Beaconhouse I-9 Campus
Inter CLASS SPEECH/Debate competition
“In all debates, let the truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest.”
– William Penn
BSS is a well-renowned platform that provides opportunities for students to research, reason, and develop public speaking skills. Also, BSS is aware that healthy competition adds to the development of students and prepares them for life which in itself is competitive. Whether it is studies or non-scholastic activities, students must have a fire kindled from within that motivates them to become go-getters. Competition helps them to develop self-confidence, toughens them, helps them to handle disappointments, collaborates as a team, and makes them responsible.
Having this understanding, BSS I-9 Campus held a speech/debate competition in their upper primary and middle school. Upper primary, that is, grades 3-5 had an “Inter Class Speech Competition” and Middle School, that is, grades 6-8 had an “Inter Class Debate Competition”.
Students registered for the competition through a proper process and were introduced to the criteria of the judgment. They were given well thoughtful topics to choose from. Students were given ample time to research, write and prepare their speeches. Teachers assisted them throughout their preparation. External judges from the other campuses of the cluster were invited so as to leave no chance of imbalance.
Each grade level had its own competition and each competition had a proper event that includes hosting, moderators, timers, penal judges, and a prudent audience followed by the prize distribution ceremony.
Grade 8 took one step further. They had debates to do in teams that provided a chance for students to learn and foster the skill of persuading and standing by their point of view with pride, logic, and awareness. Also, they inculcated the skill of patiently listening to others’ perceptive and respecting them. They had three rounds to debate on some thought-provoking matters and were thrown a critical thinking question in the third round to discuss and respond there and then.
Winners included: From Grade 3, Mahrosh Fatima scored 1st, Fabiha Hussain and Aman Bilal 2nd, Haziq Ahmed Mughal 3rd position, and the consolation prize were bagged by Khadija Anas. From Grade 4, Aniya Khan scored 1st, Arham Atif 2nd, M. Wajahat Khan 4th position, and the Consolation prize was bagged by Haseeb Suleman Rao. From Grade 5, Muhammad Saim and Umaiza Shakeeb scored 1st, Moeez Ahmed 2nd, Syeda Waliyya Fatima 3rd position, and the Consolation prize were bagged by Mahnoor Zahra Naqvi.
From Grade Team Shumila Khan and Khadija tul Kubra won the trophy. Rayyan Farooq and Sara Ali were the best debators.
The criteria of the decision included all the skills that are obligatory to contest the upcoming challenges of practical life. Students joined with much zeal and delivered some well-crafted speeches. Their words and their style were evidencing a bright future for our country.
This series of events marked that many people can seem overly aggressive or competitive, but this isn’t the real case. Students learned that in a debate, one must validate conflicting ideas, engage with them in an undoubted manner, and work together to find a common ground.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it”.
– Aristotle
