Approximately 120 male students from 36 schools across the country have registered to participate in the National Library and information System Authority (NALIS), Educational Library Services Division’s (ELSD), Oral and Written Competition For Male Secondary School Students in the categories, forms one to three, four to five, and six.

The competition, being hosted in collaboration with Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, who received the Humming Bird Medal – Bronze in 2022 for education and volunteerism, spans the period, January to May 2024 and is being held in commemoration of World Day of the Boy Child, celebrated annually on May 16.

Given this year’s theme, Cool Boys: Managing Anger and Aggression, NALIS has invited participants to write on either of the topics: Unleash Your Calm: How does one resolve problems without resorting to violence? or Being A Team Player: How can one compete with kindness and respect? Students have the option of either creating a persuasive or argumentative essay.

Apart from allowing students to confront these relevant issues, this competition seeks to enhance the literacy level of students by helping them to develop comprehension, communication, vocabulary, spelling, public speaking, research, critical thinking skills and self-confidence in a fun and educational manner.

Registration for the competition closed on January 26. However, students have until midnight on February 26 to submit their essays via the email: ELSD.Outreach@nalis.gov.tt.

Students whose essays are selected for the Finals will be required to present the information from their essays in an oral format (oral presentation). Accordingly, students must videotape themselves and upload the videos via the email address: ELSDCompetition@gmail.com by April 15. School and individual prizes will be awarded to winners.