NAC awards winners of first essay competition
(December 13, 2019) – The National Accreditation Council (NAC) awarded the winners of its first Essay Competition today at the NAC’s Headquarters. According to Communications Specialist of the NAC Ms. Suelle Findlay-Williams, the competition is the first of its kind for the NAC.
She explained that there were two categories, the first catered to the 15 to 17 age group which targeted students in the secondary schools and the second category, the 18 to 30 age group which catered to students in post-secondary and tertiary institutions.
Ms. Findlay-Williams said that there were 40 entries in total, 10 for the category one and 30 for category two. At the end of the judging, the first and second place winners were identified and awarded today at the NAC.
(From left) Accreditation Officer, Ms. Gonsalves, Chairman of NAC, Mr. Vincent Alexander, Category two first place winner, Ms. Chakada Ralph, category one second place winner, Jewel McCurchin, first place winner of category one Kendra Trotman and NAC’s Communications Specialist, Ms. Suelle Findlay Williams
She said that the pieces were judged based on grammar, organisation of thoughts, analysis and citation of sources among other criteria.
Chairman of the NAC, Mr. Vincent Alexander said that the NAC is concerned with giving post-secondary and tertiary level institutions the necessary permission to operate in Guyana.
He said that the essay writing competition is aimed at making the public aware of what the NAC does and its importance to the education sector. He said that if citizens are knowledgeable about the NAC they would not encourage institutions to be in default of the standards expected of them.
Mr. Alexander noted that if institutions adhere to the requisite standards, Guyanese can be assured of obtaining a proper education from entry to and graduation from any educational institution.
He urged the winners to be peer educators so that they can share their greater understanding and knowledge of the NAC with their colleagues.
Winners of Category One were Kendra Trotman, a student of The Bishops’ High School who placed first and was awarded $50,000. Jewel McCurchin, a student of the Diamond Secondary School placed second in Category One and was awarded a Kindle Fire Tablet.
The two secondary school students wrote on the topic “Lifelong learning is critical for personal and community development in the 21st-century global world. Discuss.”
In Category Two, Chakada Ralph placed 1st and was awarded $100,000 while Athena Prentice placed 2nd and was awarded a Samsung A20 Cell Phone and a Bluetooth Speaker.
Both winners wrote on the topic “Given the demand for 21-century skills, how should educators of post-secondary and tertiary institutions prepare their students for a diverse, global workplace?”