Adventures live in my library! School library competition winners

Statement by Minister David Maynier, Minister of Education Western Cape

As South African Library Week comes to a close, we are delighted to announce the winners of our 2024 School Library Competition! 

They have demonstrated outstanding creativity and excellent writing skills, and have each won their school R30 000 for the school to spend on library resources.

The competition, which was run with the support of our department’s Education Library and Information Services (EDULIS) to celebrate International School Library Month, encouraged learners to either write a short story, or create a drawing or poster, depending on the grade they were in.

Reading and writing are crucial skills that must be mastered if our learners are to succeed in their schooling and future career, and having access to library resources at schools can make a real difference in improving learning outcomes.

The theme for the 2024 competition was “Adventures live in my library!” and we asked learners to tell us about an adventure they could find in their library, and how winning school library resources would lead to more library adventures. 

We received 463 entries from across the province by the closing date at the end of the 4th term last year, and our adjudicators selected 10 winners. 

Foundation Phase (Grade 1-3) drawing/poster

• Nurah Abdol (Grade 3) – West End Primary School, Lentegeur
• Daniel Monsoer (Garde 3) – Zwaanswyk Academy, Retreat
• Liyabona Xorile (Grade 3) – Siyazingisa Primary School, Gugulethu
• Ben Bosman (Grade 2) – Paarl Boys Primary School, Paarl

Intermediate Phase (Grades 4-7) short story

• Qaathran Van Schalkwyk (Grade 4) – Imperial Primary School, Mitchell’s Plain
• Dane Van der Merwe (Grade 4) – Olifantsvallei Primary School, Citrusdal
• Tawananyasha Mujuru (Grade 7) – Delft South Primary School, Delft South
• Unathi Kanjere (Grade 5) – Groote Schuur Primary School, Rondebosch

High school (Grades 8-12) short story

• Carla Oosthuizen (Grade 8) – De Rust Futura Academy, Grabouw
• Liyabona Mbokodi (Grade 9) – Centre of Science and Technology (COSAT), Khayelitsha

(Grade listed is the learner’s grade in 2024.)

Congratulations to each of our winners, and thank you to the teachers and parents who supported them!