Young minds debate it out to take on UK champions

CHENNAI: In an attempt to get young people to think and analyse ideas on their own, ‘Debating Matters-India’, organised with support from the Institute of Ideas, UK and the British Council, is here on its third edition. In the national final, scheduled as a two-day residential event from Thursday, eight schools from Pune, Baroda, Kolkata, Guwahati, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Bangalore across the country will compete for the title.
The winners will take on the UK champions at the ‘Battle of Ideas’ debate next year.Personalities like writer Chetan Bhagat, poet Meena Kandasamy and linguist David Graddol have been invited to attend the event as speakers and panelists. “We had 350 schools from India registering for the online screening test from which 96 schools competed in the regional finals in four cities,” said Tony Gilland, director, Debating Matters.
“We are grateful to institutions like IIT-Madras for their support by providing us a space to hold the competition,” said Claire Fox, director, Institute of Ideas.