THE Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) has advised that the closing date for its inaugural essay competition to mark Guyana’s 48th Independence Anniversary has been extended to June 30th, 2014.

The theme for the competition is “Dr. Jagan’s struggle for an Independent Guyana.”

The essay competition is one in a series of programmes to encourage creative writing, research and reading in youth development, and seeks to encapsulate Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s personal experience and contributions towards an Independent Guyana. It is hoped that the competition would produce an illuminating exposé in this regard.

An extension of the deadline was requested by a large number of secondary and tertiary level students who wish to embrace the opportunity to enter the competition but are presently contending with the exegeses of the examination period.

The best essays will be edited and published in a book to be launched on September 6, 2014. Prizes to be won in the competition vary from $25,000 plus a trophy for the winning submission, to $20,000 and a trophy for the submission winning second place; and $15,000 and a trophy for the submission winning third place.

The essays submitted will be evaluated and graded on originality, personal experience, quality of research, and effectiveness of argument. Persons who have worked along with Dr. Jagan are encouraged to share their experiences.

The new deadline for submitting essays is Friday, June 30, 2014 at 18:00 hrs, and all essays must be typed in English and should not be longer than 1500 words or shorter than one thousand words.

Essays found to be plagiarized, including copied content, will be disqualified, and decisions made by the judging committee are final, and cannot be appealed.

Essays can be emailed to essay@pyguyana.org, or mailed to the Freedom House/PPP office in the respective regions across the country. Each entry must be accompanied by the contestant’s name, address, telephone number and age. For information on the competition, interested persons may contact telephone # 600-4230.

(By Alex Wayne)