Entries open for DStv Eutelsat Star Awards

Entries have been invited for the prestigious DStv Eutelsat Star Awards.

Liz Dziva, publicity and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe, said the organisers were calling on entries from students aged between 14 and 19 years of age for the 2016 competition, again focused on stimulating an interest in the use of satellite technology to enhance African lives.

This is a competition that is open to young people across Africa, but is one in which Zimbabweans have had particular success over the past few years, with winners and runners-up in the two different sections of the event.

Essay and poster designs this year must be based on the following topic:

Take yourself into the future as a scientist, tasked with designing a new-age satellite that will help improve the lives of Africans. Tell us what you would call your satellite and describe the different functions and roles that it would play in the Africa of the future.

The competition is judged at national and international levels, with winners and runners-up in both categories at both levels. Selected by a jury from what is again likely to be thousands of entries from across the continent, the overall international essay and poster winners will be eligible for once-in-a-lifetime trips for two to Paris to visit Eutelsat satellite facilities; the essay winner will also travel to the Caribbean to view a rocket being launched into space. Runners-up will each win a trip to South Africa to explore several sites as guests of MultiChoice Africa. National winners and runners-up will also received prizes.

Said Dziva

The schools attended by the four overall international winners also each receive a DStv installation, including a dish, television, decoder and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet.
This competition is open to all secondary-level students with an appetite for technology. Entry forms are now available any MultiChoice office, while copies also can be downloaded from www.dstvstarawards.com.

Entries are accepted in English, French and Portuguese and will be judged on the basis of high-standard criteria of accuracy, creativity, originality and innovation. The competition closes on November 7 and winners will be named at an awards ceremony in February 2017.

Zimbabwe has had successes in the last two years with string wins in the competition with young Joseph Mahiya winning a trip to watch a rocket launch in French Guyana last year.

All the best!