The corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, UBA Foundation, on Sunday, announced the commencement of the 2020 edition of its annual national essay competition (NEC), with a call for entries.
Now in its 10th year, the NEC is part of UBA Foundation’s education initiative which is aimed at promoting the reading culture and encouraging healthy and intellectual competition amongst secondary school students in Nigeria and across Africa.
This year’s edition has been modified to ensure ease of access and increased participation of senior secondary school students from the comfort of their homes through the introduction of a digital submission portal.
In view of the effects the Covid-19 pandemic on lives and incomes across board, the foundation has also increased the prize money for the 2020 edition of the NEC by 33 per cent, with the first prize winner getting an educational grant of N2.5m, up from N2m in 2019; while the second and third prize winners will now receive N2m and N1.5m educational grants, respectively – up from N1.5m and N1m which were awarded last year.
The CEO of the foundation, Bola Atta, stated that more students in secondary schools across the country will have the opportunity to scan and send in their entries and compete to win educational grants for study at any university of their choice on the African continent, with the newly introduced digital submission portal.
“As a foundation, which is the CSR arm of the United Bank for Africa – a fully digitalised bank – we are driven by the mantra to always innovate and adapt to our constantly changing environment. This year, we thought hard about how to ease the pain everyone is feeling. Students have not been able to go to school and there has been a lot of anxiety in families trying to ensure that educational gaps do not emerge. It is imperative for us at the UBA Foundation that our impact programmes do not wane. We also need to design them to be as inclusive as possible so that those students who don’t have easy access to computers can still participate in the competition with a chance to win grants towards their tertiary edification.”
Atta explained that this year’s topic – “Do you think that the lock – down during the Covid-19 pandemic was an essential measure in spite of the hardship it has brought economically? What would you have done differently and why?” – was determined with the objective of promoting creative and analytical thinking in students, whilst helping them become problem solvers.
Students can apply for the essay via www.ubagroup.com/national-essay-competition.
According to Attah, all entries are expected to be hand-written, scanned and uploaded with their IDs on the digital portal at www.ubagroup.com/national-essay-competition before October 2, 2020. They may also drop off the handwritten essays at the nearest UBA business office for onward submission to the foundation.
The judges, esteemed professors from reputable Nigerian universities, will receive all the essays on a digital drive, evaluate them and select the top 12 finalists – all of who will take home consolation prizes, including personal computers.
The finale of the NEC this year will be conducted virtually, as the initiative rolls out across 19 more countries in Africa
