KINGSTON, Jamaica -Twenty students were awarded prizes at the Scientific Research Council’s [SRC] Essay Oratory, Poster and Performing Arts competition awards ceremony on Friday, March 4.

The event was held at the Saints Peter and Paul Church Hall in St Andrew.

The awardees largely represented primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions across Jamaica.

One student was from the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill campus in Barbados, which is indicative of the SRC’s growing reach across the Caribbean.

More than 70 entries were received from 50 schools for this staging of the competition under the theme ‘Sustainable Development: Safeguarding Jamaica’s Future’.

Students were tasked with highlighting the critical role and importance of policymakers in achieving the country’s Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs].

They focused on SDG 6 – ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, and SDG 12 – ‘Responsible Production and Consumption’.

Keynote speaker, Associate Vice President of Sustainable Energy at the University of the Technology Jamaica, Dr Ruth Potopsingh, encouraged the awardees to join the drive to develop more solutions to meet global SDGs.

“You have to consider how to mitigate climate change, and we must all take responsibility of our carbon footprint. What we’re asking of your generation, and the next, is for you to come up with innovations that can help us as we work together to make life more bearable on this planet,” she said.

Meanwhile, Acting Manager of the SRC’s Information Services Division, Marcia Henry, said the Council uses the competition to promote a culture of growth in Jamaica.

“It also aims to inspire our society to learn from the young minds and think about how each of us can make a difference in the world,” she said.

^{Noting that the competition is in its 31st}

year, Henry said the SRC will continue to popularise science in Jamaica through creative means.

“The SRC will continue to promote a culture of innovation and exploration that meaningfully engages youth through strategic programmes like the Essay Oratory Performing Arts and Poster Competition,” she said.