Svetlana Riguera (IB-1) of Southville International School and Colleges emerged as the champion in the secondary school category of the International New York Times (INYT) Writing Competition 2015. The participants were asked to write an article on the topic of global education and the entries were judged by INYT’s award-winning newsroom.
The INYT Writing Competition began in 2009 in Hong Kong as part of INYT’s InEducation program, which encourages students to engage with current affairs and become globally-minded by reading the daily newspaper. In 2015, the competition was expanded to include all of Asia.
Over two hundred entries from schools in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, were submitted. Prestigious schools, among them, the National University of Singapore, Canadian International School, St. Paul’s Co-Educational College (H.K.), and Stanford University Online High School, comprised the elite field. The Philippines was also represented by the Philippine Science High School campuses of Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas, and Southern Mindanao as well as by Cebu International School and Singapore School Manila.
Svetlana’s article, “Global Education: From the Ground Up, Through the Roots,” was praised by the judges for its fluent and consistent structure written in a creative and captivating style. Svetlana’s article called for concerted international action to confront the challenges facing global education and used the poignant and inspiring story of Joab Onyado, a Kenyan student, to drive home its point. The article will be published in the Asia-Pacific edition of INYT which is read by over 200,000 people.
The runner-up was Tang Ka Yan, Tiffany of St. Paul’s Co-Educational College, Hong Kong, for her article, “A Beautiful Possibility.”
The formal announcement of the winners and the awarding of certificates, trophies, and other prizes to the winners were made in INYT’s Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Hong Kong last 27 February 2016 before a select audience of competition participants. Conferring the awards was Ms. Helena Phua, Executive Vice President for Asia Pacific.
