President Lennart Meri consented to be the patron of schoolchildren's historical research competition, which is going to take place for the second time in Estonia, also on the year 2001. This year, the competition's theme was ''Estonian Home and Family on the 20th Century'', next year, it will be ''School''.

The competition's objective is to understand and interpret national values in the context of the continuity of generations, to deepen the pupils' interest in history, to broaden their knowledge of the world, and to develop their habit of independent research work. The schoolchildren's competitions for the President's award were initiated in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1973, and the idea came from the Körber Foundation in Hamburg. Today, similar competitions are ongoing in several European countries. The competition in Estonia was supported by the President's Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Education and the Körber Foundation, and organized by the Estonian Society of Teachers of History.

This year, 89 research papers participated in the competition: on main school level, the prize went to Krista and Piret Veevo from Nuia Secondary School, and on the secondary school level, the prize was won by Indrek Tark from the Tallinn French Lycée. In August, the authors of most prominent Estonian competition papers spent some time in the summer camp in Hamburg.
In the year 2001, the theme of the competition of historical research papers will be ''School''. It is possible to register for participation until December 22, 2000, and the competition papers must be ready by March 31, 2001, as the best competitions will be rewarded in May 2001. The detailed competition instructions will be published in ''Õpetajate Leht'' (The Teachers' Paper). The competition will have two age categories: one for students of secondary and vocational training schools, and one for main school pupils.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, October 2, 2000

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