Pupils at Eden Boys’ Leadership Academy, Manchester placed in the top five of schools nationally in a closely contested debating competition.
A team of eight pupils made it to the Urban Debate League Final, where teams are tasked with making a compelling case for or against a motion put forward by ‘the house’ and are then judged on how convincing their case is.
Debating is known to help young people develop critical thinking skills, improve oracy and build leadership virtues..
Organised by Debate Mate and taking place at the Bank of America in London, the team beat off stiff competition from over 100 schools to finish in the top five.
The Manchester pupils made it to the finals by breezing through their first two local rounds without losing a single debate. The boys’ exceptional performances secured an invitation to participate in the prestigious national final where they joined 15 other schools in a fiercely contested final round.
Prior to the final, the pupils were provided with the first motion they would be debating, which involved making a case in favour of the metaverse – the online space where individuals can interact with each other through virtual reality. After 15 minutes of prep time, the pupils confidently pitched their rationale to the judges on how the metaverse could widen the scale of accessibility to people around the world.
The team’s second debate involved arguing against the motion that ‘this house believes that parents should be given a proxy vote for their children.’ After framing their case around upholding individual liberty and democracy, they then received floor questions and had to put forward rebuttals to the arguments.
Team member Samran Inayat said: “It was a real privilege to have been a part of this. It was fantastic to place in the top five of 120 schools who competed in the Urban Debate League.”