ONLINE ENGLISH

LANGUAGE POETRY
WRITING COMPETITION

FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

2021

RULES AND GUIDELINES

 ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE POETRY WRITING COMPETITION
FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS 2021

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Poetry Writing is a competition organized by the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
The competition aims at encouraging the use of English through meaning,
sound and rhythmic language of poems. It allows students to share their
thoughts, stories, feelings and experiences creatively according to the theme
provided.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

2.1 To improve pupils’ mastery in creative writing skills using English

language.

2.2 To provide a platform for pupils to highlight their writing talents using
appropriate, orderly and grammatical language in an artistic and creative
manner.

2.3 To cultivate pupils' interest in writing poems in English.

3.0 ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to all primary and secondary school pupils from
government-aided schools. The competition is divided into four categories;

3.1 Primary School : Year 4 – Year 6 pupils

3.2 Lower Secondary School : Form 1 – Form 3 pupils
3.3 Upper Secondary School : Form 4 and Form 5 pupils
3.4 Form 6 College/Class : Form 6 pupils

4.0 THEME
4.1 The theme for the year 2021 is ‘Rise when you fall’.

4.2 The theme given in 4.1 is for use at district and state levels only. For
national level competition, the Ministry of Education Malaysia will provide
a new theme to the state representatives two weeks before judging via
the State Education Departments.

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5.0 RULES AND GUIDELINES
5.1 Participants are allowed to submit ONLY one poem under one
category.

5.2 Poems must be submitted in .pdf file and uploaded via a link provided
by the organizer. The organizer will not be responsible for corrupt files
submitted.
5.3 Poems must be the pupil’s own work, authentic and original and must
never have been published or have won a prize in any other competition
prior to this competition. Plagiarized or translated works will be
disqualified immediately.
5.4 Poems must not touch on sensitive issues of ethnic, race and religion of
any kind.
5.5 Poetry writing format
5.5.1 Poems must only be presented with a title. Any personal
information should be specified in the entry form.
5.5.2 Poems must be typed using Times New Roman font, 12 with 1.5
spacing.
5.5.3 Completed poems must be submitted in .pdf file and given to the
teacher in charge.
5.5.4 Schools will submit the poems through a link given by State
Education Department to be judged at district and state level.
5.6 The line limit is based on categories as follows;
ii) Primary 12 to 16 lines

iii) Lower secondary 12 to 20 lines

iv) Upper secondary 16 to 24 lines

v) Form 6 16 to 24 lines

5.7 All poems upon submission cannot be corrected or edited. Poems

submitted via schools will be going through district and state or national
level without any editing incurred.

5.8 Each poem submitted will not be returned to the author and the organizer
reserves the right to print and publish the winning poems of this
competition. However, the copyright remains as the property of the
author.

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 5.9 The organizer will not be liable for any form of claim related to plagiarism
against participants by any relevant party.

6.0 ADJUDICATION
6.1 Poems will be reviewed by a panel of 3 to 5 judges appointed by the
State Education Departments or the Ministry of Education.
6.2 Marks will be allocated according to the following criteria:-
i) Content - 50 marks
ii) Language - 50 marks
6.3 Judges will collectively determine the placing by a clear majority vote.
6.4 Individual marks are confidential and will not be disclosed.
6.5 All decisions are final. No appeal is allowed.
6.6 A participant found in violation of rule 5.3 after the official results
announcement will be stripped of their title and prizes reclaimed as
appropriate.

7.0 PRIZES
7.1 Certificates of participation will be awarded to all participants.
7.2 Each winner will receive a prize and a certificate of achievement.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
This concept paper is valid for 2021 until further notification or revision from the
Ministry of Education Malaysia and can be used at all levels for competitions organized
by the Ministry. The competition will abide to the above rules ONLY.

Division of Sports, Co-curricular and Arts

Ministry of Education Malaysia

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 ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE POETRY WRITING COMPETITION
FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

RUBRIC

BANDS MARKS CONTENT LANGUAGE

A 41-50 ● Authentic, deep and ● Creative,

unique unconventional and
● Intelligent use of poetic impressive use of
devices to convey a language.
significant message ● Pertinent and engaging
● Poem powerfully and use of words and
effectively reflects the phrases
poet’s intended style ● Strategic use of
● Mature and powerful punctuation to convey
treatment of the subject intended meaning
matter effectively
● Memorable

B 31-40 ● Authentic and shows ● Demonstrates good

depth command of the
● Vivid details and language
imagery ● Creative and original
● Clear tone phrasing
● Poet’s intended style is ● Apt and effective word
clear choices
● Poem contains effective ● Punctuation shows
use of poetic devices shades of meaning
● Subject matter is well
treated ·

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BANDS MARKS CONTENT LANGUAGE

C 21-30 ● Leans towards poetry ● Demonstrates

but lacks depth reasonably good
● Some sense of command of the
complexity language
● Use of some poetic ● Some interesting
devices phrasing
● Attempts to follow a ● Some effective word
certain style choices
● Subject matter lacks ● Punctuation is adequate
depth

D 11-20 ● Leans towards prose ● Contains some

● Lacks complexity, cliché/trite language
● Few / or inappropriate ● Little variation in
use of poetic devices structure
● Subject matter is poorly ● Punctuation is
treated inadequate
● Few effective word
choices

E 0-10 ● More prose than poetry ● The meaning and/ or

● No complexity, feeling is unclear and /or
● Hardly any poetic non-existent throughout,
devices poem contains clichés
● Subject matter is vague or trite language
● Poor sentence structure
● Poor punctuation and
makes little sense
● Lacks effective word
choices

Remarks:

1. Plagiarized writing will be disqualified.

2. End rhyme is not a requirement.
3. Failure to adhere to the specified number of lines will be graded a band lower.

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 SCORE SHEET

ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE POETRY WRITING COMPETITION

____________________ CATEGORY
_____________ LEVEL / YEAR _________

Contestant Content Language Total Length of Remarks

No. (50 marks) (50 marks) poem
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

Name of judge : _______________________ Date: ________________

Signature : _______________________

Bands A B C D E
Marks 41 - 50 31 - 40 21 - 30 11 - 20 0 - 10

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 FREQUENCY COUNT

ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE POETRY WRITING COMPETITION

____________________ CATEGORY
_____________ LEVEL / YEAR _________

JUDGE FINAL

PLACING 1 2 3 4 5 PLACING

CONTESTANT NO.

Judge 1 : ……………………………………………. Signature : ..………………………

Judge 2 : ……………………………………………. Signature : ..………………………
Judge 3 : ……………………………………………. Signature : ..………………………
Judge 4 : ……………………………………………. Signature : ..………………………
Judge 5 : ……………………………………………. Signature : ..………………………

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 RESULT

ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE POETRY WRITING COMPETITION

____________ CATEGORY
_______________LEVEL/YEAR __________
CHAMPION

Contestant No. : ………………………………………………

State : ………………………………………………

2ND PLACING

Contestant No. : ………………………………………………

State : ………………………………………………

3RD PLACING

Contestant No. : ……………………………………………...

State : ………………………………………………

4TH PLACING

Contestant No. : ……………………………………………….

State : ……………………………………………….

5TH PLACING

Contestant No. : ……………………………………………….

State : ……………………………………………….

Judge Name Signature

Chief Judge
Judge 2
Judge 3
Judge 4
Judge 5

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