July 24 2019
Organised with the aim to develop and assess the speaker’s skill of seeing a situation from all perspectives, this is a novel form of debate in which the debater expresses points of view in favour of the topic, as well as against it, and in the end consolidates both the ideas. Students from Classes IX-XII participated in this Inter House Turncoat Debate. Each of the four houses had two participants, who had been selected after going through a rigourous audition process. The participants were given the topic on the very day of the competition, and had just two and a half hours to formulate and memorize the debate.The topic given was : ‘It is a free world- Refugees should be allowed to settle in any country ‘. With no help and resources other than Internet access, the participants came up with impressive speeches leaving the audience spellbound.
On the stage, each of the participants assertively expressed views on allowing refugees to settle anywhere globally. We are all human beings and the world belongs to no one state or country exclusively, so it is morally right to give refuge to people who come knocking at our doors. Having said this, they ‘turned the coat’ and stated that while accepting refugees improves foreign relations it may also disturb the host country’s economy and spread terrorism. With countries already grappling with their own resources and problems, how are they expected to give asylum to refugees ? So keeping in mind the practical aspect , refuges should not be given the freedom to take up residence in any country , but their own.
While the results were being tabulated a few participants shared their experience of preparing and participating in this debate. They confessed that they were nervous, but that such an activity was a learning experience for them. It has boosted their confidence and motivation to grab every opportunity that comes their way.
The individual positions secured were:
The overall house positions were:
