The TSL 2023 International Student Debates took place on 7-8 June. The Debates brought together 65 students from 32 countries to express their views on ‘How can young people be better supported to thrive in green jobs?’.

Primary students from around the world explored the roles of key stakeholder groups – Government, Media, Education and Business – and debated which actions were likely to have the most impact in helping young people thrive in green jobs.

Our judges had a difficult time choosing the most outstanding debaters!

The winners are listed below.

Primary Student Awards

Best Individuals (confident debating, counter arguments, critical thinking, analytical skills)

• Jovan Milutinovic (Serbia)
• Aadhyaa Aravind Shankar (India)

Judges’ Commendations

• Hiranga Bandara Suraweera (Sri Lanka): Excellent conclusion and emotive poem
• Nathan Raenn Hombre (Philippines): Thoughtful arguments recognising the need for accessibility and inclusion
• Minh Nhat Anh Tran (Vietnam): Good defence of arguments and personal examples

Best Group: Primary 2 – The Media (very strong presentation and team debate)

Judges’ Group Commendations

Primary 1 – Government: Globally relevant ideas and concluding poem

Primary 3 – Education: Strong team presentation

Primary 4 – Businesses: Recognising the need for stakeholder partnerships

The secondary students debated the motion ‘Not enough is being done to support young people to thrive in green jobs’. All teams did an excellent job, particularly those debating against the motion (‘Enough is being done to support youth to thrive in green jobs’). During preparation, all the students revealed they personally felt more needed to be done, so putting together a strong argument in opposition to their own personal feelings was a challenge, but also a great achievement for the students.

Secondary Student Awards

Group A

Best Individuals: Confident and active contributions throughout, excellent listening, strong debate skills

• Ekta Singh (South Africa)
• Alexandra Bogdana Todorova (Bulgaria)

Judges’ Commendations

• Alex Kameoka (Japan): Strong arguments and good challenges to the opposition
• Hyeonju Lee (Thailand): Thoughtful and unique contributions and good support of arguments
• Abigail Manuella Aminta Situmorang (Indonesia): Current and globally relevant examples to support arguments

Best Team

Con 1: Strong opening arguments, well supported by choice of visuals and good real-life examples to support ideas

Judges’ Group Commendations

Pro 1: Strong opening video and good practical examples

Pro 2: Well organised, succinct, and good level of detail

Con 2: Good teamwork and interesting local and global examples

Group B

Best Individuals: Confident and active contributions throughout, excellent listening and strong debate skills

• Selvesh Senthil (Seychelles)
• Matthew Yik Yu Wong (Hong Kong)

Judges’ Commendations: Well-researched arguments, strong examples and confident debating skills

• Kyla Candaice Jordan (Guyana)
• Raashida Farvin (UAE)
• Ziraili Pereira (Seychelles)
• Teodora Maeva Aleksandrova (Bulgaria)
• Marcela Valeria Boarotto (Spain)

Best Team

Con 3: Active participation from the whole team, applied learning and well-reasoned arguments

Judges’ Group Commendations

Pro 3: Critical thinking and good evidence

Con 4: Good research and team debate

Pro 4: Engaging video and detailed evidence

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the debates! The judges were impressed by the depth of research, critical thinking, quality arguments, and confident and courteous debating demonstrated by all of the students.