Pupils from Randfontein High School (RHS) recently debated themselves all the way to Europe.
Six of them had the opportunity to participate in the Heart of Europe International Debate Tournament from 13 to 18 July. Their coach, Jason Fisher explained how the pupils took RHS‘ debating skills to new heights as they were the first to represent their school abroad.
The tournament took place in Olomouc in the east of the Czech Republic in Eastern Europe where RHS and another South African school competed against some of the best teams from countries such as Hungary, Canada, Peru, Denmark, Spain, Poland and Malaysia.
Jason explained they were fortunate enough to “break into the octofinals (Top 16)” where they lost against teams from Canada and Denmark, who, in turn were the two finalists. During the tournament, three prepared motions and five unprepared motions were expected of them.
“The motions were quite difficult, some you would rather expect from a politician,” Jason said.
Afterwards the team had the opportunity to explore Prague, the capital of Czech Republic where they had tea with South African ambassador FC Verwey.
The pupils presented him with a gift from the school, which prompted FC to advise them to strongly consider diplomatic careers in future.
“The world is much bigger than Randfontein … these pupils are extremely bright; if they are able to speak and argue successfully, one can only imagine what their future will look like,” Fisher said.
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