The State Minister in charge of Primary and Secondary Education, Gaspard Twagirayezu, has made the case for a deeper culture of reading and writing among young children, saying that this will prepare them to become better leaders of tomorrow. He was speaking while officiating at the finals of the annual writing competition that took place last week on Friday, organized by Kigali Public Library and different partners. Though the competition is held annually, it was first season that a category for upper primary school students was introduced and according to organisers, this was done to inspire a writing culture at a young age. Other categories were ordinary level and the general public, mainly people who regularly use the Kacyiru-based national library. “I encourage you to put an extra effort to develop your writing skills at an early age, you are very lucky that you have us here today to support you and facilitate you...I see future African authors before I use all the platforms available to bring out the best in you” said Twagirayezu. The competition was carried out in English and French in three categories; upper primary, ordinary level and the general public. In total, 114 entries were received; upper primary had 96 entries for both languages, ordinary level had 21 applicants and the general public had 24 applicants. “I thank all our partners and sponsors for making this competition possible through facilitating and motivating the aspiring writers…I encourage young people to use the library it is only through reading that one can be able to write, we need writers who will tell African stories through their writings and today we count on the young people here,” says Sylvain Mudahinyuka Managing Director at Kigali Public Library. The winners of the annual writing competition in both languages were awarded laptops, tablets, bicycles and school kits among others. Mudahinyuka urged the winners of the competition to use the gadgets rewarded to them to do more writing exercises and this will help sharpen their writing skills. Speaking to The New Times, William R Mugisha a 17-year-old, whose French essay won in the general public category said; “I wrote about the impact of literature in the society because I believe that it is part of our life, it tells us how people live and how they lived in the past.” Mugisha is a senior four student pursuing Physics Chemistry and Mathematics at Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare, in Huye district. Michele Shimwe Kolini Rwagatare a 10-year-old grade six student at Wellsprings Academy was the winner in the upper primary wrote about his personal experience during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I like reading and this has always inspired me to write. I advise all the young people like me to read books because it is a whole new world to explore.”
