The winners in a group photograph after the competition
THE MFANTSIMAN Girls’ Senior High School (SHS) in the Central Region has emerged as winners of the 23rd edition of the National Inter-Senior High Debate Competition after putting up a feisty performance against Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ SHS in the Ashanti Region.
The competition organized by the Ghana Education Service (GES) is part of activities marking the Ghana @63 Independence Anniversary celebrations.
The topic for this year’s debate held at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi last Friday, February 28, was: “Technology Makes Humans Physically and Mentally Dormant.”
The Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ SHS spoke for the topic while the Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS argued against it.
Ida Blankson, Larbi-Anim Winifred, Nelly Ayitey and Abigail Esinam Hededzi represented the Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS, while Acquah Emmanuella, Chelsea Asamoah Frimpong, Christabel Avorga and Adwoa Serwaa Amanfo stood in for the Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ SHS.
At the end of the keenly contested debate, the Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS scored 78 points to emerge as winners, while Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ SHS garnered 63 points to place second.
For their prizes, the Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS received GH¢2,000 certificate and laptops for each participating student, while the Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ SHS pocketed GH¢1,600 certificate and laptops for each contestant.
The principal speaker for the Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ SHS, Acquah Emmanuella, was the first to mount the stage to argue for the motion. She confidently argued to the admiration of the audience.
For Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS, Ida Blankson, who led as its principal speaker, also boldly spoke against the motion in an expressive manner to the appreciation of the audience.
At the end of the contest, Dr. Peter Arthur, a lecturer at the KNUST and his team of judges comprising Mr. Anthony Augustine Aidoo and Dr. Mrs. Philomena Yeboah – both lecturers at the university – declared Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS as winners of the competition.
In his short address, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, advised the students to study and express themselves well in the English language to help boost their self-confidence to become creative and critical thinkers.
He congratulated the contestants on their spirited performance, saying, “You are all winners in this competition because you are winners from the two sectors – northern and southern sectors of Ghana.”
FROM David Afum, Kumasi