Aspirant writers win lucrative prizes
The prizes ranged from a tablet, cellphone, trophy, dictionary, certificates and goody bags, courtesy of Vodacom and the premier's office.
MATAFFIN – Three pupils from Cyril Clarke Secondary School recently won lucrative prizes in the first-ever Jump-start Your Career (JYC) annual ethic essay competition.
A grade 11 pupil, Junior Mathebula, was the overall winner while grade nine pupils, Rosinah Masinga and Sibongile Mathebula, were runners-up.
The prizes ranged from a tablet, cellphone, trophy, dictionary, certificates and goody bags, courtesy of Vodacom and the premier’s office.
Dzunani Mathebula, chairperson for the JYC organisation, explained that the competition is aimed at encouraging reading and writing among pupils.
“This was the first competition and our pilot project. Next year the competition will involve various schools from Mbombela. We need our own future writers to tell the story of Africa in novels and books,” he explained.
Mathebula added that most of the essays submitted showed that the pupils were not reading extensively enough. He said the competition was also a way of preparing them for the tertiary level of writing.
Initially 45 pupils were trained on academic writing by members of JYC in collaboration with Mpumalanga News’ editor, Bongani Hlatshwayo and Freddy Mkasi from Sitintile High School. Only 21 pupils participated the competition.
One of the participants had the following comments about his experience:
• Junior Mathebula: “I think I thoroughly elaborated on the topic of how education can change the social life of South Africans. In tackling the topic, I used general knowledge on what I see from the community I live in. I also did my research. I’m happy to be the overall winner, although I didn’t expect it. The tablet will assist me in my research for school.” Mathebula added that his future dream is to be a lawyer. “I see a lot of injustices from the community and I hope to help change that one day,” he added.
