The following is the full text of the brief address delivered by Lisa Allen-Agostini, chief judge for the 11-15 panel in the Write Start National Essay Writing Contest, at the prize-giving ceremony, held at the bMobile box at the Queen’s Park Oval on Thursday 16 December 2021. Also in attendance …
Read More »‘My story came to life!’ Wired868 Write Start winner, Shara Balkaran, blown away by Brian Lara
There was an unexpected touch of royalty at the inaugural Wired868 Write Start national essay writing prize-giving ceremony yesterday evening at the bmobile suite at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair. Parvati Girls’ Hindu College student Shara Balkan won the 11-15 category with a fictional story about how her …
Read More »Noble: As the rich stock up on guns and chariots, who’s looking out for our ‘Avahs’?
Emerging from the cocoon of self-isolation into the streets of West Trinidad has been a thing of wonder. Last week a Lamborghini, a million-dollar vehicle, was sighted in the WestMall carpark. Luxury vehicles of every brand, all less than two years old and costing more than three-quarter million dollars, have …
Read More »A ‘first gen’ story: ‘We sold fruits and veggies at the Arima market, so my sis and I could go to school’
My mother got an A in picking cotton and a B in digging yam instead of the Common Entrance Exam. Her grandmother (and primary caregiver) must have thought that that was the better use of her time. Can’t blame her though; she herself couldn’t write and had a thumbprint on …
Read More »Last call for Write Start! National essay competition deadline on Mon 1 November
The Wired868 Write Start competition challenges Trinidad and Tobago-based students, aged between 11 and 18, to tackle one of two thought-provoking subjects, with attractive rewards available for our top 20 writers. But you are going to have to shift into high gear to beat the deadline! The time allowed for …
Read More »Massy Stores, IMax and RBC join bmobile, as Wired868 Write Start gathers more prizes
There will be at least 20 winners in the inaugural Write Start essay writing competition, as RBC, Massy Stores and CinemaONE Ltd joined bmobile in bolstering the prizes at stake for young writers. Write Start challenges Trinidad and Tobago-based students aged between 11 and 18 to show off their ideas …
Read More »MoE: We won’t put children’s education at risk; physical school reopens for ALL forms 4-6 students
Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly announced today that all students from forms four to six ‘and their equivalents’ must resume physical school on Monday 25 October, regardless of vaccination status. Online schooling will be discontinued for such forms from Monday. However, forms one to three will remain online for …
Read More »TV6 ME: Making the Write Start; on Wired868’s $26,000 essay writing contest
Patron Sean Powder and Wired868 copy editor Earl Best talk to the TV6 Morning Edition show about the Wired868 Write Start, which offers TT$26,000 in cash prizes to students aged between 11 and 18. Click HERE to find out how to enter the Write Start contest. More from Wired868 Remembering …
Read More »MoE, TTUTA clash over school for vaccinated students; Gov’t wants more, union wants less
Ministry of Education: ‘[…] After analysis of the physical attendance data for Forms 4-6 students, the Government has proposed the reopening of physical school for all vaccinated secondary students of ages 12-18…’ Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association: ‘[…] The promotion of academic inequity by the MOE through its current …
Read More »Dear Editor: Keen to start your own business? Schools’ entrepreneurship competition begins
Less than 12% of the over 2,000 students who have taken part in the four completed editions of the National Secondary School Entrepreneurship Competition (NSSEC) did not go on to start his/her own business. This striking statistic was offered from a tracing study carried out by the organisers of the …
Read More »$26,000 at stake in Wired868’s new Write Start contest for secondary school students
Got a teenager at home? Think (s)he has a novel or a short story nestling at the back of his/her head just waiting to get out? And what of teenagers in general? Agree that they have lost a lot of the skills that adolescents in your time had, including critical …
Read More »PAHO: Children face significant Covid risk, but countries must do everything ‘to safely reopen schools’
“[…] With each day that children go without in-person schooling, the higher the likelihood that they drop out and never return to school. For some of the most vulnerable children—particularly for our girls—this can have lasting consequences. “Experts agree that the pandemic has triggered the worst educational crisis we have ever seen in the …
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