Promoting the implementation of the UPU International Letter Writing Contest

The UPU International Letter Writing Competition is organized every year in the province, to attract many children to participate, this year, the organizing committee of the provincial contest has promoted propaganda and guidance, especially the organization of provincial awards to encourage children to participate.

The UPU International Letter Writing Contest was first launched by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in collaboration with UNESCO in 1971. The contest is open to all children from 9 to 15 years old around the world to participate. In previous years, the contest was only implemented in writing to schools; Propaganda and guidance have received little attention. Along with that, according to the contest rules, there are many regulations such as how to stamp the letter, how to write the address, the language to express, how to present the letter … if not done correctly, the organizers will not accept. Therefore, in order to attract children to participate, in 2023, the organizing committee of the provincial contest actively propagated, focused on guiding and organized many activities for children to have ideas to express their letters.

Poet Ngo Ba Hoa, member of the Provincial Association of Literature and Arts, discussed with students of Loc Binh Secondary School, Loc Binh district about how to present a letter

The theme for 2023 is “Imagine you are a superhero whose mission is to make every road in the world safer for children. Write a letter to someone about the super power that helps you fulfill your mission.” Implementing the contest, on February 8, at Loc Binh Town Secondary School, Loc Binh District, Department of Information and Communication, Department of Education and Training, The Provincial Youth Union, Lang Son Newspaper, and Provincial Post Office coordinated to organize the launching ceremony in the form of direct and online to the education and training divisions of districts and city. The launching ceremony was carried out with many activities to learn about the contest, talking with the young poet, suggest on how to do the content, etc., which has attracted the attention of many administrators, teachers and students in the province.

Immediately after the launching ceremony, information related to the contest was posted widely and regularly on the websites of relevant units, departments of Education and Training, and schools from primary to high school. Specifically, the schools actively propagated the purpose and meaning of the contest during the flag-raising ceremony at the beginning of the week, Young Pioneer activities, children’s stars, etc. Along with that, the teacher of Literature, the general manager of School Young Pioneer also actively guide students and team members how to present a letter, how to use envelopes, stamp; Collecting award-winning letters from domestic and international students introduced to students in the school, thereby, helping them get more ideas for writing letters.

Ms. Phung Dieu Linh, teacher, Young Pioneer General Manager, Hoang Van Thu Secondary School, Lang Son city said: In order for the contest to attract a large number of participants, from February 2023 up to now, we have organized Young Pioneer activities with the theme of writing letters, introducing letters from school students who won national prizes at the UPU international letter writing contest in previous years. We also focus on training gifted students in writing to improve the quality of products participating in the competition. If in previous years, the contest only had 30 to 40 letters, this year, we have received more than 100 letters from students participating in the contest.

After receiving letters from children to participate, schools will choose good letters to send to the Department of Education and Training. Here, the originals of typical letters are sent to participate in the national competition, the photocopies are sent to the organizing board of the provincial contest for grading and awarding at the provincial level. This is a new and attractive point to encourage children in the province to participate in the contest.

Nguyen Thi My Duyen, class 8A1, Loc Binh Secondary School, Loc Binh district said: I have participated in the UPU International Letter Writing Contest twice, although I have not won the prize, this year I still continue to write and send letters. This is an opportunity for me to practice my thinking ability when facing social problems, present the problem I want to express in a concise, coherent and easy-to-understand manner, thereby applying it to real life and even in learning.

Mrs. Phuong Thi Huong Lan, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications, the agency in charge of implementing the contest said: Currently, the means of communication is very developed, many units and organizations often exchange work via email, telegram… this is also a form of letter writing. Therefore, letter writing is an essential skill, especially for children, in the future they will become global citizens. Understanding social issues and giving their thoughts and feelings about those issues is also a way for them to study, research and develop themselves.

In previous years, the contest mainly attracted students from specialized schools and students with literary talents, but this year, the contest attracts a large number of students at all schools in the province. At this time, thousands of letters are being collected and selected by schools to be sent to participate in provincial and national competitions. It is expected that at the end of March and the beginning of April 2023, the organizing board of the provincial competition will conduct grading and awarding.