Senior High School Students Invited to Submit Entries for Essay Competition

Senior high school students are being invited to submit entries for an essay competition being held in observance of the 50th Anniversary of the Jamaican Foreign Service.

The competition is being organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. It is open to all fifth and sixth formers enrolled in public high schools in Jamaica and all entries must be submitted to the MFAFT, 21 Dominica Drive, Kingston 5 or electronically, to informja@cwjamaica.com  by Monday, September 10, 2012.

(DETAILS: Foreign Affairs Day & Essay Competition)

Essays must be submitted with no more than 1,500 words on the following topics: What is the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in helping Jamaica achieve its development objectives?  What do you envision Jamaica achieving, through its diplomatic relations, over the next 50 years of its existence? Jamaica is a small country with a very big presence in world affairs – Myth or reality?

Director, Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Ricardo Allicock, told JIS News that the Ministry should begin receiving entries by mid-June, after students have completed their examinations.

“We are interested in having as many responses as possible.  We really want to encourage our high school students to put on their thinking caps to engage in terms of global affairs and we are interested, too, in celebrating the intellectual power of our senior high school students,” he said.

Mr. Allicock said the first prize winner will receive a five-day all expense paid trip to New York City, United States, in October 2012, to participate as an observer with the Jamaican Youth Delegation, during the United Nations General Assembly.

“This is the high point of the year for the United Nations in New York, when  the General Assembly meets and when many Heads of Government and Heads of State  go to the United Nations to deliver speeches before the General Assembly during September running into October,” he said.

According to Mr. Allicock, the Ministry will cover the expenses for the entire trip, including airfare, hotel accommodation and a stipend, as well as the cost for a chaperone.

The second prize entrant will benefit from a one month internship after a few days orientation at the MFAFT during the summer in 2013. “At the end of that month of internship, the student should have a fairly broad understanding of the work of the Ministry,” he added.

Vouchers to cover expenses related to textbooks for the September term will be awarded to the student who places third.

By E. Hartman Reckord, JIS Reporter