Sierra Leone: Aureol Insurance Company holds certification ceremony
Aureol Insurance Company Limited has on Friday August 21, 2020 held a certification ceremonyat its Siaka Stevens Street office in Freetown in which it awarded prizes to pupils who won in an essay competition it organized.
The award ceremony was well attended by the awardees, parents and staff of the Company, among others.
The Aureol Insurance Company organized this essay competition in May/June this year, as part of the fight against COVID-19 for Primary and Secondary Schools pupils with the theme: “Celebrating our fearless and dedicated frontline workers risking their Lives in the fight against COVID-19”.Three pupils won the prizes that were up for grabs in the primary school category, whilst four students won from both Junior (JSS) and Senior Secondary School categories,respectively.
The winners for the Primary School category include: 1st position, Najmah Taqi of International Primary School; 2nd position, Nathan A.T. Marcus Roberts of Apex International; and 3rd position Jeggan Taylor of Apex International.
The winners for the Junior Secondary School include: 1st position, OziomaChukwu of Annie Walsh Memorial School; 2nd position, Pius Bob Musa of Albert Academy; 3rd position, Grace Emerson Thomas of International School and Hawa Blessing Tucker of Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG).
The winners for Senior Secondary School include: 1st position, Wendy Vincent of Annie Walsh Memorial School; 2nd position, Claudius Olayemeca Taylor of Sierra Leone Grammar School; 3rd position, Augustina E. Tucker of Lebanese International School and Hawa Turay of JEE’S International School.
The Managing Director of Aureol Insurance Company, Mr. Raymond Macauley said that a total of 40 scholars participated in the competition. He said there were eight pupils from Primary School, 13 pupils from JSS and 19 students from SSS. “Now, the essence of this essay competition is to appreciate our front liners, those who are risking their lives so as to save this nation during this pandemic,” he said, noting that their intention is to build the capacity of the pupils and also contribute to the development of education in the country.
He said that the competition was done in a fear and transparent manner because they excluded those that are directly related to the staff of the Company, adding that they contacted a renown educationist [Mr. Nathaniel Pearce] to examine the scripts and come up with results.
He disclosed that due to the encouraging response they had, they are considering the possibility of organizing it every year.
“An annual event not probably going with contemporary issues, but as a way of creating insurance awareness and the promotion of our image,” he added. “Modalities will be worked out, and it will be in the same manner,” he hinted. He disclosed that the essays will be published in the Company’s next annual report.
The Chairman of the ceremony, Mr.Nathaniel Pearce who also graded the essays,said that at the SSS level, he was particularly pleased with the writing because the writings have some amount of sophistication and use of idioms. He disclosed that the participants have got potentials, and encourage teachers to help develop those potentials.
He hopes that the winners will see the competition as a stepping stone to developing their writing skills, noting that it is not a matter of coming first, second or third, but rather to encourage the student’s writing skills.
He was optimistic that with the support from the parents, government and organisations like the Aureol Insurance, the future of education will not be as blink as we are seeing.
A winner, Claudius Olayemeca Taylor, of the Sierra Leone Grammar School, explained that in her essay he portrayed how the coronavirus has affected the essay as one which has really affected the world.
He commended the degree of transparency with which the competition had been conducted. “I am delighted to be a winner because many students applied,” he said, and thanked Aureol Insurance Company for organizing the essay competition.
By Stephen V. Lansana
28/08/2020