Haley Payet, a student from the Independent School, has won second prize in an international essay contest organised by the GOI Peace Foundation in collaboration with Unesco.
The international essay contest was launched at the beginning of this year for all countries worldwide in an effort to harness the energy, imagination and initiative of the world’s youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development.
Children aged 6 to 14 and youngsters of ages 15 to 25 were invited to take part in the essay contest based on the theme ‘Education to Build a Better Future for All’.
Seventeen-year-old Haley Payet was in fact the only student from Seychelles who won a prize in this contest. In total more than 20 essays were submitted from Seychelles for the contest. Haley won second prize in the youth category of the competition.
Like others who took part, Haley had to write an essay reflecting the aforementioned theme of the competition. She had to describe some of the complex problems in education and then explore and provide concrete ideas on the kind of education and learning that could potentially help us address these problems and create a sustainable world and a better life for all.
Haley is currently residing at Souvenir, La Misère with her mother Veronique and sister Tyra. She used to attend La Misère school but later moved to Independent school to continue her primary and secondary education.
During her spare time, Haley enjoys reading novels and articles, watching movies, drawing/painting, playing the piano, jogging and listening to music. She also likes to keep up to date with current events, especially politics. Haley loves spending time with her family, friends and pets. For more than six years she has been studying music at the School of Music and takes part in eco-friendly marathons with her friends. Haley aspires to become a lawyer one day.
It was Haley’s literature teacher, Michael Maina, who introduced the essay writing contest and encouraged her to take part. Haley pointed out that Mr Maina supported her ideas and guided her to shorten her essay regardless if she had so much to say on the theme. (See accompanying box for the full text of Haley’s essay entitled ‘Education for Awareness’).
Haley would like to thank Mr Maina for his guidance and encouragement during the time she was writing her essay. Haley would also like to extend her gratitude to Ronny Baker, who was her English teacher during her years of schooling at La Misère primary school. Haley noted that Mr Baker instilled in her the love for literature and writing.
At the end of the day, hard work and confidence paid off. Haley hopes that the content of her essay broadens people’s perspective on education and that some of the points raised in her essay are considered by local authorities.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development would like to congratulate Haley on her achievement and wishes her all the best in her future studies and career path. A special thank you also goes to all the other students from public and private schools who took part in the international essay contest.
We live in a time with many complex problems, both locally and globally. However, most countries like Seychelles are aiming towards quality education for all. To ensure its fruition we need to come together, play our part to solve the complex problems so as to build a better future for all.
For more information on the winners of the international essay competition please visit http://www.goipeace.or.jp/english/activities/programs/2016/index.html
Contributed by the Environmental Education Unit, Ministry of Education