San Fernando Central wins Victoria Inter-School debate championship

Senior Reporter

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San Fernando Central Secondary emerged as the overall winner after outperforming seven other schools in the Victoria Education District Inter-School debate at St Joseph’s Convent in San Fernando last Wednesday.

The winning team, which faced off against St Joseph’s Convent, expertly tackled the motion “The SEA Examination has Outlived its Relevance in Modern Education,” delivering compelling arguments that impressed the judges to secure the school’s place as district champions.

The team members were Sian Singh, Amelia Guerra, Jada John and Natania Thompson.

Focusing on three main points, student Sian Singh argued that the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination is used as a high-stakes instrument to place students into secondary schools.

Secondly, she said SEA creates a narrow measure of students’ achievements, and thirdly, SEA creates psychological trauma.

She argued, “SEA causes worry over what can affect the next seven years of our lives. SEA is excessive stress. We all know how many students suffer from anxiety. My esteemed judges, a system that heavily relies on a single examination fails to assess many essential modern skills and places enormous pressure on children at such a young age has clearly outlived its relevance.”

Christine Lakhan-Mootoo, committee chairman, explained that they started the initiative to foster a spirit of healthy competition among students in the Victoria District area, but they are hoping to expand to other districts as the competition and committee grow.

“We’re also hoping that we, in the future, would receive some sponsorship to help expand the competition,” said Lakhan-Mootoo.

Held under the theme, Empowering Voices of Our Future Leaders, the event saw La Romaine Secondary emerging victorious over ASJA Girls’ College on the motion, “The Single-Sex School Structure Better Supports Student Academic Achievement.”

Naparima College took on Marabella South Secondary, winning the debate on the motion “A Four-day School Week will Better Meet The Needs of Students.”

Marabella North Secondary won over Presentation College on the motion “Community Service Should be made a Mandatory Component of the Secondary School Curriculum in T&T.”

Individual awards were also distributed in various categories.

Josh Hansraj of Naparima College was named Best Opening Speaker, Kay-Lei-Joi Ramsumair earned Best Rebuttal and Keshawn Baptiste of Marabella North Secondary was awarded Best Summary Speaker.