the competition:

Group 3 – Classes 9-12

1. Preesha Gopal Prabath, Class 10, Alpine Public School, Bangalore
2. Aru Bisht, Class 12, Gitanjali Senior School, Hyderabad
3. Kush Bhautik Vaidya, Class 11, Abu Dhabi Indian School Branch-1
4. Ayesha Saboor Usmani, Class 12, Delhi Private School, Dubai
5. Lakshanya Garata, Class 12, Gitanjali Senior School, Hyderabad
6. Swonshutaa Dash, Class 11, Vibgyor High School (Malad), Mumbai
7. Gagan Datta Poranki, Class 10, Gitanjali Senior School, Hyderabad

Group 2 – Classes 5-8

1. Hemesh S, Class 7, Alpine Public School, Bangalore
2. Eva Claire Vas, Class 8, Ambassador School, Dubai
3. Laibah Mirza, Class 7, Delhi Private School, Dubai
4. Janhavi Nahate, Class 7, Ambassador School, Dubai
5. Manvir Singh, Class 6, Delhi Private School, Dubai
6. Pranavi Joshi, Class 8, Gitanjali Senior School, Hyderabad
7. Dhanvi Praveen Shenava, Class 7, Ambassador School, Dubai

Group 1 – Classes 2-4

1. Ayaan Rao, Class 2, Ambassador School, Dubai
2. Adya Srivastava, Class 3, Delhi Private School, Dubai
3. Shanaya Mehta, Class 3, Ambassador School, Dubai
4. Neelesh Anil Kartha, Class 2, Ambassador School, Dubai
5. Roaan Sandeep Karippil, Class 3, Bangalore International School, Bangalore
6. Mira Kote, Class 2, Bangalore International School, Bangalore
7. Mahikaa Pai, Class 4, Bangalore International School, Bangalore.

The topics are:

First group – Grades 2nd – 4th

· Write a letter to your teacher informing her/him that how you are spending time at home. In the letter, please elaborate on the things you are missing, for example, meeting your friends and family, going to school etc and give reasons.
· Write a letter to the local government authority, informing them about the steps you and your society are taking to ensure safety from covid19. You can also share suggestions on how to improve the infrastructure and support facilities.

Second group – Grades 5th – 8th

· The year 2020 was an exception for the education industry and the students across the globe. According to you, was there any learning? If so, was it effective? What were the challenges and advantages of virtual learning?
· Most schools had to resort to virtual classes and teachings which were followed by virtual exams. In many cases, examinations were cancelled too. What do you think is a better way to assess a student’s learning given that proper exams may not happen this year at all?
· The dependency on technology and the internet deepened gravely in 2020. The same was the situation for students as well. Do you think it brought out the societal differences and advantages/disadvantages even more? If so, how?

Third group – Grades 9th – 12th

· Despite all the advances in technology and healthcare, this pandemic affected the world alike and brought it to a standstill. As a leader of tomorrow, what will your focus and priority be and in which area/s to overcome or mitigate large scale effects of such incidences
· Scientists say that this is the first of many such pandemics that we will see. What, in your opinion, should then be the focus of all leaders and scientists to avoid such calamities?
· Some countries emerged out of it sooner and others are still grappling with it. Did we as a nation fail to see the enormity of the problem or should we have redefined the problem in a different light, given the size of the country. If you were the authority, how would you help solve these crises ensuring balance between the economic and medical scenario?
· The second wave of COVID-19 has led to a failure of the Indian infrastructure – political, medical, technological, economic. What, (according to you), are the possible reasons for it and how would you suggest our leaders resolve them?

Here are the rules of the competition:

– The essays must be written in English
– The content must be original and any evidence of plagiarism will result in disqualification. Re-submission of previously submitted essays will not be considered too.
– There are three groups, depending on the class/grade you are in
o Class 2nd to 4th – First group (Group 1)
o Class 5th to 8th – Second group (Group 2)
o Class 9th to 12th – Third group (Group 3)
– Each group has its own essay topic and word limit. Please follow the rules applicable to your group only. Please choose only one topic from the options available in your category
– The word count is exclusive of all references and footnotes in this count
o upto 500 words – first group
o between 500 & 750 words – second group
o between 750 to 1000 words – third group

The assessment will be based on the following
– Content
– Structure
– Clarity and focus
– Argument
– Grammar and language
– Overall impression
The quality of language and grammar will be a key assessment component

Guidelines for essay submission

– Your entry must state the complete name of the participant and the participant’s school name along with the name of the city you are from
o Name: Mona Vikram Sharma (and not Mona V. Sharma)
o Name: Ratan Lal Gupta (and not RL Gupta)
o Name of School to follow the same rule
– Please use a font size of 12 points, preferably it should be calibri or arial
– Use 1.5 line spacing
– Ensure a 2.54 cms margin on all side
– Please submit your entries in one of the following formats – .doc, .docx, .pdf.
The file should be named as: group number_name_class/grade
For example – Udita Agarwal is a class 7th student then her subject line should be ‘Second Group_Udita Agarwal_Class 7’.
– All entries must be submitted to contests@staging.saiuniversity.edu.in via an email.
– The mail should have a subject line. Same format as file naming has to be followed – group number_name_class/grade
For example – Udita Agarwal is a class 7th student then her subject line should be ‘Second Group_Udita Agarwal_Class 7’.
– The deadline for submission is Monday, 31 May 2021, 11:59 pm IST