By Mohamed Macarthy
Mariama Bangura, a Senior Secondary School pupil at the Saint Joseph Secondary School for girls in Makeni has was declared winner of the Youth National Debate Competition organized by the Talking Drums Studio in Freetown. Whilst Umaru Latif Kamara from the Government Secondary School Bo took the second position.
Speaking to Politico, Mariama Bangura of SSS 2 said she feels delightful and proud of herself as a girl to win the competition from districts, regionals, and the final one in Freetown. She noted that the national competition was a bit tough for her; adding that she ultimately competed with intelligent boys from the Government Secondary School Bo.
The winner urged her colleague female pupils to be steadfast, determined, and profound with their studies; noting that every girl has the potential to do what she did in the just concluded national youth debate competition.
Umaru Latif Kamara, told Politico that though he did not emerge as the winner in the competition as expected, he feels very satisfied and gratified with the outcomes of the results. He commended the judges on behalf of his school and urged them to continue such outstanding judgments in whatever debate competition.
The competition with the theme: “Strengthening the culture of constructive dialogue and debate among Sierra Leonean youth” was a pilot project that commenced four (4) months ago, targeting twenty-two schools randomly from Bo, Bombali, Pujehun, and Tonkolili districts.
Speaking to Politico, the Project Officer, Tommy Macarthy said that the rationale for the just concluded competition is to create an enabling platform for pupils to be able to display their talents, speak constructively, and dialogue on sensitive issues at local and national levels.
McCarthy said that the competition prior to the final round in Freetown started at the districts level wherein schools that emerged as winners were qualified for the regional competitions. He added that at the regional levels some schools were qualified whilst some got eliminated.
The Project Officer noted that the final segment for the competition was among four schools for the national debate; adding that this is their maiden competition.
Speaking at the competition, the Acting Country Directory for Talking Drum Studio- Sierra Leone, Alpha Kamara said that the culture of debating among pupils, councilors, and parliamentarians had been included in some of their programs.
Kamara noted that the competition will now be an annual event to capacitate pupils and other concerned authorities in order to ensure that the platform created will give them the necessary skills to constructively debate on local and national issues. “Most of the debaters now in Schools will become leaders in due course and as such much more will be expected from them when debating on strategic issues in society,” he said.
The Deputy Director in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Foday Conteh applauded Talking Drum Studio –Sierra Leone for complementing some of the mandates of the line ministry.
He admonished all the competitors present that they were all winners at the end of the day as there is no loser in any academic competition. He urged every competitor to accept the outcomes of the competition wholeheartedly.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 17/12/21
