BSM students win ‘Young Geographers of the Year’ awards

STAFF REPORTER

MUSCAT, Dec 3

Alisha Goel (Year 4) and Umar Maniar (Year 5), both students of the British School Muscat (BSM), have been recognised for their entries in this year’s ‘Young Geographers of the Year’ competition organised by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), UK.

The competition aims to encourage pupils to engage in geographical issues. Each year the competition receives entries from hundreds of pupils from schools in the UK and internationally. This year’s competition was an opportunity for students to explore the question ‘Where, how and why?’ by asking students where they want to travel to, how they would get there and why they wanted to travel there.

Alisha and Umar flew to London to receive their ‘Highly Commended’ awards. Alisha, the youngest winner of this competition wrote about Iceland, the Land of Fire and Ice and about the diverse and stunning physical and geological features of Iceland including some of the largest glaciers, active volcanoes and the spectacular Northern lights. She had everyone spellbound by rattling off the names of the very difficult and hard to pronounce places of Iceland she had written about — Reykjavik, Vatnajokull Glacier, Fagradalsfjall Volcano! Umar had written about the amazing Amazon rainforest.

Professor Joe Smith, Director of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), said: “We were extremely impressed by the overwhelming quality of entries to this year’s competition, with hundreds of pupils taking part from across the UK and beyond. We were looking for – and found – original entries showing how sustainability was at the forefront of our entrants’ minds when thinking about travel today.

Geography plays a crucial role in our understanding of place and space, and we’re delighted to see so many submissions cleverly reflect how travelling with purpose can enrich our lives and help us to better understand the world by widening our geographical horizons. The standard was exceptionally high, and the work was produced in a thoughtful and knowledgeable way. Congratulations to the winners and all who took part. We know that they all have bright geographical futures ahead.