Season 3, Round 3: RESULTS!
The final round of the hit Arimus Media TV show schools’ spin-off, the iMlango Junior Debater’s Contest, is now complete, and the results are in!
As ever, the children have worked as teams to respond to the competition’s Round 3 motion, boosting their literacy, communication and research skills, as well as enhancing their self-esteem. In Round 3, 14 groups (each of 5 children, all from Standard 7) responded, representing an incredible 93%. The competition to be overall season winner was hot!
The motion facing the students this time was: “Gender equality is important - what can we do to ensure we achieve it? Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.”
Challengebreakers, from Mwangutwa Primary School strongly agreed, citing the work of great women such as conservationist Wangari Maathai and Kenya’s first lady, Margaret Kenyatta, and the kindness of Mother Teresa. “We want to say that every living person should strive to support gender equality” they postulated, although while they gave thanks that pro-gender equality legislation is now in place, they felt its implementation is lacking. They also warned against “placing unqualified personnel in positions in the name of gender equality”, stating that balance is needed. They summed up: “In a nut-shell, gender equality is important and through thick and thin we should strive towards its realisation for the world to be a better dwelling place”.
Seagul group, from Boarder Farm Primary School argued very strongly in favour: “Women should no longer be looked at as inferior to men and weak sex of human race, everyone is equal. There is need for removal of obstacles hindering women's participation in public and private life through ensuring women's full equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision making because this is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice”.
They stated that what is needed is law change to underpin rejection of traditional norms oppressing women and girls, alongside poverty-alleviating Government policies, for instance the introduction of microloans for carrying out income-generating businesses. They concluded: “We appreciate the government's effort to provide free primary and secondary education to all without favour of gender”
Students participating in the iMlango Junior Debaters Contest
Bata group, from Mwangutwa Primary School did not deviate. “Gender based discrimination against female children is pervasive across the world. It is seen in all the strata of society … the female child has been treated inferior to the male child and this is deeply engraved in their mind”. However, “sustainable development relies on ending discrimination towards women and providing equal opportunities for education and employment”.
They listed “twelve steps in order to achieve gender equality in our lifetimes”, which included “make education gender sensitive; raise aspirations of girls and their parents; get women into power”. They concluded that “in this world you may not know what is going to happen when you try, but … as we know unity is strength, and we are quite sure that we together as a country can achieve gender equality”.
Once again, the judges were very impressed by all the teams, but there had to be a winner. So in reverse order are:
Challengebreakers, with a fantastic 70%,
Seagul, with an incredible 75%,
And in first place, with a magnificent score of 78%....
SEASON WINNERS, 2019, BATA!!!
Huge congratulations to Bata, and to ALL the competing teams who made such a valuable contribution to the contest. Watch this space for details of the prize-giving ceremony, coming soon!
Until next time,
The iMlango Team