Topic for the Essay Writing Category

Sea or marine turtles have always been an integral part of the worlds marine
ecosystem. Sea pollution, hunting of adult turtles, egg collection, and high levels of
human disturbances at sea as well as on coasts have had very serious repercussions on
the seven extant species of sea turtles, causing populations of many species to crash as
well as paving the way for some to be pushed to the brink of extinction. Discuss this
statement in the light of what is taking place globally, focusing on one or more species
occurring in your country or in other countries and what are the likely causes of their
decline. Also discuss the roles of international organizations, legislators, law
enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations, and educational
establishments to prevent the further decline of sea turtles. At the same time as a school
student, suggest some practical solutions which you think might help to effectively save
them from extinction. See format, rules, and regulations below.
Topic for the Poetry Writing Category:
Write a poem reflecting sea turtles as an important natural heritage of the world. In this
respect you may just generalize sea turtles as a whole or choose to focus on one or
more species. See format, rules, and regulations below.

Calendar 2014
14 February 2014 Launch of the Essay and Poetry Writing Competition
14 February 31 May 2014 The duration of the competition
31 May 2014 Deadline for submissions.
01 June 30 July 2014 Processing and shortlisting of all entries
02 August 2014 The 20 shortlisted participants from each category will be announced
on the website
05 August 05 September 2014 Judging the final entries from each category.
10 September 2014 The top three award winning entries and the
next seven best entries (consolation) for both the essay and poetry writing categories
will be announced on the website.
30 September 2014 Closing and Prize Giving.

Sea Turtles, a world heritage
Sea or Marine turtles are perhaps one of the most fascinating creatures of the world.
They spend almost their entire lives in the sea. Only the adult female comes ashore ,
and then only to lay their eggs, generally under the cover of darkness. After labouriously
crawling up the beach to an area of dry sand, the female excavates a depression using
her front flippers. Then with her rear flippers, she carefully digs an urn-shaped egg
chamber into which she deposits an average of 80-150 eggs (depending on the species
of turtle). She then covers them with sand using her front flippers, before going back to
the sea. Outside the breeding season, sea turtles are pelagic and range far from their
breeding sites.Both at sea and on land, sea turtles face many threats. Nesting sites are
regularly raided for eggs in many parts of the world. Many communities around the world
are avid consumers of turtle eggs which are readily available at markets during the
breeding season. Disturbances in the form of large crowds and noise can induce stress
in turtles, causing them not to land on nesting beaches. The hunting of adult turtles for
food and shells (for the manufacture of souvenirs such as wall hangings) together with
adults and juveniles getting trapped and drowned in fishermens trawling nets are some
of the current threats these creatures face. All seven extant species of sea turtles are
today endangered. Sea turtles have been around for many centuries and sound
conservation plans by both governent and non-governmental organizations with the
cooperation of the public to save them could pay dividends in the long term in the global
recovery of crashed turtle populations
The ASiS International Essay and Poetry Writing Competition 2014 (AIWC) would like to
hear the views of school students worldwide on the dangers posed to sea turtles as well
as the efforts undertaken to save them. In this respect, prospective participants of the
essay writing category are required to:
1. Give a clear cut definition of the issue at hand.
2. Give your perceptions of the situation globally or in your respective countries.
3. Outline the roles of the government, non-governmental organizations, and the people in
efforts to instil love and respect for the conservation and continued survival of sea turtles
4. Focus on one or more programmes globally or in in your respective countries to instil
awareness on sea turtle conservation.

Questions to address in your essay.
1. How have current efforts globally or in your respective countries to curb current threats to
sea turtles helped in conservation efforts to save them?
2. How do you perceive the long term benefits of conservation programmes to save sea turtles
in your country or the world at large?
3. What concrete actions would you recommend to ensure the continued survival of sea
turtles both in your country and globally?

No definitions or questions to address are required in the poetry category.
We encourage you to draw on your personal experiences where possible and focus on
providing your own creative solutions to ensure the inculcation of moral values among
the citizens of your country and the world in efforts to put a stop to the hunting of sea
turtles and the poaching of their eggs as well as other threats to these creatures caused
by increased human activities.

General
All work must be submitted by individuals. Group work is not allowed.
One participant may submit only one work from either category.
All submissions must be submitted together with the official entry form which will be
available online.


Format, rules and regulations.

