Dear Friends,In Kenya, the annual Digital Essay Competition 2023 kickoff is here with us again, now in its eleventh year. eKitabu invites all upper primary and secondary school learners in all schools, mainstream and special schools, public and private, to submit their essays online at essay.eKitabu.com from April in the following categories: English, Kiswahili, Art, Kenyan Sign Language, braille, French, German, and Arabic.
The DEC 2023 question is:
What would you invent for a better future?
Ni nini ungebuni ili kuwa na maisha bora ya baadaye?
Qu'inventeriez-vous pour un avenir meilleur?
Was würdest du für eine bessere zukunft erfinden?
ما ذا ستخترع لمستقبل أفضل؟
Launched in 2013, DEC is approved by Kenya's Ministry of Education (MOE). The competition encourages students and teachers to use ICT in teaching and learning, and it recognizes and rewards students and the teachers who support them for sharing their ideas and original voices in essays and art. DEC Prizes include scholarship money, computing devices, certificates, gift hampers, and national recognition with Kenya MOE. Feel free to reach out at essaycontent@ekitabu.com for any questions, clarifications, or suggestions about DEC.
In Rwanda, the Kigali Public Library (KPL) Writing Competition Season Two came to a close on 9th April with submissions done by over 1,000 lower and upper primary and secondary school learners in the following categories: English, French, Kinyarwanda, Rwandan Sign Language (RSL), and braille. Applications and submissions were done online at kplonline.org/wc for essays in digital form and at schools and KPL for physical submissions. KPL is now conducting Interviews with 192 contestants to later announce the 45 winners and award them with laptops, bicycles, tablets, smartphones, kindles, books, library annual memberships, certificates, internet subscriptions, school bags, and, most importantly, publication of their written works. You can read more about the KPL writing competition here.
eKitabu has worked with the KPL team to grow this program, first in its inaugural running during COVID-19 lockdowns when it was only possible to involve people in Kigali. Since then, we have collaborated to widen access to the program for all learners with and without disabilities—and their teachers—countrywide. There will undoubtedly be more to learn and do from this Season Two, but we’re excited to see the 2023 results. We wish all the best to our KPL friends, and to the young writers we are finding and meeting in the 2023 KPL Writing Competition!
Warmest regards,
Will