Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Launches 2017 OECS Essay Competition
The OECS Essay Competition, which the ECCB has been hosting since 1996, is open to students in the ECCU countries aged 14 – 19. The competition is designed to encourage critical thinking among the students of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and to motivate their engagement in discussions on issues that impact the development of the OECS countries.
Students entering this year’s competition will be required to write on one of the following topics:
- A country’s standard of living is linked to its ability to produce its own goods and services. Discuss.
- In this age of modern technology, libraries are obsolete and work needs to be done to make them more relevant. Discuss.
- The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union can negatively impact the OECS economies. Discuss.
The topics were selected from entries submitted by secondary school teachers across the ECCU.
The entries will be judged in two categories: ages 14 to 16 and ages 17 to 19. The essays must be 750 to 1000 words and must be typewritten and will be assessed for content, soundness of points, logical development, knowledge of the subject, command of language and presentation.
Cash prizes amounting to EC$10,000 will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners in each category, while grants amounting to EC$6,000 will be awarded to their respective schools. The schools with the most entries in the top 10 for each category will also receive a cash award of EC$500 each.
Since the inception of the competition in 1996, the ECCB has presented over EC$270,000.00 in awards and grants to students and the corresponding schools.
The essays for the 2017 OECS Essay Competition must be submitted to the ECCB Headquarters or the Bank’s Agency Office in the respective member countries, no later than 31 March 2017. More information about the competition can be found on the Bank’s website – www.eccb-centralbank.org.
