Press Release

CANTO Announces the 3rd Annual WTISD Essay Competition Winners!

World Telecommunication Information and Society Day (WTISD) spearheaded by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was observed on Sunday, May 17th 2009. To commemorate this occasion, the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO) based in Trinidad & Tobago held its annual essay competition dubbed:- CANTO 3rd Annual World Telecommunication Information and Society Day- Essay Competition under the ITU’s theme “Protecting Children in Cyberspace “.
Students were invited to write a 600 word essay expressing their views on the pros and cons of Cyberspace with emphasis on the protection of children over the internet.
The competition was staged throughout the Caribbean region among participating member countries of CANTO. Over 50 entries were received from nine countries/islands and judged by a panel of experts in the field of telecommunications. The essays were judged on preset criteria based on educational and technical merit, creativity, organization and mechanics. The top four (4) essays (in order of points) were selected and will be awarded the following prizes:

Prizes
Prizes are nontransferable and will be awarded as follows:

 1st Place:
     Trip for 2 to attend CANTO 2009 in Trinidad & Tobago
     Hotel Accommodation
     One Notebook Computer plus US$1000.00
 2nd Place: A Notebook Computer plus US$500.00
 3rd Place: One High End Mobile Phone plus US$250.00
 4th Place: One High End Mobile Phone

The winner is Gabriela Grant from Queens College, Barbados. Gabriela’s essay stood out among the rest when she advised parents to reinforce in their children the need to continually exercise caution when navigating the internet.
The runners -up are as follows:

• Second Place: Dennis Heywood - Richard Ishmael Secondary School, Guyana
• Third Place: Chantal Doras - Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College, St. Kitts
• Fourth Place: Jamesa J. Fabien - Portsmouth Secondary School, Dominica

The CANTO -WTISD Essay Competition was a huge success and will be held annually.

-committed to bringing technology to the children of the Caribbean
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For further information contact Tricia Balthazar, Service Development Manager at:

tbalthazar@canto.org,