Zimbabwe- Seven primary schools have been selected to participate in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) debate competitions.
The schools participated in competitions where 23 primary schools from the 10 provinces competed in the national competitions.
After being crowned champions in their respective provinces, these schools were on the national stage.
All the debates are courtesy of PriDC (Primary Schools Debate Challenge) running under the theme, ‘Bridging the Generational gap through intellectual discourse.’
From a total of 23 Schools, the 7 schools were selected to proceed to the PriDC 2025 SADC competitions to be held in Johannesburg in August.
According to the organisers, the theme encourages learners to assume the role of their parents or leaders in suggesting solutions to drug abuse and early child marriages.
PriDc director National Marwa said, most of the schools such as Munro Primary School, Sir John Kennedy Primary School, Old Windsor Primary School, Quality Junior School, Oceanwaves Junior School among others, are not new to this game since they competed in last year’s Pan African Junior Schools Debate Competitions held in Kenya.
“Although these schools are veterans in the competitions, the Debate trophy was scooped by a new child in the block, Lil Scholar Academy, a private school located in Borrowdale.
“Old Windsor Primary School scooped the Public Speaking trophy while St Bernard Primary School emerged victorious in the Model UN Simulation.
“Through the various speeches and arguments raised by the learners during the competitions, it is evident that the children need to be given a voice in the formulation of policies to protect them from social ills like drug abuse, child abuse, early child marriages, among other issues.”
Last year, five local primary schools were selected to participate in the Pan African Junior Schools Debate competitions in Nairobi, Kenya.
The schools qualified during the SADC Competitions, which were held in Mozambique, in August of the same year.
