The shortlisted articles were enjoyable and impressive. After many exchanges across time zones and varied perspectives, we are proud to announce the following winners for this year’s edition of the NUHA Blogging Prizes:
In the Youth category, the winner is Seung Jae Lim for his article entitled “True Education is the Following of a Passion”. We found the argument to be compelling: the introductory humour and irony echoes Seung Jae’s hope and despair – despair at a form of education that would be partly determined by destiny in a divisive institution focused on rote-learning, hope in a form of education that would focus on individual development, the joy of learning, sharing, teaching.
In the Adult category, the second prize is awarded to Megha Nayar for her article “Tight public finances or otherwise, uniform subsidies are not the answer”. We were impressed by Megha’s display of critical analysis and ability to give life to a complex topic with a pointed specific example. She was not shy of engaging the contrary view and leveraged it to strengthen her argument.
The first prize is awarded to Kingsley Anyata for his article “The Mindset”. Starting with a simple, yet extremely powerful anecdote about a small child’s attitude to bribery, Kingsley immediately transports us to the heart of his argument and embarks on a persuasive journey, clearly elucidating how the current mindset hinders the Nigerian education system.
We appreciated Kingsley’s perceptive insight into issues, such as his comments on “organizing our failures rather than curing them”, as well as the passion he clearly has for his ideas. This was balanced by his realism, recognising that changing the mindset would be difficult, while at the same time demonstrating the courage that is needed to strive to do so.
As a final word, we have been impressed by the vibrant ideas and energy that came across in the articles and comments and it seems but fitting to conclude with a quote by Nelson Mandela: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
10 December 2013