Ten students were awarded prizes by the New Zealand High Commission for their outstanding entries in the New Zealand‑Fiji 2018 Secondary Schools Essay Competition.
For one of the supreme award winners Uzma Azmi who attends Nadi Muslim School, says that it was more than just an essay competition for her and mostly about relating the links between Fiji and New Zealand.
Azmi says in her essay she portrays how a New Zealand girl found out later on in her life that she had links to Fiji.
Other winners were Ipaelen Rota from Nakasi High School where they were awarded with an iPad, $500 cash prize, a trophy and a certificate of distinction each.
New Zealand High Commissioner to Fiji Jonathan Curr says they are delighted to recognise the writing talent of these students and it is evident through the compelling stories they have told and the high standard of their writing that they have undertaken thorough research .
He says this is the tenth year running that the High Commission and the Fiji Association in Auckland have partnered to offer this competition, and it is heartening to see the continued enthusiasm of students across Fiji for this event.
340 students from secondary schools all over Fiji participated in the 2018 essay competition.
The 2018 essay topic asked students to reflect on New Zealand‑Fiji relations with reference to three important historical milestones.
These were the establishment of a Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Laucala Bay in 1941, the Sir Edmund Hillary's service as a member of the RNZAF team in Fiji, and the gifting 50 years ago of the RNZAF base by the New Zealand Government to Fiji for the establishment of the University of the South Pacific.
The competition adjudicators were Lady June Hillary, wife of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, and Dr Satendra Singh, co‑chair of the Fiji Association of Auckland.
In a statement, the two judges said that imaginative and expository essays provided an excellent overview of events that occurred at Laucala Bay over seventy years ago and subsequently linking the two countries.
In addition to the two supreme winners, three students were awarded certificates of commendation and were presented with HP laptops, and five students received an honourable mention, and were awarded Samsung tablets.
The judges also selected ten students who submitted highly commended entries, who were sent FJD$50 vouchers.
Next week Dr Singh and High Commission representatives will visit some of the participating schools and present the students with certificates and books.
Schools visited will be Nakasi High, Dudley High, Vashist Muni College, Nadi Muslim College, Drasa Secondary, Nukuloa College and Rakiraki Public High School.
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