The Inter-Secondary Schools Debating Competition kicked off last week with the first round of debates. 10 secondary schools competed in Round 1 in 5 debates which took place from January 11th to 13th 2023. The schools which participated were the St. Martin Secondary School, the Castle Bruce Secondary School, the Saint Mary’s Academy, the Arthur Waldron SDA Academy, the Portsmouth Secondary School, the Convent High School, the North East Comprehensive School, the Dominica Grammar School, the Isaiah Thomas Secondary School and the Dominica Community High School. 

(Results of each debate and topic debated attached. Best speakers shown in bold) 

The winning schools of the first round were the Castle Bruce Secondary School, the SMA, the PSS, the North East Comprehensive School and the Isaiah Thomas Secondary School. They all advance to round 2 of the competition. Joining them will be the top scoring school in the first round which did not win, the Arthur Waldron SDA Academy. Also joining them will be the Orion Academy and the Wesley High School who both got automatically advanced to Round 2 when the schools they were pitted against withdrew from the competition. Round 2 of the Inter-Secondary Schools Debating Competition takes place from February 8th to 10th 2023. In Round 2, the Wesley High School will face the Orion Academy, the Castle Bruce Secondary School will square off against the North East Comprehensive School, the Portsmouth Secondary School will challenge the Arthur Waldron SDA Academy and the Isaiah Thomas Secondary school will compete against the St. Mary’s Academy. 

The competition is a 4-round competition and is set to conclude with a grand final between the last two schools standing in April 2023.