The British Council and the Commonwealth Secretariat has officially awarded the winners of Commonwealth Class Short Story Writing Competition, an international short story writing competition based on theme of ‘Belonging’ which received over three thousand entries from both school children and teachers from commonwealth countries around the world.
According to Harriet Thompson, the Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission while presenting award to Ngozi Razak-Soyebi from Zamani College, Kaduna, who came second in the writing competition, she glowingly expressed her excitement in the positive impacts which commonwealth class is currently making by bringing the core values of the Commonwealth to life in the classroom in about 50 participating countries.
“It is about connecting students and teachers around the world, exploring and sharing their thoughts on the topics such as access to education, protection the environment, food, shelter and respect for others” she explained.
She further added that British Council is supporting schools who have expressed interest in joining the Commonwealth Class project to participate in global online debates related to the Commonwealth Values as well as writing competitions for teachers and students.
Thompson however, commended the efforts of all the teachers who participated in this competition and especially the efforts of the winners: Ngozi Soyebi, Olumide Aluko, Peter Brown and Vera Obiakor whose stories have received international recognition.
Anne Fine, one of the judges of the competition and a former Children’s Laureate said ‘I valued this opportunity to read stories from so many parts of the world. I’m of the generation that learned about the richness and variety of the commonwealth way back in primary school. But judging this competition reminded me of its sheer strengths and wonders, as well as making me even more aware of the enormous problems so many nations within it still face”.