Bishop Cotton School wins Slater memorial debate after 10 years

Bishop Cotton School (BCS), Shimla, won the prestigious Samuel Slater Memorial Invitational Inter-School English Debates. Fifteen reputed schools from the country and Dubai participated in the event.

The final debate showcased the exuberant linguistic talents by of the BCS team against the Mallinson Girls’ School’s team from Srinagar. The topic for the debate was ‘Community engagement and life skills must be made mandatory in the Indian school curriculum’. The host school, BCS, won the trophy after a gap of 10 years.

Chief guest Abhishek Verma, Additional Deputy Collector, IAS, Shimla, started the event with a lamp lighting ceremony. The anticipation was palpable as the two teams geared up to engage in an intellectual showdown that had promised to captivate the audience.

The BCS boys’ tough opponents for the finals were the Mallinson Girls from Kashmir. They have been the reigning champions in the Slater Debates last year but this year, the BCS boys managed to clinch victory.

“We have been delighted with this year’s debate competition, particularly with the quality of debates. At times you are asked to defend the indefensible and propose the idea which you strictly reject. The participants have performed with energy and wit,” said BCS Director Simon Weale.

In the 165th year since its foundation in 1859, Bishop Cotton welcomed 16 top schools from across India and Dubai to take part in the five-day competition.