TSL’s 2023 International Student Debates took place on the 7&8th June and brought together 65 students from 32 countries to express different points of view on ‘How young people can be better supported to thrive in green jobs?’
The debate was divided into two categories across two days – Primary and Secondary. In the Primary Debate, the debaters explored the role of four key stakeholder groups which identified in many of the student essays – the Government, the Media, Education and Businesses and how they could better support young people thrive in green jobs. After identifying the top ways each stakeholder group could contribute, the team then had to debate which actions would have the greatest impact to help young people.
Our judges had the challenging task of identifying the most outstanding team and individuals and finally picked multiple best individuals for commendations, due to the many compelling arguments put forward. The winners are listed below.
Primary Student Awards (Watch the debates here)
Best individuals: For a confident debate and counter arguments and showing critical thinking and analytical skills.
- Jovan Milutinovic (Serbia).
- Aadhyaa Aravind Shankar (India).
Judges Commendations:
- Hiranga Bandara Suraweera (Sri Lanka): Excellent conclusion and emotive poem.
- Nathan Raenn Hombre (Philippines): Thoughtful arguments recognising the need for accessibility and inclusion.
- Minh Nhat Anh Tran (Vietnam): Good defence of arguments and personal examples.
Best Group: Primary 2- The Media: Very strong presentation and team debate.
Judges Group Commendations:
Primary 1- Government: Globally relevant ideas and concluding poem.
Primary 3- Education: Strong team presentation.
Primary 4- Businesses: Recognising the need for stakeholder partnerships.
In the Secondary Debates, students had the challenge of debating the motion ‘Not enough is being done to support young people thrive in green jobs’. All teams did an excellent job, particularly those debating against the motion (‘Enough is being done to support youth thrive in green jobs’), as during preparation, all the students revealed they personally felt more could be done, so putting together a strong argument in opposition to their own personal feelings was a challenge but great achievement for the students.
Secondary Student Awards
Group A (Watch the Group A Debates here)
Best individuals: For confident and active contributions throughout, excellent listening and strong debate skills.
- Ekta Singh (South Africa).
- Alexandra Bogdana Todorova (Bulgaria).
Judges Commendations:
- Alex Kameoka (Japan): Strong arguments and good challenges to the opposition.
- Hyeonju Lee (Thailand): Thoughtful and unique contributions and good support of arguments.
- Abigail Manuella Aminta Situmorang (Indonesia): Current and globally relevant examples to support your arguments.
Best Team: Con 1: Strong opening arguments well supported by choice of visuals and good real-life examples to support ideas.
Judges Group Commendations:
Pro 1: Strong opening video and good practical examples.
Pro 2: Well organised, succinct, and good level of details.
Con 2: Good teamwork and interesting local and global examples.
Group B (Watch the Group B debates here)
Best individuals: For confident and active contributions throughout, excellent listening and strong debate skills.
- Selvesh Senthil (Seychelles).
- Matthew Yik Yu Wong (Hong Kong).
Judges Commendations: For well researched arguments, strong examples and confident debating skills.
- Kyla Candaice Jordan (Guyana).
- Raashida Farvin (UAE).
- Ziraili Pereira (Seychelles).
- Teodora Maeva Aleksandrova (Bulgaria).
- Marcela Valeria Boarotto (Spain).
Best Team: Con 3: Active participation from the whole team, applied learning and well-reasoned arguments.
Judges Group Commendations:
Pro 3: Critical thinking and good evidence.
Con 4: Good research and team debate.
Pro 4: Engaging video and detailed evidence.
Congratulations to everyone who took part in the debates, the judges were extremely impressed with the depth of research, critical thinking, quality arguments and confident and courteous debate put forward by all of the students.
Responses