My Covid Journey: competition closes 30 November 2021
23 November 2021
Learners have until Tuesday, 30 November 2021 to submit their entries for the school library competition and win R25 000 for their school.
Western Cape Education Minister Debbie Schäfer launched the competition in celebration of International School Library Month, which took place during October.
This year, the competition takes the form of a poetry competition, with the theme of “My Covid Journey”.
Schäfer chose this theme to acknowledge the profound impact that the pandemic has had on learners.
“I have been particularly struck by the resilience of our learners despite the changing learning environment, and despite the personal tragedies that so many have experienced as a result of the pandemic. We need to recognise this impact, and also provide an opportunity for learners to express how they are feeling about it, to help them to heal from the mental and emotional trauma it has caused them. It is my hope that all of our schools will participate in this exercise, regardless of whether they win a prize or not, because it is immensely valuable to touch base with their learners about how they are coping at the moment.”
Each school can collate as many poems from the learners at their school as they like, to form a single entry for submission. Six schools will be awarded a prize of R25 000 each to spend on library resources – an increase in prize money from last year. Three secondary schools will receive R25 000 each for winning entries in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa, and three primary schools will receive R25 000 each for winning entries in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa.
Schäfer also congratulated the winners of last year’s competition, which invited schools to send written submissions using the theme of “My Octopus Teacher”.
The following schools each received R20 000 towards library resources in the 2020 competition:
- Brandenburg PS
- Fairmount HS
- Gansbaai PS
- Garlandale PS
- Isalathiso PS
- John Graham PS
We look forward to seeing how our learners express themselves this year as we face the continuing challenge of schooling during a pandemic.