Idea Contest - Primary Students

1,250 students from grade 5 to 8 in10 schools participated in the idea contest on the topic of "What would you do if you were the next prime minister?" The idea contest was one of the first opportunities for primary school students to express their thoughts on social and national issues.

The contest should make their voices heard. What societal priorities would they set when in power? What would they do for themselves, their families and their country? How would they improve their educational situation, raise awareness to their situation and mobilize society? What attitude towards the Listros they would take?

The imagination, ingenuity and creativity of all participants proved more than impressive. Applications ranged from a few sentences, decorated text pages, to multilateral essays and the expression of thoughts in lyrical from.

In the first jury meeting, a student/teacher/parent committee at each school chose three winners from levels 5 to 8. For the final selection, a grand jury selected 40 winners, which were announced on LISTROS DAY October 20, 2012. 

We were delighted to observe the enormous interest of the teachers who coordinated the idea contest. They expressed the importance of this project and requested its continuation in order to give school children an annual opportunity to reflect their view about themselves and the society they live in.

Seeing the motivation of the students and teachers as well as the public interest we are convinced that this project should be highly promoted not only in Addis Ababa but all over Ethiopia.

Awards

In recognition of their performance we presented the winners of the Idea Contest in the 10 schools with an Amharic-English dictionary and a certificate.

We chose to do so during the flag ceremony, which is celebrated in Ethiopian public schools each morning and attended by all the students and the teachers.

On this occasion the winners were given the opportunity to read their essays. Thus they could voice their ideas to the whole school community.

PRIZES

The forty finalists of the competition were awared a field trip to Sodere, a traditional resort about 120 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa. For many students, it was the first excursion outside the Ethiopian capital. They were very excited and tremendously enjoyed swimming, lunching together and sharing time in the countryside.