Miss Guyana Teen Scholar Pageant opens its 2024 season this weekend for Independence Day. Described as a “gender and education development programme”, the pageant seeks to train adolescent Guyanese girls on life skills and social development, while introducing them to the pageantry of talent, modelling, and stage presence.
The winner of the pageant is awarded a $500,000 scholarship to pursue their studies or a career of their choice, as well as a round trip to a Caribbean destination, medical check-up, spa dates, and brand ambassadorships.
Speaking with Stabroek News, Social Development Director of the Imperial House – the organisation behind the pageant – Jairo Rodrigues said that 2024 is going to be a year of exciting change. “Now that we’re in our 6th year of coordinating this scholarship pageant, I would say those years were stepping stones for something greater,” he said. “With greater production value, events, and additions to the training programme this year, we are really looking forward to finding Guyana’s brightest in every sense of the phrase: the most intellectual, the most aspiring, and honestly the brightest star in the sky.”
Rodrigues explained that the pageant, stylised as ‘MGTSP’, seeks to both educate young women about their rights and abilities through skills development, and empower them to be changemakers and youth leaders in their communities by helping them to apply their skills, voice, and influence.
When asked how pageantry correlates with gender and development programmes, Rodrigues responded that the MGTSP pageant not just awards scholarships and grants to the best performing candidates, but is a scholarship programme itself. “The candidates… are taught nearly 20 sessions on topics ranging from finance literacy to adolescent health, volunteerism and community development to sexual and gender-based violence to make them more aware of exploitation and abuse they may face as young women, and most importantly how to report, prevent, and address it. Every session prepares them for post-secondary education and a life beyond academic studies. As a gender development programme, we just want to empower and position girls to have agency over their own lives.”
The competition, he explained, is not a beauty pageant, and all sessions taught are assessed through a series of preliminary events. “It’s not the twirls and gowns that win this scholarship pageant. It’s the ability to critically analyse our society and provide answers, the ability to use the stage to maximise communication skills to a diverse audience, and most importantly, the ability to present oneself as a youth leader, a feminist, and a queen among queens,” Rodrigues expounded.
The pageant is open to Guyanese girls between the ages of 13 to 19 years old. The programme manual and application link can be found on the Imperial House’s Facebook page @TIHGuyana. Applications close on June 16.
