Sookdeo Bissoondoyal State College is the winner of the 2023 Omnicane Award. The results were made official during a ceremony held at Holiday Inn Mauritius Mon Trésor, Plaine Magnien, on Wednesday 23 August 2023 in the presence His Excellency Mr Prithvirajsing Roopun, GCSK, President of the Republic of Mauritius, Mrs Roopun, Lady Sarojini Jugnauth and other distinguished guests.
The winning team, composed of Vaydeesh Koonjbeeharry, Dilesha Rumon, Prishnee Doolar, Keane Vaibhavrao Chinea and Ruddy Elan Bhujun, received the challenge trophy, and each team member received a cash prize of Rs 20 000 and a souvenir shield.
With a participation of 63 entries, the theme for this year was: ‘This year, Mauritius celebrates its 55th year of independence and the Mauritian media commemorates its 250th year of existence. How will the local media continue fulfilling its mission of being the watchdog of democracy and freedom of information in this digital era within the process of nation building for the Republic of Mauritius?”
For Mr. Jacques M. d’Unienville, CEO of Omnicane:
“By choosing this theme, we wanted to pay tribute to the media community which has been ever present at different stages of our country’s history and its numerous milestone events. During the 55 years of independence, the media have constantly undergone modernisation with the introduction of satellite and cable channels. Then came the digital era, preceded by radio liberalisation in 2002. Even though there is still room for improvement, Mauritius has climbed by one place, moving to 63rd position this year on a list of 180 countries compiled by Reporters Sans Frontières.”
Mr Chayman Surajbali, Chairperson of the Media Trust, said
“we are proud and honored to be partners with Omnicane for this event. The Media Trust has been providing high standards of professional training to serving journalists. The focus has been on professional approach, accuracy, impartiality, balance and ethical standards. We have had professional trainers from the world renowned CFPJ in France, and equally high caliber professional trainers from the USA, Britain and Canada. We also have recourse to a number of local trainers on a variety of subjects of interest to journalists.”
The runner-up team is the Queen Elizabeth College, composed of: Zaara Toorawa, Sanhya Putchay, Shruti Lallchand, Nielina Babajee, Pravashinee Sookun. They each received a cash prize of Rs 8 000 and a souvenir shield. The third prize was attributed to Sir Abdool Raman Osman State College represented by Vikshit Gopaul, Sahisht Rajkomar, Rhea Soobrayen, Sayyad Chitamun, and Rishul Ramdawon, each received a cheque of Rs 2,000 and a souvenir shield.
The members of the Jury are :
– Dr Ms. Roukaya Kassenally – Associate Professor – University of Mauritius (Chairperson)
– Mr Jugdish Joypaul – News Coordinator – Radio Plus
– Mr Jean-Luc Mootoosamy – Founder of Media Expertise & Former Chief Editor of Radio One
This inter-college project competition was originally known as the Lonrho Award from 1971 to 1996, then as the Illovo Award from 1997 to 2000, and as the Mon Trésor Award from 2004 to 2008.
Omnicane Award took over from the Mon Trésor Award and is organized under the auspices of Omnicane Foundation. The aim of the competition has remained unchanged since the beginning, namely, to enable young people to work in teams on topical issues, carry out research, meet people, reach their own conclusions, and make proposals and recommendations.
