Regional debate sparks intellectual fire among schools in Madi

The spirit of critical thinking, eloquence, and intellectual competition lit up Biyaya Secondary School in Adjumani district over the weekend as the National Debate League (NDL) organized a thrilling regional debate for the Madi sub-region.

The event brought together 14 secondary schools from Adjumani and Moyo districts, along with four primary schools, marking a vibrant display of academic prowess and teamwork.

The regional debate, held under the theme “resilient and patriotic citizens for good governance,” served as a platform for students to engage issue-based discussions, build public speaking skills, and foster a culture of informed discourse among the youth.

St. Andrews College Moyo, the reigning champions from last year’s edition, returned with confidence and flair, defending their title with exceptional performance in the final round against St. Thomas Aquinas College Erepi.

The competition saw passionate participation from secondary schools such as Biyaya SS, Ayilo SS, Lefori Seed SS, Metu SS, Bezza Al-Hijja SS, among others.

On the primary school side, Pakele Army primary School, Mother Thereze, Redeemer children’s primary school and St. Peter’s primary school all participated.

In his remarks, Kandaruku Dominic, the NDL tournament director, commended the students and pupils for their courage and commitment to academic excellence, emphasizing on the purpose of the debate.

“National Debate League has been in Uganda for quite a number of years.  However, this is the first time it is happening in Madi sub-region.

“And just like any other debate society, National Debate League offers opportunity for regional qualifiers to participate at National Debate Championship. And after here, six qualifying schools will participate at the Grand Nationals later in December,” he said.

He added: “So, this year’s teams are so resilient and patriotic citizens for good governance. The teams carefully chosen to meet the demand of civic engagement for the school-going kids who are also voters.

“This is a political error and we want students to know about how their governance of the nation actually works like, but not just letting them know, but through debate, public speech, and poetry, we then get their one point of view,” said Kandaruku.

Amale Amos Ayub, one of the debaters from St. Andrews College Moyo expressed his gratitude to the organizers of the debate and their supporters during the struggle.

“This is what we look for. We look for resilience in the people and this is what they gave us and that’s why we are able to come here today and win. I also want to assure everyone that we are going to be able to keep up this spirit and ensure that in the and we’re a much better people through debate.

“Not just merely debaters, but people who can use debate to cause effective change in the society,” said Amos.

Letio Babara Marvis, a teacher from St. Andrews College, Moyo, appreciated the organizers and appealed to them to make it an annual event.

“I am very overwhelmed and very excited for the victory our students got. You see, this came with a lot of resilience, with a lot of hard work. And it also came with a lot of hope that when we come to Adjumani, we must be the defending champions. And I feel it only took us hard work, focus and determination to get where we are now.

“I also want to say that um I really appreciate so much the for this national uh debate league that come next year. Let it be actually let it be an annual uh organization that will expound our learners to various spectrum and also their knowledge and skills and intellectual ability will be highly improved,” said Letio.

The best speaker award went to Majok Kol Yuei from Lewa Secondary school while Madi debate society promised to include him in the judges’ group.

As the curtains closed, the organizing committee pledged to extend the debate initiative to more schools in Madi sub region, citing the growing enthusiasm and talent among the students.

The Madi sub-region debate has once again proven that with the right platforms, young voices can not only speak up—but speak out with purpose, clarity, and vision.