Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Education Towers, No.5 St. Vincent Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad 868.622.2181 www.moe.gov.tt E: 7/25/60 FROM : Chief Education Officer TO : Principals - Secondary Schools ucfs Schools Supervisors IIL DATE 2 December 12, 2023 SUBJECT —: Approval for Male Secondary School Students to Participate in NALIS Essay Competition Approval has been granted to the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) to invite male secondary school students to participate in an essay competition to commemorate World Day of the Boy Child 2024. The details of the competition are attached at the Appendix. Should you require further information, you may contact Ms. Waheeda Deen via email at waheeda deen@nalis.gov.tt or telephone at 624-4466 ext. 2103. Principals are asked to share this information to the relevant members of staff, parents and students. Your usual cooperation is anticipated be htt Chief Education Officer MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Chief Education Officer Director, School Supervision and Management Division Director, Curriculum Planning and Development DivisionAPPENDIX I ‘World Day of the Boy Child (WDBC) Oral and Written Competition for Male Secondary School Students ‘The ELSD/SSLSU wishes to host an annual essay Competition for male secondary school students across Trinidad and Tobago. This Competition would allow students the opportunity to examine a local, regional and international current event and ascertain the social, economic and psychological impact. This Competition seeks to enhance the literacy level of students by helping them to develop comprehension, communication, vocabulary, spelling, writing, public speaking, research, critical thinking skills and self-confidence in a fun and educational manner. AIM: ‘The competition is targeted towards male young adults and aims to: © Enhance their literacy Ievels ‘+ Empower them with the skills to better cope with the various challenges experienced in their daily lives «Express their talents in various formats RATION, This competition will bring great benefits to the secondary school students in the followingways: © Strengthen their writing, comprehension, spelling and vocabulary skills. «Facilitate their confidence as they articulate the issues identified. © Improve literacy at all levels, * Develop their ability to learn independently. ‘+ Encourage the habit of research, reading and study. © Develop their critical reading and thinking skills. RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR THE ORAL AND WRITTEN PRESENTATION COMPETITION ‘The competition will be two-fold; 1. For the preliminary stage, students would be required to write an essay on one of the listedtopics below for submission via the email address ELSD Outreach @nalis Govt. 2. Students whose essays have been selected for the finals would be required to present the information from their essay in an oral format (oral presentation). They must videotape themselves and upload via the email address ELSDCompetition@gmail.com. Target A ce ‘The competition is open to all male secondary school students in three categories: Category 1: students from Forms I to 3 Category 2: students from Forms 4 to 5 Category 3: students from Form 6Selected topics ‘Students are required to choose ONLY one of the following topics: Based on the theme Cool Boys: Managing anger and aggression. Students are required to select from the two topics provided, to submit their written essay. 1. Unleash your calm: How does one resolve problems without resorting to violence? 2. Being a team player: How can one compete with kindness and respect? In engaging the topics, students have the option of either creating a persuasive essay or argumentative essay. Time Frame ‘The competition will be launched on January 19th, 2024. Essays must be submitted by midnight February 19th 2024. The finalists will then be contacted on March 6th, 2024 and the final video presentation must be on submitted on April 15th, 2024. Winners will be announced on the April 30th, 2024. Formatting Requirements (or Written Presentation Essays must be typewritten in font type Times New Roman, size 14 and the reference page must be attached at the end of the essay. Word limit Forms | to 3-750 words Forms 4 to 5- 1000 words Form 6 — 1500 words (The word limit is not inclusive of the reference.) Formatting Requirements (or Oral Presentation Persons moving on to the final round of the competition would submit a video presentation of the content of the essay. This can form of spoken word, poetry, singing, monologue, or any other expressive medium which can convey the message of the essay. Forms 1 to 3 video presentation —3 to 4 minutes. Forms 4 to 5 video presentation —4 to 5 minutes Form 6 video presentation — 5 to 6 minutes ‘Video presentations must be done in the mp4 format and submitted to the email address. ELSI titi m. Judging and Scoring Criteria (Rubrics ‘The staff of the Educational Library Services Division and Dr Teelucksingh will carry out the adjudication process. ‘The judging of the competition is separated into two distinct phases (Written and Oral). At both stages the rules and rubrics were developed by NALIS in collaboration with Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh. The participants must submit the following information with their submission: Name of Student, Name of the School Principal/Teacher Form class. Topic chosen Contact email/ number‘The essay will be assessed on the following criteria: relevance and supporting facts and statistics, sequencing of information, mechanics (grammar and punctuation), and sources of information used, Only successful participants will be contacted to move on to the next level of competition. ‘The Oral Presentations will be judged in three categories; Creativity and Originality, Ideas and Relevance to Topic, Effectiveness of Delivery. Pointers for the Competition 1. Use a variety of scholarly resources such as NALIS website — NALIS One Search, 2. Use information ethically- No plagiarism 3. Be tactful and professional 4, Use evidence to support your arguments 5. Evaluate your information for credibility, relevance and currency 6. Cite your resources following APA format research process and cited in the References.