A group of Panamanian pupils from King’s College Panamá between the ages of 12 and 15 years old will travel to Mexico on the 5th of February for the “COBIS Student World Debate Competition 2016”, in which 200 of the best Secondary pupils from all over the world will participate.
On the 5th, 6th and 7th of February, a group of 12 Panamanian pupils will participate for the first time in history in the international tournament “COBIS Student World Debate Competition” which will take place in Mexico. The King’s College Panama pupils, aged between 12 and 15 years old, will compete in English against other outstanding students from all over the world.
The “COBIS Student World Debate Competition” is a prestigious competition celebrated every year in which 200 of the best Secondary pupils from all over the world participate. The pupils, from countries such as The Netherlands, Brazil, Spain and Russia, among others, have to compete in English through various rounds of debate. The participants already know some of the topics, but others remain a surprise.
The King’s College students who will represent Panama this year have been training for several months for this competition, for which they managed to qualify by showing a high level of public speaking and debating in English. That is to say some skills which they develop from a very young age, as in the British School of Panama “Debating Lessons” and “Speakers’ corner” are part of the curriculum from as early as Primary years (7 years old).
“Debating helps children reinforce aspects such as confidence, critical thinking and tolerance, as well as considerably bettering their level of English. But most of all, it teaches them to exchange opinions in a constructive way”, explains Vanessa Whay, the headteacher of King’s College Panama.