Brothers Masterson & Bergin Memorial
By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Mussoorie, 8 Sep: The ‘Brothers Masterson and Bergin Memorial Inter-School Debates 2024’ were held at St George’s College on 6 and 7 September. Forty-two participants from 14 teams participated in the event. The Opening Ceremony began with the welcome address delivered by Yuvraj Singh, President, the Debating Society at St George’s College. Adhyan Taparia of Class 10 led the gathering in prayer.
Superior, Brother Babu Varghese, Principal Brother Ramesh Amalanathan, Vice-Principal and Sports Secretary Brother Felix Kumar, Cultural Coordinator Deepali Ballabh, Yuvraj Singh, President, Debating Society, and Society Secretary Rodas Bhatia lit the ceremonial lamp.
Jayant Jain and Ranveer Minocha of Class 10 gave a brief introduction about the lives of Brother JG Masterson and Brother CJ Bergin, men of distinction, known for their flair for conversation, rhetoric and debate.
The debates were conducted in the World Schools Debating Format and were judged by the eminent panel of Pratarka comprising Aayush Bermola, Prachurjya Phukan, Samar Pratap Singh, Nitin Singh Rana, Aliza Mehdi, Jiya Malla and Ayushi.
The schools that participated were Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie, Unison World School, Dehradun, St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, St Mary’s Academy, Meerut, The Doon School, Dehradun, Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun, Welham Boys’ School, Dehradun, St Jude’s School, Dehradun, Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, Ann Mary School, Dehradun, Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, and Convent of Jesus and Mary School, Dehradun, and the host school with their White and Blue teams.
After a few general instructions, followed by the pairing of schools, the first round (prepared) commenced.
The topic for the first round was: “This House Believes That Post Colonial States Should Actively and Significantly Decentralise State Control to Local
Tribes/Regional Leaders.”
The topic for the second round was: “In Developing Countries, This House Prefers Global Languages as the Primary Medium of Instruction Over Local Languages.”
The topic for the third round was: “This House Believes That Developing Countries Should Adopt Economic Development that Heavily Disincentives Urbanisation.”
On the basis of the maximum marks scored in the three preliminary rounds, eight teams qualified for the Quarter Finals – Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, The Doon School, Dehradun, St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun, Welham Boys’ School, Dehradun, Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie, and St George’s College, Mussoorie (Team White & Team Blue).
On the basis of the maximum marks scored in the quarter-final round, the semi-final round was contested among four teams. St George’s College (Team White) was pitted against St Georges College (Team Blue) and The Doon School was pitted against St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun.
Present on the occasion as Chief Guest was Sagar Malik, Manorite of the batch of 2003 and the former President of the Debating Society. He was welcomed with a potted plant.
In the final round, St George’s College (Team White) and St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun debated on: “This House Believes that it is Legitimate to Demand a Constant State of Happiness from Oneself.”
At the end of the final round, Principal Brother Ramesh Amalanathan addressed the gathering. He thanked the Chief Guest for having graced the occasion with his presence. Brother Ramesh Amalanathan expressed his gratitude to the judges for their valuable effort and time.
Principal Brother Amalanathan presented a memento to the Chief Guest, Sagar Malik, as a token of appreciation and gratitude.
St George’s College (Team White) was adjudged the winner of the Brothers Masterson and Bergin Memorial Inter-School Debate, 2024 while St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun was the Runner-Up team.
As there was a tie for the ‘Best Speaker’ of the competition award, both, Sai Supraja of St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, and Yuvraj Singh of St George’s College (Team White) were awarded Gold Medals.
