Winners of the young journalist contest in Mauritius announced

Winners of the young journalist of the year competition were announced at a prize giving ceremony held on Monday at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute auditorium, Moka.

The first place winner is Louis Gerard Adrien Antonio, student at Floreal State Secondary School and the national runner-up is Eshna Jeebaun from Queen Elizabeth College, Rose Hill.

Several eminent personalities including Lady Sarojini Jugnauth, minister of Education and Human Resources Dr Vasant Bunwaree and former President Raouf Bundhun were present for the occasion.

The competition which was an initiative of the Ministry of Education in partnership with the British Council and The Independent Daily aims to nurture young writing talents. Bunwaree welcomed this laudable initiative which will definitely help tap hidden young talents.

“The topics which have been chosen are based on current issues. It is a good way to motivate them to think deeply, carry out research and come up with ideas. They also learn to think creatively and out of the box,” he stated.

The minister added that the competition will also be of great help to the students in General Paper and English.

“English language is a very important element as it is the international language of business. Key pillars of the economy such as finance, IT and tourism rely heavily on English,” he said.

The creative writing contest witnessed keen interest among the students as the number of entries has doubled compared to last year.

British Council director Dawn Long also commended the achievements and hard work of the young writers.

“We received 750 entries this year which is double the number that we received last year. The standard was very high and the selection process was rigorous,” she stated.

Participating schools were asked to pre-select the top three entries and committees at zone and PSSA level selected two winners per zone one from state and another from private schools.