Personal Development: Pure Youth Organisation Organises Essay Writing Competition for Secondary Students in Ife East Local Govt
Pure Youth Organisation (PYO), an organisation committed to the development and empowerment of young people, is changing the narrative that education is a scam through educational competitions aimed at providing a platform for young minds to express themselves and to encourage critical thinking and writing skills among students.
This is as the organization organised its maiden edition of the initiative, on essay writing competition for secondary school students in Ife East Local Government, Osun State, Nigeria.
At the program which featured about 15 schools who participated in the exercise, Dr Abiodun Egbetokun, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the organisation said “this maiden edition is a pilot for a progressively larger initiative”.
The competition, which enlisted the cooperation of the most relevant regulatory authorities and interest groups, including the Osun State Ministry of Education and the Local Inspectorate of Education in Ife East Local Government and the Ife East Local Government Chapter of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, was a huge success and revealed the thought patterns of the participants. The thought patterns indeed showed that there is hope for Nigeria in terms of using education as a veritable source of sustainable development.
The assessors of the essay writing competition, led by Professor Ayoola and ably assisted by Dr Bunmi Oyebode (both of the Department of English Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), commended the winners and all the participants for a job well done and advised that they should not rest on their oars. Professor Ayoola encouraged government at all levels to support initiative such as this so as to have quality minds as leaders of tomorrow.
The winners of the junior category of the competition with the topic “What are the pros and cons of thinking that “Education na scam”? are: EJIYODE Gloria of Oladimeji International School, Along Mokuro/NTA Road, Ile-Ife (1st Position)
OLADIPO Adedamola of Unique Minds International College, Opa, Ile-Ife (2nd Position) and
IDRIS Aliyah Omobusolami of Primack High School Idiroko area, Oranfe, Ile-Ife (3rd Position).
While winners of the senior category who interrogated the topic: What are the causes and consequences of the perception that “Education na scam” include
OSUPALA Gold Samuel of Unique Minds International College Opa, Ile-Ife (1st Position), ADEBAYO Adunola of Ambassadors College Iloromu, Ile-Ife (2nd Position) and
AKINWALE Aanuoluwapo of Unique Minds International College Opa, Ile-Ife (3rd Position).
The organisers said this would not be the end of the initiative as good governance that will lead to human and socioeconomic development is a collective responsibility which must be sustained on a long term.