Environment day contest winners rewarded |17 June 2009

The ceremony took place at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in the presence of Minister for Employment and Human Resources Development Macsuzy Mondon, principal secretary for environment Didier Dogley, the President’s special adviser on environment Dr Rolph Payet and director for schools Merida Delcy among others.

Also attending were students, teachers and representatives of the different organisations that sponsored the event.
The contest was organised by the Ministry of Education and divided into three categories – primary, secondary and post-secondary.

The chosen theme for the poem, essay and song competition was Koste Seselwa, Unite Against Climate Change.
In the poem category, Carah Loveday of La Retraite School and Eloise Pierre-Louis from Mont Fleuri jointly won the first prize for primary schools. Carah won R300 and a book, while Eloise won R300 and a scenic flight.

In second place was Royce Dine from Anse Royale, winning R250 and a scenic flight, followed by the P4 class of Glacis school. They won R150 and a cap.

In the secondary schools category, all the winners came from Praslin secondary – Teffy Jean, Deidre Rene and Elvira Dingwall came first, receiving R400 and a cap each. They were followed in second place by Brian Souyana, who won R300 and an Aldabra book sponsored by the Seychelles Islands Foundation. In the third place, Athina Antoine and Martin Servina won R200 and a T-shirt each.

A best effort prize was awarded to Jim Louise from Anse Boileau, who received R100 and a T-shirt.
In the essay section, Rosabella Mangroo from the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals) was judged best and received R400 and a dinner for two at Le Relax Hotel.

Another Sals student, Vanessa Roseline, won the second prize of R300 and a souvenir gift from Kreol d’Or.
In the primary schools’ essay competition, Plaisance student Kishna Vekariya was the winner ahead of Aubretta Naiken from the Independent School. Joshua Lenclume from Port Glaud came third.

The first prize winner received R400 and a book, the second-placed won R200 and a book while the third-placed student received R200 and a scenic flight.

Samuel Marengo from Beau Vallon and Chabella Bonne from Takamaka each received a cap and R100 for best effort.
In the secondary category, R400 and a book were awarded to Wolfgang Germain from Praslin as first prize winner.

Maria Everson from the Independent School followed in second place, winning R300 and a book, and Ragul Pillay, also from the Independent School, was third. He received R200 and an Aldabra book.

Best effort prizes went to J. Vidot from Anse Royale and Estelle Barreau from English River, each receiving R100 and a T-shirt.

Vanessa Roseline was voted best in the post-secondary category, winning R500 from Sacos and a book, followed by Anil Arnephy, another Sals student, who received R400 and a book.

All cash prizes for the poem and essay competitions for primary and secondary were sponsored by the Environment Trust Fund.
Books in the two categories were sponsored by the British High Commission and the Seychelles Islands Foundation.

In the song contest for primary schools, the Independent School came first winning R1,000 from Eden Island and a trip to a marine park offered by the Seychelles National Parks Authority.

In second place came the School for the Exceptional Child, winning R900 and bags followed by third-place winner Baie Lazare primary, which won R800 and bags.

Anse Etoile won the best effort prize of R600 and bags.
Special mention went to six schools – La Retraite, Grand Anse Mahe, Pointe Larue, Plaisance, Mont Fleuri and Beau Vallon. They each won R280, bags and a video.

The overall best effort prize went to La Digue School, whose rewards were R500 sponsored by the Seychelles Fishing Authority and R200 from the Environment Trust Fund.

In his speech, Mr Dogley said climate change remains one of the biggest challenges the world faces and it could wipe out progress made by developing countries over the years.

He also spoke about the action needed to tackle the challenges of climate change and added that in Seychelles measures have been taken to create an environment conducive to reducing its impact.

Mr Dogley said our world is at a crossroads, and people can still choose to take the necessary measures to deal with this environmental issue or not.

Our selection of photos shows some of the winners receiving their prizes.