Doon School, Dehradun Wins Dr. Samuel Slater Inter School Debate held at Bishop Cottons

Ashima Sharma, Keekli Reporter, 9th May, 2015, Shimla

 Harshun Mehta from Welham Boys’ School, Dehradun was adjudged as the best debater, while Aniket Mokherjee from The Sri Ram School, Delhi was adjudged as the most promising debater. Pranav Parth from Mayo College, Ajmer was given the prize for courage in the face of adversity.

The 20th Annual Revd. Dr. Samuel Slater Memorial Invitational Inter School English Debate — 2015 was held in Bishop Cottons School here today wherein more than 10 schools participated in the event. The chief guest for the occasion was Sitaram Mardi, Director General of Police, Home Guard and Prison. The debate is held in honour of the first headmaster of BCS, Reverend Dr. Samuel Slater. Students from top schools in India came to participate in the event as it has acquired a reputation of being amongst the best debating platforms. Based on the Cambridge debate pattern, with three speakers for and three speakers against presenting their views on a topic. As many as 19 topics ranging from abstract to topical were debated upon over the four day competition by the participants. Names of a few members from the judges’ panel were Neelima Viz, Jyoti Bhardwaj, Raveen Singh, Vipin Gupta and Kamini Singh among others.

The schools participating in the event were La Martiniere Girls, Lucknow; La Martiniere Boys College, Lucknow; Mayo College, Ajmer; Welham Boys, Dehradun; Sherwood College, Nainital; La Martiniere Girls, Kolkata; Auckland House School, Shimla; The Sri Ram School, Gurgaon; Vasant Valley School, New Delhi; Modern High School, Dubai; The Scindhia School, Gwalior; La Martiniere Boys, Kolkata; The Assam Valley School, Assam;  The Lawrence School, Sanawar; The Doon School, Dehradun; and the hosts Bishop Cotton School, Shimla (A and B team).

The topics for Slater Debates 2015 were — Smart technology is making us dumb; The West should leave Middle-East on its own; The world will be better off without religion; Coalition politics is making India ungovernable; Schools kill creativity; Performance enhancing should be legalised in competitive sports; The Indian Congress should outgrow the Gandhi family; Mission Mars – An adventure or an expensive suicide; India is right to ban “India’s daughter”; The mob should be allowed to administer instant justice; Honest and poor or dishonest and rich; Cannabis should be legalised in India for medical purposes; Tweaking genes and 3D foods – Are we beginning to play God?; India should adopt a harsher justice policy; We have learnt to e-mail but forgot to communicate; Reservation should not be granted to those whose parents have already availed it; Company should be restricted in their ability to replace workers with technology; International development institutions should not finance projects in corrupt states; European Union Nations should forgive Greece’s sovereign debt; Islamic terrorist have legitimate political grievances; Women in India should be permitted to bear arms for their protection; The state should be allowed to publish deliberate mistruths during time of War; Government should prioritise policies that reduce social inequality over economic growth; Extremism is catalyst for progress; East Asia should adopt History text book; The production of non-hybrid cars should be stopped; Talented students should be taught separately from their peers; The Gay Rights Movement should not support the institution of marriage; We should prevent parents from raising their children in a particular religious faith; India should adopt the privatisation of prisons; Women should be criminally liable for harm to foetuses as a result of their lifestyle choices; and Citizen should be given more votes according to their performance on a current affairs test.

The results of the debates were as follows: Quarter Final

QF1: For the motion: La Martiniere College, Lucknow: 1. Raghav Kohli, 2. Gokul Disharody, 3. Dhruv Sinha; Against the motion: The Doon School, Dehradun:  1. Chaitanya Kediyal,   2. Madhav Mall,   3. Smayan Sahni.
Winner – The Doon School, Dehradun

QF2: For the motion: Bishop Cotton School, Shimla: 1. Shalabh Thakur,   2. Abhishek Behl,   3. Dhruv Sood; Against the motion: Vasant Valley School, New Delhi: 1. Serena Nanda,   2. Kamya Yadav,   3. Ricky T. George.
Winner – Bishop Cotton School, Shimla

QF3: For the motion: The Sri Ram School, Gurgaon: 1. Aniket Mookerjee, 2. Raghav Mathur, 3. Shyam Choudhry; Against the motion: La Martiniere Girls College, Lucknow:  1. Sonakshi Grover, 2. Tabinda Jafar, 3. Yugika Mital.
Winner – The Sri Ram School, Gurgaon

QF4: For the motion: Sherwood College, Nainital: 1. Apurav Bikram Shah,   2. Himani Mehra,   3. Raunaq Bachhal; Against the motion: Welham Boys, Dehradun:  1. Harshun Mehta,   2. Tenzing Namgyal,    3. Yash Pandesh.
Winner – Welham Boys, Dehradun

Semi-Finals

SF1: For the motion: The Doon School, Dehradun:  1. Chaitanya Kediyal,   2. Arjun Singh,   3. Smayan Sahni; Against the motion: The Sri Ram School, Gurgaon:  1. Aniket Mookerjee,   2. Raghav Mathur,   3. Shyam Choudhry.
Winner – The Doon School, Dehradun

SF2: For the motion: Welham Boys, Dehradun:  1. Harshun Mehta,   2. Tenzing Namgyal,   3. Mohit Gupta; Against the motion: Bishop Cotton School, Shimla:  1. Shalabh Thakur,   2. Abhishek Behl,   3. Rahul Mahendru.
Winner – Bishop Cotton School, Shimla

Finals

For the motion: Bishop Cotton School:   1. Shalabh Thakur,   2. Rahul Mahendru,   3. Abhishek Behl; Against the motion: The Doon School, Dehradun:  1. Chaitanya Kediyal,   2. Madhav Mall,   3. Smayan Sahni.
Winner – The Doon School, Dehradun

Certificates of participation were given away by Mrs. Mardi. The programme concluded with a vote of thanks by the Bishop Cottons Headmaster R.C. Robinson as he thanked the chief guest for gracing the occasion and encouraged the students for their presence while congratulating them for their whole-hearted participation and an extravagant performance.
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