THE Georgetown Children’s Mashramani competitions got underway yesterday at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) with dazzling and colourful presentations by students from various schools across the district.
The five-day competitions, being held under the theme: “Cultural Folklore, Celebrating 44”, commenced with the Dramatic Poetry and Calypso contests, highlighting issues such as violence, littering, and corporal punishment.

This annual event creates the ideal platform for students at the nursery, primary and secondary levels to display their talents, while teachers are also afforded opportunity to showcase their creativity.

The categories in this year’s competitions are the Dramatic Poetry, Calypso, Dance, Masquerade, Costume Competition and Physical Display.

Delivering the feature address at the event, Regional Literacy Officer of Georgetown, Ms Collette Horatio, expressed optimism that this year’s competitions would be the best yet. She highlighted the fact that there are more entries in the competitions each year, and better performances were recorded as well. She stated that participating in the performing arts also helps to foster discipline in pupils.

“It takes great courage to get up on a stage such as this…and do what you have to do without making any mistakes; so, participating in these events does help with the development of self-confidence, which leads to personal benefits,” Ms Horatio said.

She underscored that such presentations should be a reminder of Guyana’s rich history and culture, and should be cause for everyone to feel a great sense of national pride. Because of the recurring accusations emanating from certain quarters that some schools are being short-changed in the competitions, she also took opportunity to remind all that the judges’ decisions are final.

Georgetown Children’s Mashramani Competition Coordinator, Immanuel Bridgewater, disclosed that the district has over 225 entries overall this year. He added: “We will be working very hard to take away some of the prizes at the national level.”

The dance and masquerade competitions will be held at the NCC today and Wednesday, but the venue of the competitions will be the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Thursday, where the costume and physical display will take place.

From February 12 to 14, the winners from the various districts will come together at the NCC to compete at the Children’s Mashramani Competitions finals commencing from 09:30 hrs. The Children’s Costume Parade will be held at the Parade Ground on February 15, starting from 10:00hrs.
Written By Sabatini Daniels