44th ALL INDIA PLATINUM JUBILEE MEMORIAL ENGLISH DEBATE AND QUIZ 2017

22 August 2017

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The 44th Platinum Jubilee Memorial All India Inter School English Debate 2017 was conducted on 19th and 20th August 2017 at The Scindia School. The following schools participated in the English Debate; Vasant Valley, New Delhi, Daly College, Indore, Welham Girls, Dehradun, Mayo Girls, Ajmer, Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior, All Saints College, Nanital, La Martiniere, Lucknow, Maharani Gayatri Devi School, Jaipur, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai and the host school, The Scindia School, Gwalior.
The entire campus buzzed with animated discussions, exchange of ideas as the students geared up for the first round of debate along with their teachers.
The competition took place in three stages. On 18th August 2017 there was a draw of lots for pool formation of Preliminary Round, which was conducted in Oxford Format. The topics were announced a day before in the dining hall. Snehil Tripathi, Pavan Jaini and Shubham Agarwal represented The Scindia School debate team.
In the Preliminary Round, by a draw of lots the schools were divided into two pools. It was exciting for the audience and a great learning experience for the fellow debaters as they argued for and against the motion. The topics were within their level of understanding and one could see them surfing the net for more information and later practising and rehearsing their speeches. The topic for preliminary round was `Justice should be valued above mercy'.
In this round the speakers were judged on the basis of Matter which included arguments, logic and language skills, Manner which included persuasion skills and style of delivery and Rebuttal. Anagh Agarwal from Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai was adjudged as the best speaker in Preliminary Round. Overall the event began on a cheerful and positive note and the participants looked forward to the next day with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
Cumulative scores of all three members decided their ranking and their pool for the next round. Each team comprised of three speakers. The competition took place in three stages.
On 19th August, 2017 after declaration of result, there was an announcement of debating pair for the Semi Final Round and allotment of topics along with the side of the motion through a draw of lots.
The second day began on a high note as students from top eminent schools were all set for the debate. They came together on one platform and argued, refuted, negated and debated over different sets motions.
The Semi Final Round was conducted in Cambridge Format in the Assembly Hall. The topics were `Morality is the creation of the weak to deter and limit the strong’, `Celebrities make for bad role models’ and `When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail’. Ananya Jain Vasant Valley, New Delhi was declared the best speaker in The Semi Final Round.
The criteria to judge the contestants were Content which included matter, logic, relevance, language and reference, Manner included impact, poise, conviction and audience contact and finally the last point was Rebuttal and Teamwork. The allotments of motions along with the side of the motion was done through a draw of lots. It was followed by announcement of result, formation of debating pair for the Final Round and allotment of topics along with the side of the motion through a draw of lots. Final Round of debate was held in the Assembly Hall on Sunday, 20th August 2017.
The Final Round was conducted in Parliamentary Format. The parameters to judge the debaters was same as the Semi Final Round. The teams which qualified for the Finals were Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai, Vasant Valley, New Delhi, Mayo College Girls School and The Scindia School, Gwalior. The topic of the first debate was `Nationalism ought to be valued above globalism’. The Motion of the second debate was `This house believes that reservations for women does more harm than good for women's equality’.
The judges for PLAT 2017 were Mrs Sujata Aslam, former HOD English, at The Scindia School has been teaching English for three decades and freelancing since 2012. She is on the panel of English textbook authors of three leading publishing houses and content writer for four leading publishing houses.
Dr Iti Roy Chowdury is a Soft skills Trainer and Professor of English at Amity University Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior. Mr Tucker is the co-founder of QRYPTIQ a Knowledge and content development platform to make learning fun and deliver content in an engaging manner.
Mr Amanpreet Randhawa an alumnus of the London School of Economics who heads the human resources function at Amity University, Gwalior and is also the Officer on Special Duty to its Vice Chancellor.
The Chairperson for the Final round was Lt Gen V.K. Sharma - VC of Amity University.
The runners up were Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai and the host school, The Scindia School, Gwalior stood first. Since the host school does not keep the trophy so it was handed over to Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai. The first best speaker award in the final round was shared between Anagh Agarwal and Archishman Ray Goswami and the second best speakers were Pavan Jaini and Snehil Tripathi.
In a spectacular ceremony the awards were given to the meritorious students. The winners were congratulated by one and all and the participating teams were appreciated for their efforts.
Platinum Memorial Inter School Quiz
On 202th August 2017 the Platinum Memorial Inter School Quiz was conducted at The Scindia School. Mr Vishesh Sahai began the quiz with his unique sense of humour and the formal part of the quiz was conducted by Mr. Ajay Poonia, an ex Scindian (Batch of 2006) who is a professional quizzer. Shubham Agarwal and Shishir Pandey were part of The Scindia School Quiz Team A whereas Team B included Rishikant and Utkarsha Vats.
There were two semi-final rounds. The quiz was made interesting with many audio and visual rounds which kept everyone engaged. There were some questions that were asked from the audience and a small gift was given to the student who gave the correct answer. It was a proud moment for Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior as they bagged the trophy and the runners up were the host school, The Scindia School, Gwalior. In all it was a very eventful day and it was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.