Communication is the fundamental need for humankind to survive in the world. Debate competitions conducted at school and inter-school level are an excellent opportunity for students to build up the confidence to speak out in society and represent their views.
It is essential in today’s education system to encourage critical thinking and develop presentation skills among children.
Classroom debates and elocution competitions provide a platform to self-express responsive, logical, evidence-based debates or arguments with another person. This, in turn, will improve abstract thinking, research, reasoning, public speaking skills, and even boost self- esteem.
Undoubtedly, the main aspiration of being a part of the debate is to convey yourself in a concise way such that people around you understand your perception using logical facts to back your opinions.
Let us understand the importance of debate competition in schools.
1. Inculcate critical thinking
Schools have the responsibility to incorporate critical thinking skills and allow them to scrutinise the subject matter. Students are motivated to examine those concepts to make logical arguments in addition to questioning behind a particular conclusion. Such debate competitions help students become curious about new ideas and build an attitude of questioning.
2. Develop a better understanding
While preparing for a debate, students get a better understanding of what they’re saying. With time their communication skill improves, and they master the art of delivering speeches confidently. It’s a potential way to build a child’s self-esteem and freedom of thought.
3. Improves the ability to research and learn
The debate takes a lot of researching, which helps in developing the child’s research skills. As the child starts researching a certain topic, they come across relevant evidence to prove his/her point of view.
With a familiar topic in hand, the child becomes impulsive enough to think and bring in conclusions from their own experiences. Researching allows the child to educate themselves and explore things beyond the realms of academics.
4. Acquire clear and logical thinking
Children learn to think clearly and logically as they start thinking in a structured manner. They learn to memorise information faster to prepare them for a counter-argument. This way, children become knowledgeable about facts that allow them to respond to other people’s views.
In academics too, the child adopts clear and organised thoughts which makes them authoritative by all means.
5. Foster life skills
Participating in debates enhances a child’s speaking and listening skills. Children participating in debates from an early stage are found to be decisive, intuitive, and quick thinkers even under pressure.
Witnessing differing views enables children to respect their counter-arguments and helps them to deal with emotional attachments and personal sensitivities. Speaking on different topics helps them to sharpen their thinking abilities and build into responsible adults.
In simple words, debates shape the personal skills and personality of a child. It moulds a child’s voice of opinion and views about different subjects, making them confident enough to face the outside world.
Are you hunting for debate topics for primary students? Read this!
Nalanda International School is one such school that strongly believes that each child has an inherent set of skills and targets as each student is unique. We emphasise more on value-based education to create better, well-rounded individuals for the future. Here, every child is exposed to various co-curriculum activities so that they realise their highest potential and shape them accordingly.
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