KATHMANDU, Feb 16: Mahakumbha 2016, the second annual national World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) for high school students, concluded on February 13 with Team Chelsea International Academy, Team Dristanta and Team United School winning the first prizes for English, Nepali and Novice categories respectively.
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They beat Team Zero, Team Southwestern College and Team Bridgewater International Academy respectively to lift the champion's trophies.
Fifteen best speakers from the English category in the championship have been shortlisted for WSDC World Championship 2016 to be held in Germany this July.A total of 20 teams—institutional and independent—comprising three to five debaters ranging from Class 8 to12 students and some fresh high school graduates participated in Mahakumbha 2016. This year, the competition also introduced a new category – 'Novice', under which participants with relatively little or no experience in debating competed and were judged amongst themselves.
In a press statement by the organizers, tournament co-convener Prabin Basyal, who also recently competed at the Thessaloniki World Championships 2016, has been quoted as saying, "It's good to see the enthusiasm towards debating among the youth of today. Debating helps acquire many necessary skills, an important one would be the art of listening which does not come quite easily to many but is very essential nonetheless. Thankfully youth today are realizing the importance of debating and we felt that during Mahakumbha this year."
Similarly, one of the participants, Dilisha Bhusal expressed that the competition has helped polish her skill to a great extent. "If I am to remember the person I was when I entered this hall, I wouldn't find myself this confident and bold. This competition has not only sharpened my public speaking ability, but also provided me a platform to network with like-minded people," she said.
The five-day long debate tournament was organized by Debate Network Nepal – an organization that works to institutionalize debating experience in Nepal, in partnership with Artha Foundation, Student Oriented Project and Network, and King's College. MahaKumbha is Nepal's largest WSDC style debate tournament prepared for high school students vying to debate both in English and Nepali category.
