A.I.D 2019 is scheduled in November – December 2019 with the central theme:

“Coping with performance pressure in adolescence”

About the Theme:

Adolescent age is characterized by biological growth and development, an undefined status, increased decision making and the search for self. The adolescent mind is flooded with questions, for most of which they are unable to find answers. These unanswered questions manifest in the form of low self-esteem, worries and anxieties related to physical changes and uncontrolled emotional turbulence. These troubling emotions can lead to frustration, mental instability and various other problems that may cause harm to the adolescents.

Today, adolescents are under lots of academic pressure, and they are too young to release it in positive ways. Negative attitudes towards such pressures may cause many problems such as mental health (anxiety disorder, mood disorder, eating disorder etc.) and extreme behaviors (suicide, adolescent crime etc.).

The Event – Two Phases

• Phase I – The Essay Competition: All the participants will submit a typed document of not more than 1000 words on the subject “Coping with performance pressure in adolescence”.

• Phase II – The Debate: In this phase, the two top essay writers in the Essay Competition will constitute a team and participate in a debate on the theme of the essay which include, apart from the student team – senior participants representing the Police Department, Government, A senior Educationist, a Student Psychology Expert and representative of parents. The audience will include the participants of the Essay Competition, invitees from various schools, parents as well as general public.

On conclusion of the Debate, awards will be presented by the distinguished guests to the Winners.

Eligibility Criteria – Essay Competition

• The students of classes 8 to 12 of all Boards (ICSE, CBSE, WBBSE & International Boards) – English, Hindi and Bengali media – Group A
• The students of Professional or Degree colleges below the age of 25 years as on 01/11/2019 – Group B
• Students of Schools/Colleges in West Bengal only will be considered

Rules & Regulations

• Registration
  • Contestants have to register online at the websites of LifePrep Supplementary Education – www.lifeprep.in and Satikanta Guha Foundation – www.skgf.in
  • On registration, each contestant will be allotted a Contestant ID. This will be sent in the registered e-mail ID provided at the time of online registration
  • Contestants who are students of selected Schools/Colleges have the option to register by filling up the form available with the respective schools

• Submission of Entries for the Essay Competition
  • The essays should be submitted in soft copies only
  • Scanned copies of handwritten/typed/printed out sheets WILL NOT be accepted
  • Essays have to be sent by e-mail to aid.lifeprep@prudentisindia.com as a pdf document attachment from the contestant’s registered e-mail ID – the one specified in the online registration form by the contestant
    • Attachments in any other format will not be accepted
    • Essays submitted from any other e-mail ID other than the one specified by the contestant in the online registration form will not be considered
  • Contestants who registered through their Schools/Colleges will have the option to submit their essays with the respective School/College authorities

• Essay Language and Format
  • Essays can be in English, Hindi or Bengali Language
  • No images/sketches/photographs should be used as part of the document
  • The essay should be an original piece of work. It should be in the Contestant’s own words and not copied from any books, articles, or from the internet
  • References to any content taken from any external source like a book, newspaper, magazine, speech, research paper, article – either written or sourced from the internet should be clearly demarcated. Such quotations or extracts should be put within quotation marks and clearly indicated by naming the source within brackets after the quotation or extract. (These references will not be considered for word count)
  • The essay should have a maximum word count of 1000 only, excluding references. Essay exceeding 1000 words will be rejected. Articles (a, an, the) will also be counted as a word
  • Essays should be word-processed, with each page numbered. Margins and indentations have to be maintained properly
  • The Contestant ID should be shown at the header (top right) on every page of the essay document. Essay submissions without Contestant ID are invalid
  • The name, contact details or the name of the School/College should not be specified anywhere in the essay document. This is to ensure that the essays are judged anonymously. Essay submissions with name or any other detail will be rejected

• The decision of the Judging panel will be final and binding on all contestants

• Declaration of winners
  • There will be one Winner from each group of the essay competition.
  • These winners will be declared on the day of the Debate only. All contestants are expected to be present and be prepared to take part in the debate as well even though the participation and performance in the Debate is not a criteria for declaration of winners. The declaration of winners will be purely on the basis of the results of the Essay Competition
  • In case the declared winners are absent at the time of declaration/invitation to the stage for participating in the debate, the two best performers in the rank list out of the contestants present (one from each group) will be given the opportunity to take part in the debate. In such a scenario, the said contestant(s) will be given a Special Award

• Awards/Prizes 
  • Cash prizes for contestants declared as Winners – INR 5000.00 (Rupees Five Thousand only)
  • Other Prizes for the winners – Special Scholarships/Free Registration for selected programs offered by LifePrep
  • The essays by selected contestants, apart from the winners will be published in the LifePrep blog (LifePrep Montage – to be launched in November 2019)
  • Participation Certificates:
    • To all the Contestants of the Competition

• Timeline
  • The Last date for registration – 30th November, 2019
  • The last date to receive the essays for evaluation – 30th November, 2019
  • Debate Round – Date and Venue will be communicated to all participants by e-mail after closure of the entries

Click Here for Online Registration