NAIROBI, Kenya Sept 11 – Kenyan learners have been given a new platform to express themselves in mother tongue languages through this year’s Digital Essay Competition.
The category, introduced for the first time by eKitabu, attracted more than 200 entries.
The topic for this year’s competition was, “Let me speak,” allowing students to venture into all areas of concern in their lives.
Concerns raised by students will attract the interest of education authorities and stakeholders. For instance, the problem of bullying featured prominently in the essays.
A student from a school in western Kenya wrote about how parents were asked to pay between Ksh 5,000 and Ksh10,000 to facilitate cheating for their children. The competition therefore provided an avenue for students to air sensitive issues affecting them.
“The topic was good and encouraged students to write about issues affecting them—even in ways they find difficult to talk about with parents and teachers. Writing makes room to rethink the way guidance and counselling happen in schools,” said Beatrice Kikuyu from Mary Lusweti Comprehensive School in Kakamega County, a teacher and member of the panel of judges.
The annual competition, held in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, received a record 24,900 essays from learners in 42 counties.
The competition already has categories in English, Kiswahili, French, German, Arabic, Braille, Art, Kenyan Sign Language and Mandarin Chinese.
This year’s Digital Essay Competition will be unveiled during the Nairobi International Book Fair on Friday 25th September at the Sarit Expo Centre in Westlands, Nairobi. The competition, the largest of its kind in Kenya, has run annually across all of Kenya’s 47 counties for the past 14 years.
It has segments for both upper primary and secondary school learners. It is open to learners with and without disabilities, including students in refugee camps and special needs schools.
More than thirty expert judges were involved in marking the essays, an extensive process now completed.
“We have seen an improvement in the quality of writing this year, but also some use of Artificial Intelligence,” said Kikuyu, a teacher and member of the panel of judges.
The competition awards separate prizes—computing devices, scholarship money and recognition from Kenya Publishers Association and Kenya Ministry of Education—for learners in primary and junior school and those in secondary schools.
“Since 2013 when we started this programme, the Ministry of Education has been our constant collaborator—with thousands of teachers and school administrators. Their ideas, energy and feedback have made this programme creative, inclusive and real,” said eKitabu CEO Will Clurman.