A. Essay Writing Category
Your essay must be at least 3000 words.
Essays are accepted only on MS Word Document, using Arial, font size 12.
Submissions will be accepted until 31 May 2014
This essay competition is open for school students only from ALL countries of the
world. Participants must be between the ages of 15-18 on 31 May 2014.
All essays must be in English.
Submissions must be sent via email to aiwc2014@asiskl.org and must be together with
the official entry form (AIWC -2014 PARTICIPATION). Please also include your postal
/ mailing address.
Please fill in your name in the official entry form only. Do not include your name in the
body of the essay.
Participants must provide the names, postal addresses and websites of their respective
schools when submitting their entries.
Each essay must be accompanied by a short summary (maximum 200 words). The
summary will be used by the jury to make a pre-selection.
Quotes and references must be clearly marked throughout the essay and properly cited.
All references used must be systematically listed at the end of the essay.
All submissions must be original. No previously published material will be accepted. Any
form of plagiarism will result in automatic disqualification.
The Organizers reserve the right to publish and / to make available to the public the
winning submissions.
The decision of the jury is final and is not subject to an appeal.

Poetry Writing Category
Your poem can be in any form but must have a minimum of 30 lines.
Poems are accepted only on MS Word Document, using Arial, font size 12.
Submissions will be accepted until 31 May 2014.
This essay and poetry writing competition is open for school
students only from ALLcountries of the world. Participants must be between the ages of
15-18 on 31 May 2014
All poems must be in English.
Submissions must be sent via email to aiwc2014@asiskl.org and must be together with
the official entry form (AIWC -2014 PARTICIPATION). Please also include your postal
/ mailing address.
Please fill in your name in the official entry form only. Do not include your name in the
body of the poem.
Participants must provide the names, postal addresses, and websites of their respective
schools when submitting their entries.
All submissions must be original. No previously published material will be accepted. Any
form of plagiarism will result in automatic disqualification.
The Organizers reserve the right to publish and / to make available to the public the
winning submissions.
The decision of the jury is final and is not subject to an appeal.


Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the deadline for submissions? The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2014. Work
submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
2. How do I submit? The submission process is very simple. Essays and poemsmust
be submitted on MS Word (Arial, font size 12) via email attachment. No other format is
allowed.
3. Who is eligible to participate? This essay and poetry writing competition is open for school
students of all countries. College and university students are not eligible to participate.
4. I am just under 15 or just over 18 can I still participate? This competition is intended
only for school students between 15 18 years of age. If you are between these ages on 31
May 2014, you are eligible. No exceptions will be granted. If you are 18 years and 1 day
on that date, you are still eligible, so long as you dont reach 19 years. Those who are 14
years and 11 months will not be considered as you have not reached 15.
5. In what language shall I submit my work? This essay and poem can only be written
in English.
6. Am I allowed to include graphs, tables, or diagrams in my essay? Yes, you are welcome
(but not obliged to) to include the mentioned. The content will not count into the total
number of words in your essay. Please make sure you explain what each graph, table, or
diagram represents.
7. What is the summary of the essay? You are asked to write a summary to go with your
essay, which cannot exceed 200 words. The summary should explain the aim, the
methodology, the reasoning and main conclusion of your essay. The summary is important,
as pre-selection of the essays will be based on the assessment of these only. This means
that a good essay without a summary or a poorly written summary will not be graded
highly.
8. What are the evaluation criteria for the submissions? Essays will be graded for their
structure and coherence, originality and creativity and the use of thoughtful and concrete
proposals / examples. Poems will be graded for structure, content, creativity, and the use of
literary devices to convey meaning. Poems however need not necessarily be in regular or
irregular rhyming sequences.
9. Do I need to address all questions in the essay category? Yes, you need to address all
questions in your essay.


Prizes
Essay Writing Category
1. First Prize US$400.00 and a distinguished award certificate
2. Second Prize US$300.00 and a distinguished award certificate.
3. Third Prize US$200.00 and a distinguished award certificate.
4. Seven consolation prizes of US$150.00 each and merit award certificates.
5. Certificates of participation for the remaining ten participants who qualified for the final
round of judging.
Poetry Writing Category
1. First Prize US$400.00 and a distinguished award certificate
2. Second Prize US$300.00 and a distinguished award certificate.
3. Third Prize US$200.00 and a distinguished award certificate.
4. Seven consolation prizes of US$150.00 each and merit award certificates
5. Certificates of participation for the remaining ten participants who made it to
the final round of judging.