PHILANTHROPIC

GULF DEBATES SENIOR COMPETITION 2021

On 11th December, two teams from Dubai College (DC team A - Himakshi, Viha, Aryaman and DC team B - Vansh, Kiumars, Hyder) took part in the annual Gulf Debates Competition, where they debated against students from across the country.

Throughout the competition, both teams took part in four preliminary debate rounds, with thought-provoking motions covering hot global contentions such as free immigration and national pride.

Overall, everyone debated triumphantly with DC team A winning second place

GULF DEBATES JUNIOR COMPETITION 2021

Right at the end of the Autumn term, after the last day of term, eleven of DC’s finest junior debaters made their way to Cambridge International School for the 2021 Annual Gulf Debates Competition, and what a day it was!

We started off with speeches from CIS’s Debate Head and Vice-Principal and the announcement of the first impromptu motion: ‘This House would Ban Child Beauty Pageants’.

All Teams set off to work and soon enough, the first debate commenced and concluded with astounding results!

All three DC teams completed their first three debates one by one and then headed for a quick lunch where we were able to blow off some steam and meet debaters from all the other schools participating in the competition.

Now came the power-round, the dreaded disqualification round. Having already semi-prepared the motion, all teams huddled in anticipation, hoping to be assigned to the side that they had prepared best, and as the designated sides were released, the room erupted with passionate – although muted –cries of joy or despair which were almost immediately replaced with hushed conversation and teams rushing to their designated preparation rooms.

Teams were paired with teams of similar skill: if you won the first three debates, you would be paired with another team that also won their first three debates. All three DC teams emerged victorious, having survived the power-round, and we all gathered at the Auditorium to celebrate with some wonderful singing in the Plate category, and DC team B winning second place in the Bowl category. All speakers from DC team A clinched the ‘Outstanding Speaker Award’, with Aryaman being voted the best speaker of the tournament, Viha coming second and Himakshi coming fifth. All in all, another excellent day of debating for Dubai College.

Aryaman Arora 11CSI

and dancing on stage while the semifinal draws were being decided.

Although there were a few hiccups along the way, DC A, B, and C all qualified for the semis, comprising an astounding 1/5th of the entirety of the semi-finals draw, debating the motion: ‘This House Believes that Government Funding of the Arts Should be Banned’, a surprising impromptu motion that truly pushed all teams to their best as they analysed the Government’s role in supporting the arts with the surprising twist of being unable to use the internet.

Soon after the debates, all the debaters gathered for the penultimate time in the auditorium to hear the fixtures for the finals, and it was to our delight that DC Teams A and C made it through!

I would like to seize this opportunity to extend heartfelt thanks from all three teams to Ms Hodge for her tireless work and support as well as to Shrish, Aman,

and Vedant for consistently helping us become better debaters.

The 6th and the last debate commenced soon after and Teams A and C headed off to their designated rooms to prepare with team A set to debate in front of a live audience (which although nervewracking was an amazing experience).

To end the long day of debate and recognise the achievements of the many talented debate teams participating in

MODERN WORLD DEBATES

The annual ‘Modern World Debates’ tournament was held over two days on January 15th and 16th, comprising over 50 international teams and 150+ debaters. Dubai College sent one official team (Aryaman, Parth and Viha), as well as two independent teams (Angelique, Vansh, Abhir & Emaan, Philip, Aditya). Both teams were excited to participate in the competition as it was one of the largest online debating competitions in the region.

The first four preliminary rounds The room erupted in cheer as winners were announced; the DC results were:

Team C ranked 2nd in the Plate Division

Team B ranked 3rd in the Cup Division

Team A ranked 2nd in the Cup Division

Parth and Emaan won Outstanding Speaker Awards Overall, an outstanding result, and one that could not have been possible without the tireless work put in by the Dubai College Debate Teams and of course, the guidance we received from Ms Hodge and the Debate Club Heads.

Parth Goel 10BST

included topics ranging from democratic governance to privatisation, it is safe to say the rounds challenged all debaters on a wide variety of topics.

After an immensely successful first four rounds, both the DC team and Team APA broke to the quarter finals as one of the top 8 teams, and ended up being paired to debate against each other on the motion: ‘This house believes that the feminist movement should support female vigilante groups in areas with high crime rates against women’. The DC team ended up winning, progressing from the semi finals to the grand final where they debated: ‘This house prefers Asian values over Western individualism’. The other team ended up winning on a split decision 2-1 from the judging panel; a very close debate indeed.

In the awards ceremony, Team Dubai College were awarded runners up of the competition. Individually, Abhir, Aryaman, Vansh and Viha bagged Best Speaker awards being part of the top 10, with Angelique being commended as the best speaker of the entire competition!

Overall, this was a very successful and intellectually stimulating competition for all DC debaters and we would like to especially thank Ms Hodge for giving us this wonderful opportunity.

Viha Kedia 12RMI

Best Speaker Award Overall Best Speaker Runners up

DIWALI & RAMADAN HAMPERS AND VALENTINES DAY

This year we welcomed our Year 7s into the Charity Committee by organising a distribution of food hampers for Diwali to a building site in JVC. We had over 200 hampers made by every form in Year 7, with some parents sponsoring items. To mark Valentine’s Day the fabulous bus ladies were gifted with flowers and a goody bag to celebrate friendship. The incredible Old Books for New Eyes campaign was celebrated with a certificate ceremony and recognition from HE Shamma Al Mazrui (Minister of State for Youth Affairs).

Miss Rupal Shah Charities Coordinator

MUSIC CHARITY LOVE

The jewel in the calendar, the event of the year, the not-to-be-missed acoustic night on the lawn – Music Charity Love (MCL) – took place after a very long two year hiatus. With the incredible talent of our DC musicians, MCL is a reminder of just how special this student-led charity event is. Although it was smaller due to various other school events also taking place that weekend, we still welcomed over 200 students, staff and families on the night. It was fabulous to enjoy the superb talent of our young musicians AND we raised over AED 11,000!

Miss Rupal Shah Charities Coordinator