Springs Boys’ High junior debate team secures spot in league finals

The fierce world of debating is nothing new to Springs Boys High learners. Last Thursday, they competed in the semi-finals of the National Debating League (NDL) on their school premises.

Various schools in the East region participated in six rounds after the league’s inception earlier this year. The top eight teams in each division will go into the quarter-finals.

Those teams then transitioned into the semi-finals, in which they can showcase their skill level to make it into the final round, hosted at Roedean Senior School.

A number of these teams that achieve finals success will represent the East region in the nationals in Durban. The founder of the NDL, Thishin Moodley, highlighted the league’s vision.

“So often in society, people have good ideas, and those ideas are only shared once they have left the room. Our goal is for people to engage and be more interactive,” he said.

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When asked about the transformative power debating holds, he told a story of a selectively mute girl whose life changed after joining her school’s debate team.

“The supportive environment that her school’s debate club created allowed her to first become a time keeper, then a chairperson and, eventually, a debater. She was named the best speaker in the finals. It’s one of the stories I still think about that makes me emotional.

“You see these kids join debating at a young age, afraid to express themselves, and eventually you see progressive growth,” Moodley said.

Moodley said debating improves reading, communication and comprehension.

“Beyond the academics, the learners gain social skills, such as teamwork, which is important in debating because it’s a team effort. They learn to work with people and get to make new friends from different backgrounds,” he concluded.

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