7th Clifford Hicks memorial international inter-school debate comes to an end

KOLKATA: In 2015, Calcutta Boys’ School (CBS) initiated an inter-school debate competition to honour Clifford Hicks. Hicks was not only a teacher at CBS in the late 1940s but also served as the principal and secretary from 1952 to 1974. Starting with just seven schools in 2015, the seventh edition of the Clifford Hicks Memorial International Inter-School debate, held at CBS Kolkata, saw participation of around 70 schools from all over India and abroad from October 10-13.

The conclave, organised by CBS Literary Society was held in two categories — Category I for Classes XI &XII and Category II for Classes IX & X with prelims and finals for each stage.

The inauguration ceremony on October 10, welcomed Kaushik Saha, IAS, Director of Census Operations and Director Citizen Registration in Bengal. “In just seven years, the number of participating schools had surged from seven to an impressive seventy,” said the alumnus of CBS (batch 1982). Principal and secretary, CBS, Kolkata, Raja McGee said: “Friendships that you have forged in the last four days will always remain. It is indeed a satisfying moment that nearly 70 schools from across the country and abroad participated in this event and made it a success.”

During the closing ceremony on Friday, TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and TMC MLA Nayna Bandyopadhyay graced the event. Prof Anindya Ray Chaudhuri, Kimberly D’Souza and Rohit S Malkhani were also present. In Category II finals, Agneesh Chatterjee from La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata won the best speaker. La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata also lifted the winning team trophy with Gems New Millennium School, Dubai, UAE, becoming the runners up.

The winners of Category I finals were announced with Jaidev Ranade from St. Mary’s School, Pune, bagging the best speaker award. La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata team was the runners up and the students of The Bishop’s Co-ed school, Kalyani Nagar, Pune went with the winners’ trophy. For Liyana Kp, class XI, and Imranah Ilias, class XII of Gems Our Own Indian School, Dubai, UAE, it was indeed a great opportunity to meet many students and discuss important topics.

The moderators and judges, including Hilda Peacock, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Shaberi Das, Sujata Chatterjee, Paula Ghosh, Monideepa Lahiri, Pushpita Barik, Prof Charlotte Simpson Vaegas and Francis Gomes, also had a great time during the competition.