DPS-MIS and ARBJ School students and officials during the debating session.
DPS-MIS hosted their neighbours, Abdul Rahman Bin Jassim (ARBJ) Independent Preparatory School for Boys, Al Wakra, on May 7 at the school campus as part of preparations for the Qatar Debate over the weekend.
The opportunity was utilised to debate on two topics: ‘This house would make physical education compulsory in all schools’, and ‘This house would do away with Olympics’. Though the debate was friendly, it had all the seriousness of a real competition.
The school teams — six students from each school — were supervised by Jaya Majumder of DPS-MIS and Ahmed Badawy of ARBJ School.
An effort was made during the session to have the participants switch over from supporting the motion to debating against it, thereby providing them the opportunity to understand the topics well.
The aim of conducting the friendly contest was to help the students get to know each other, aid one another in preparation for the big event, discuss the pros and cons, assess the strengths-weakness-opportunity-threats (SWOT), learn time management and finalise the hierarchy of debaters.
The assessment at the end of the session showed the importance of mutual cooperation and preparation as a novel way of extending partnership between neighbouring schools.
Asna Nafees, principal of DPS-MIS, commented: “Exploring such opportunities of collaboration was the strength of our school.”
The Peninsula
