Entries to the annual Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition, won last year by a Cypriot, are being invited from school pupils around the island.

Open to people under the age of 18 from or living in a Commonwealth country, this year the contest will focus on living responsibly and with tolerance in an increasingly interconnected Commonwealth.

The theme is ‘An inclusive Commonwealth’, which is also the theme of the 2016 Commonwealth year.

In 2015, Paraschos Cant, a 16-year-old student at Pascal English School, Limassol won with his entry ‘An open letter to the worlds’ from 13,000 entries submitted by more than 600 schools in 49 countries.

Entrants are judged in two groups, junior (under 14 years, born after May 1, 2002) and senior (14-18 years, born between May 2, 1997 and May 1, 2002). They can submit an essay, poem, letter, folktale or script and have four topics each to choose from.

“Both Senior and Junior topics give young people the opportunity to think about aspects of the theme such as: the significance of community; the importance of diversity and difference; the question of belonging; the values of tolerance, respect and understanding; and the sense of shared responsibility that exists within the Commonwealth today. The topics are a chance to develop critical thinking and to express views in a creative manner,” the Royal Commonwealth Society stated.

Submissions can be made until May 1, 2016.

For more info: https://thercs.org/youth/competition