The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Public Works & Transport has officially opened the National Letter Writing Competition for Young People in Eswatini. This initiative is a partnership between the Commission, Ministries of Education and Public Works & Transport (Road Safety Council) Ministry of Education and Training, UNICEF Eswatini, World Vision Eswatini, Premier Bakeries, Macmillan Publishers, Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund Build (Relevant to the 2023 Competition) and Royal Eswatini Police Service (Relevant to the 2023 Competition)

BACKGROUND

The Letter Writing Competition is an initiative by the Universal Postal Union (UPU). It was adopted at UPU’s 1969 Tokyo Congress and launched in 1971. The competition brings talented young people together from thousands of schools in dozens of countries and helps advance global literacy and education amongst them.

The UPU encourages member countries to run this annual competition in their respective countries at national level as a prerequisite for international participation. Eswatini has been participating in the competition in the past years, accordingly, the Commission and partners will be running the 2023 competition, at both national and international level.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the competition is to increase knowledge of children and young people about worldwide issues and improve literacy through the art of letter writing. Targeted at children and young people aged between 9 – 18 years, the writing contest encourages participants to express their creativity, improve their language skills and channels them to engage in research work of pertinent global topics. This is closely tied to the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development under Goal 4, which seeks inclusive and equitable education for all.

Furthermore, the competition aims to keep postal services in society relevant, especially amongst the youth, and fosters continued awareness of the important role the postal network plays in our everyday lives. Through this competition, young people across Eswatini have had the opportunity to interact with post offices near them.

THEME

Recognizing safety as a critical component of its mission and in support of the UN Second Decade of Action for Road Safety, the UPU, in partnership with the UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF), will hold its 52nd International Letter-Writing Competition in 2023 under the theme: “Imagine you are a super hero and your mission is to make all roads around the world safer for children. Write a letter to someone explaining which super powers you would need to achieve your mission.”

In Siswati:

“Ase uticabange ungulelikhulu lichawe,futsi injongo yakho kukwenta imigwaco mhlaba wonkhe ibe ngulephephile kubantfwana. Bhala incwadzi loyibhekise emuntfwini tsite umchazele kutsi ngumaphi emandla langetulu futsi lamakhulu lobewungawadzinga kute lenjongo yakho ifezeke”

It can be said that this a very essential theme for Eswatini as well. With an average of 222 people who die on the country’s road annually, as reported by the Sincephetelo MVA Fund, there is a need for aggressive programmes to reduce alarming statistics. These statistics do include also children that die on road, especially as they travel to school or other destinations. Therefore, it is important that motorists to slow down and pay attention when kids are present, especially before and after school times during the day.

To curb these alarming statistics, through this competition, the Commission is joining hands with road safety stakeholders in the country and contributing towards intervention programmes that are focused on education and create awareness about road safety, especially amongst children and young people.

PROPOSED COMPETITION DATES

This year’s competition will take place within the first quarter of the year to ensure participation of the country in the international competition. The Eswatini Letter is expected to have reached the UPU by 5 May 2023, for it to be judged alongside others in the international competition.

COMPETITION FORMAT

a. Participants in this competition will be children aged between 9 and 18 years, from all schools in Eswatini. The age groups will be broken into 2 groups competing separately. There will be Group A: 9-12 years and Group B: 13-18 years. The segmentation is done to accommodate the age difference, making the competition amongst participant’s fair.

b. Furthermore, aggressive efforts will put towards the inclusion of children and young people with special needs. The aim is to increase participation of all children in the country. Therefore, additional rules will be made to accommodate these young people.

c. Language: There will be two categories: participants are allowed to write the letter in either English or Siswati. Letters in either language will compete independently.

d. Winners: With the inclusion of children with special needs, there will be 2 classifications: mainstream and special needs. Winners from the classifications will be picked from 2 categories of age groups: Group A and B. Moreover, each group will have winners picked from the 2 sets of language that will be used in the competition. The top 3 winners in each classification will be given prizes.

i. Main stream

ii. Special needs

The schools (primary and high school) from the 2 classifications with the highest number of entries will be given a recognition prize. The judging panel will comprise of teachers and representatives from all stakeholders involved in the competition.

COMPETITION PRIZES

The proposed prize breakdown is as follows:

COMPETITION RULES

• Participants must be aged between 9-18 years at the time of close of the competition.
• The letter may be written in either English or siSwati.
• The letter must be handwritten, be a minimum of one and a half pages and must not exceed the limit of two pages.
• At the end of each letter, participants must clearly state their: Full Name, Contact details (parents’ contact details may be used).
• The letter must be submitted in an envelope, which may be bought or a learner can make one for their letter using a sheet of paper.
• Affix a 50 cents original post office stamp in the correct place outside the envelope.
• The front of the envelope must have this address:

Eswatini Letter Writing Competition for Young People

P. O. Box 125 Mbabane

Back of envelope must have: Age, Name of School, Grade and Form of disability (where applicable)

• Letters can be submitted at your school or any nearest Post Office.
• Children and young people with special needs and disabilities are encouraged to participate as per the rules above. In addition, based on the need and disability, they are allowed to:

1. 1. Submit letters that are a minimum of 1 and a half pages and maximum 3 pages.
   2. Submit letters written in Braille and Signed English
   3. Submit letters with a combination of text and drawings. A submission of only drawings is not allowed

The competition opens on the 8^th March – closes 7^th April 2023. For more information, contact the Eswatini Communications Commission on Tel: 2406 7000, Email: info@esccom.org.sz or visit the website: www.esccom.org.sz