Toyota selects 9 for Dream car contest
Nine Ghanaian pupils have been selected to participate in the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest slated for Japan later this year.
The winners were selected based on the message of the artist, the unique characteristics, the artistic skills of the child and how the art was exhibited.
In the category of children under eight years, Ayeyi Maame Esi Aidoo-Hagan, Mantram Saini and Houda Assafiri were the winners while Raj Muskesh Thakwani, Adrijaa Pal and Lily Seyram Degbe won in the eight to 11 years category.
Edmond Kwabena Agyei, Danielle Ofeibea Bruce-Tagoe and Enam Caleb Banini were the proud winners in the category of children from 12 to 15 years.
The Toyota Dream Car Art Contest is an annual completion organised by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) of Japan for all children below 16 years all over the world.
The contest seeks to uncover creativity in children by asking them to draw their dream cars. The contest is grouped into three (3) categories: for children under 8 years, 8 to 11 years and 12 to 15 years.
Prizes
The top three winners of each category received various fantastic prizes, including electronic notebooks and laptops, bilingual computers, electronic tablets with already downloaded learning applications and geological talking telescopes while the top 100 received school Dream car supplies with 882 others receiving Dream Car branded books as consolation prizes for participation.
At a ceremony in Accra to present awards to the winners, the Managing Director of Toyota Ghana, Mr Takuya Kajiura, urged the participants to keep their imagination alive.
“Your fresh idea and imagination is a gift for the younger generation. Please keep having any flexible idea and imagination not just for this Dream-Car contest but for your daily life.
“Such training in childhood should work for you even when you grow. Then, you would create something new which would be required by the society at that time. I believe in your future for all,” he said.
Emulate
The Deputy Minister of Education, Mrs Barbara Asher Ayisi urged other companies to emulate Toyota’s initiative to help shape the country’s future leaders to fit in the dynamic educational environment of today.
“In this technological era, the concept of creativity has been imbibed in the formal education of students, so they are now being encouraged to come up with innovative ideas and different ways of doing things. Being critical thinkers and more creative is what prepares students for life beyond the classroom,” she explained.
High participation
This year’s contest was massively participated in, with 982 artworks received all across Ghana. Artworks were received from individuals and over 25 schools, including Morning Star, Delhi Public School, Merton International School, Crown Prince Academy, Ghana International School, Association International School and Sogakope D/A Junior High School.