Eduvision announced the Essay Writing Competition in May 2024 titled,“What is the greatest Virtue?” with detailed instructions. The Essay Contest was for the Age group of 14-18 years. It was announced on 15th of May,2024 and the deadline for submission of Essays was 01 June,2024. The result for the Eduvision Essay Writing Competition was announced on 1st of July 2024.
Students were allowed to write in both the languages, English and Urdu.
Statistics about the Essay Writing Competition:
More than 550 students participated in the competition from across Pakistan out of which 242 were male students and 311 were female students. The number of students who opted Urdu instead of English is slightly greater. 311 students opted Urdu and among them 39 were males while 272 were females. Whereas 242 students expressed their opinions in English. 85 males and 157 females used English in essays.
Schools & Cities who Participated:
Students could participate in the competition individually or on the behalf of their schools.
We received essays individually from all four provinces, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan. Students from the peripheral areas like Zhob, Kohat, Skardu, Taunsa, Rajanpur and Badin also participated in the contest.
Some of the schools that participated in the competition are:
- Army Public School, Jarrar Garrison, Rawalpindi
- Cadet Colleges, Jhang
- Army Public School, Lower Topa, Murree
- International School of Cordoba, Bhalwal
- Dar e Arqam School
- AQWA School System, Hasilpur
- Cadet College, Mastung
- Nexus School System, Bhaun
- Al-Noor Public School, Moch, Mianwali
- GCT Hilal School, Karachi
- Ghazali School System
- KIPS School Johar Town, Lahore
School with the most Participants:
Out of the schools that participated in the Essay Writing Competition, AQWA School System, Hasilpur is the school which has maximum students as participants in the Essay Contest. 82 students of AQWA school Hasilpur participated in the Essay Contest.
Topics of Essays in English & Urdu:
Students were given a free choice to choose the virtue and substantiate their stance through solid arguments. They were allowed to author the essay in English or Urdu. The students who opted English as their medium wrote Essys on topics like Empathy, Compassion, Kindness, Gratitude, Charity, Humanity, Good manners, Taqwa, Tolerance and Forgiveness.The students who opted Urdu as their medium selected topics like Patience, Repentance, Serving the Parents, Knowledge, Kindness and Generosity.
Common Mistakes and Plagiarism:
All received essays were examined and evaluated by two teams of examiners to ensure the meritocracy and quality of the Essay Contest. The examiners and the team dedicated for this task shared useful insights about the Essay Contest. Majority of the students failed to comprehend the topic.
- They did not categorically explain the definition of Virtue and on what basis they are labelling a particular trait or deed as a Virtue.
- There was lack of understanding of Essay structure, Paragraph writing and argumentation.
- The most common errors include Subject-Verb Agreement, Spelling mistakes and Punctuation. Grammatical errors and poor syntax structure was quite common.
- A sizeable portion of students selected the same topic and used the same definition and arguments.
- Many students used internet sources not for research and understanding but paraphrasing. This is against the basic idea of Essay i.e.Argumentation in favour of your stance with valid references.
- The students were more focused on describing the virtue and its benefits whereas the topic demanded their arguments in favour of the virtue which they selected as the greatest.
Recommendations of the Eduvision:
Students should be taught different styles of Paragraph writing. Most students used a descriptive style of Paragraph writing which is not appealing to the reader. It is advised that students should not opt for such a monotonous approach in writing and argumentation. The diversity of arguments and versatility in writing like narrative descriptive, expository and persuasive styles are necessary for a good essay. They should read quality books on different subjects to increase their knowledge and quality of arguments. Moreover, students should follow and practice the rules of grammar and punctuation to avoid grammatical mistakes in writing.Theguidelines like the last date of submission and word limit must be followed as failing to do this may result in failure.
Results:
The passing criteria for this Essay Competition was 50%. The passing percentage is 55% based on the passing criteria. The details about the result and Essay Contest were announced on July 01, 2024 at 5:30 pm on Youtube. To check all results, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPGIdJOM7Og
The topers of the Essay Competition and their schools are as follows:
- Samra Muhabat AQWA School System Hasilpur
- Ali Hassan Al-Noor Boys Higher Secondary School Moch, Mianwali
- Minahil Fatima Fauji Foundation School, Mianwali
To check all results, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPGIdJOM7Og
Purpose of the competition:
Eduvision, the pioneer career counselling organization is providing career counselling facilities to students for the last two decades. This vast experience is based on one-on-one career counselling sessions, career counselling seminars and workshops all over Pakistan. Our Essay Competitions, held regularly for different age groups throughout the year, serve multiple important purposes. They provide a platform for students to showcase their creative writing skills, deepen their reading habits, and enhance their comprehension abilities. Moreover, these competitions foster critical thinking, encourage research skills, and promote effective communication—all essential for academic and personal growth. By participating in these contests, students not only refine their writing talents but also receive guidance tailored to their educational journey from our experienced team at Eduvision.
The Essay Competition provided young students with a valuable opportunity to enhance their skills and address their weaknesses. Participants gained invaluable learning experiences and had the chance to compete with peers nationwide. Eduvision, as an organization, recognized the importance of capacity building for future endeavors and gained insight into societal trends through the perspectives of our country's future leaders. As a continuation of this initiative, Eduvision will host a webinar on Essay writing, welcoming all participants to engage and seek guidance for their academic pursuits.
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