Written by Amira Ospanova, Grade 12 and Aiden Ayyash, Grade 11
On the 23rd of November, 2024, students from all across Bishkek came together at BIS’ annual Debate Tournament for a fierce and exciting competition testing their abilities.
Teams of three debated against each other at random during three qualifying rounds, after which the four highest-achieving teams would advance to the coveted semi-finals. Judges were given a rubric of out of 35 points. While the first three qualifying rounds would utilize the pre- prepared topics, which allowed for research and planning beforehand, the finals and semi-finals were fought with impromptu topics. These topics were given out during the debate, where the debaters would have 15 minutes of preparation time before the battle would commence.
Students garnered many fun and new experiences in a friendly and bubbly atmosphere, which promoted mutual support. Exposure to new people from different schools and environments was a core aspect of the debate experience, forming new bonds and friendships. Students also developed and reinforced skills such as critical thinking on the spot with complex multi-perspective topics, clearly and concisely speaking to an audience and conducting research on different topics while analyzing thoroughly.
The BIS Debate team qualified for the semi-finals and took third place, debating against the three strongest teams.
This annual debate tournament could not have been done without the assistance of all the volunteers and planning from the BIS Debate Club “TDC”, all of them putting in the hours to make it another huge success among the participants. Everyone is excited for the next debate tournament to come around, which will surely make the gears in your brain start turning!