Team Kuwait’s success in the World Schools Debating Championships in Thailand

Left: Team Kuwait at the opening ceremony. (From left to right) May Al Amir, Daniel Puumalanein, Vedant Aryan Khaitan, Yousef Mehany and Farah Badr. Right: Team Kuwait with members of Team Italy. This August, the national debating team from Kuwait - led by Kuwait English School student Vedant Aryan Khaitan - had the opportunity to participate in the prestigious World Schools Debating Championships. The event was held in the Thai capital, Bangkok, and had a duration of two weeks, during which many different rounds took place.

The team included May Al Amir, Daniel Pummalanein, Yousef Mehany and Farah Badr from the British School of Kuwait who were accompanied by two coaches, Jeremy Grigg and Ms Abigail Bartholomew.

The five students met and competed with other nations - Italy, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Oman, Turkey and Wales to name a few. Throughout the competition the team was in an ever increasing quest for improvement and gave each debate their 100%. As a result, the team had one of their best performances yet against competent professional debating societies. They had a 3-0 win against Venezuela and a one way split against Saudi Arabia.

According to Vedant, “Participating in WSDC 2019 was one of the greatest honours of my life. For a new nation we performed sublimely. It is very good to see the rising standard of debate in the Middle East and I hope this continues to improve. I hope to maintain this passion of mine and participate in the WSDC 2020 which is to be held in Mexico City. I would also like to thank my coach, Mr. Francois Stevens from Kuwait English School, for his support and guidance, as well as the School Chairman, Mohammed Jassim Al Saddah for his financial contribution which enabled me to take part in the event.”

This was a unique opportunity for Team Kuwait to show independence, creativity, motivation and determination. The young debaters went back home having improved their public speaking, general knowledge and networking skills. An invaluable experience overall.