British High Commission, MoE launch art competition to address climate change

The British High Commission and the Education Ministry on Thursday launched the COP 26 Child Art Competition under the theme “The Environment and the impact of Climate Change.”

The initiative is a result of an important climate change conference that will be held in November of this year, the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties – ‘COP 26’.
Speaking at launch in the boardroom of the Education Ministry, UK High Commissioner to Guyana, Her Excellency Jane Caroline, noted that the idea of the competition is to get children to think about issues concerning climate change, such as prevention, mitigation and its impact, and to express themselves in art.
She said the judges will be looking at how children express themselves in terms of how they believe climate change can be prevented, how to protect the environment, and how they see their personal responsibility to bring about the change necessary to address the issue.
“So, let’s express that, and have a competition and really think about climate change ahead of the conference in the UK later this year,” she remarked.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand related it is known that if there is to be any change, children have to be involved in the process, whereby they are taught from a very young age about the new habits that need to be embraced.
“We have to reverse the way we treat our environment, the way we use energy, and the way we are working to conserve and preserve the environment around us,” the Education Minister noted.
She said protecting the environment has always been a priority for her Government. The Minister explained that, for developing countries, there is a choice that has to be made between protecting the environment and not earning revenue, or earning revenue and damaging the environment. She said that, with innovative leadership, Guyana has been able to earn revenue while protecting its environment.
Manickchand has said that the competition would provide Guyanese, especially the young participants, with the opportunity to reinforce what is known about environmental protection.
“I think there could be no better way than to inculcate in our next generation or next generations the attitude of responsibility for the environment; and to do that through art can be no better way, in my view,” Minister Manickchand has said.
The Administrator of the Unit of Allied Arts, Lorraine Barker-King, gave an overview of the competition, and said that it intends to promote a greater understanding of the COP 26, and to establish collaborations between the people of the United King and the Co-operative Republic of Guyana on climate and environmental issues.
She said that entries can be submitted in the 5 to 7 age group, 8 to 10 group, and the 11 to 15 group.
Mrs Barker-King noted that the competition is not limited to children in the public school system, but to all children in Guyana within the three groups. The entries can either be a painting or a poster.
Mrs Barker-King said all the rules and competition details would be posted on the Ministry of Education’s website and Facebook page. Prizes will be awarded to winners in each category, along with an overall prize for the category.