National Inter-School Debate Competition

Specific Guidelines

A. Selection of Teams and Qualifications:

1. Teams will be selected on a first come first serve basis.

2. Each team will consist of 3 members from Grades VIII, IX and X.
3. The rounds of the competition will be as follows:
 Group Round: 16 October 2023
 Pre-Quarter Finals: 17 October 2023
 Quarter-Finals: 18 October 2023
 Semi-Finals: 19 October 2023
 Grand Finale: 20 October 2023
4. The selected teams will be divided into four groups in the Group Round: Group A, B, C and D.
5. The top 4 teams from each group in the Group Round will proceed to the Pre-Quarter Finals.
6. From the Pre-Quarter Final onwards, it will be knockout rounds. The winning team of each debate
will qualify for the subsequent round.
7. The timings of the results will be announced on the same day. All teams should re-join to find out the
scores and the winning teams.
8. It is mandatory that the same members, whose names are registered, should participate in the debate.
9. If any of the members are unable to participate in case of an emergency, the school may replace their
names on or before 9 October 2023 by emailing a request and getting a confirmation email for the
same.
10. Participation of three members is mandatory:
 If out of three, one member is unable to participate and a substitute for him/her is also not
appointed before the date mentioned above, the team will have to participate with only two
members.
 If out of three, two members are unable to participate, and substitutes for them have not been
appointed before the date mentioned above, the team will be disqualified from the
competition.

B. Rules:

1. All three members of each team should get an equal opportunity to speak. No two speakers from the
same team may speak consecutively. After a speaker from Team A puts forth his/her point, it needs
to be rebutted by a speaker from Team B and so on. If one or two speakers dominate the debate, the
team will stand to lose points in the scoring sheet.
2. No rebuttal can go on for more than 1 minute.
3. A message will be written in the chat box at end of the opening statement, rebuttal round and closing
statement where the speaker must wrap up their content. Overshooting the time will lead to a loss of
points on the scoring sheet.

C. Points Deduction and Disqualification:

1. The total duration of each debate will be 15 minutes for the Group round, Pre-Quarter Finals and
Quarter Finals. For the Semi-Finals and Grand Finale, the total duration will be 20 minutes.
2. All participants should join the debate 10 minutes prior to the start of their debate.
3. If any member of a team fails to join at the allotted time, the team will lose points. The longer the
delay, the more points will be deducted. Any delay beyond 5 minutes will result in that team being
disqualified immediately. The opposite team will then be marked based on their responses to the
questions asked by the judges and the audience.
4. Prompting by fellow debaters or other members during the debate could lead to the deduction of
points.
5. Participants may refer to their notes to speak, but reading from a pre-written script or paper is against
the rule and they will lose points.
6. If a participant is found involved in any unfair means, the team will lose points or be disqualified, as
per the judges’ decision.

D. Break up of time duration:

Group Round, Pre-Quarter Final & Quarter Final: (15 mins)
1 minute: opening statement from the team in favour of the motion
1 minute: opening statement from the opposing team
11 minutes: Debate and Rebuttals
1 minute: closing statement from the team in favour of the motion
1 minute: closing statement from the opposing team

Semi-Final and Grand Finale: (20 mins)

1 minute: opening statement from the team in favour of the motion

1 minute: opening statement from the opposing team
16 minutes: Debate and Rebuttals
1 minute: closing statement from the team in favour of the motion
1 minute: closing statement from the opposing team
 Apart from the above, refer to the below points for which time is assigned:

5 minutes: For the moderator to introduce the two teams, the judges and the debate topic.
3 minutes: The judges may choose to say a few words to the teams within this time.
2 minutes: Closing comments from the judges.

E. Other Instructions:

1. The debate will be held virtually on Google Meet.

2. For the debate, only the three participating members should join the Google Meet. Family members
or other students from the school are not permitted to join the debate.
3. From each participating school, three guests are welcome to attend the debate as viewers only, with
mics off. These could be the Principal/Vice-Principal/Coordinator/Teachers of the school.
4. Each team will receive the topic of the debate and the position assigned to them, i.e. ‘in favour of the
motion’ or ‘against the motion’ prior to the debate.
5. The participants have to research the topic and prepare arguments according to the position assigned
to them.
6. All participants must be dressed in their school uniform.

F. Technical Instructions:

1. All participants should join the debate 10 minutes prior to the start of their debate.
2. All participants should mention their full names on the display of Google Meet.
3. The speakers should be completely visible to the judges and audience at all times.
4. Participants should be visible even after they have spoken or are waiting for their turn to speak. In
this case, they have to be seated with their microphones kept on mute.
5. Speakers must use tried and tested gadgets while participating in the debate. They should ensure that
they have a good and stable internet connection and their microphones and camera should be in
working condition.
6. Speakers should ensure that they have a backup system that will protect them from any electricity
cuts and technical glitches.
7. Speakers should ensure that the environment from where they are speaking is noise-free and free from
extraneous sound and visual background. They are advised to select a plain background without
distraction for the audience and judges.

G. Scoring Rubrics:

1. Scores will be given by the 2 judges as per the rubrics.

2. The scoring rubrics are shared below, so contestants know what they are being judged on.
3. The participating teams will be marked on team points and individual speaker points.
4. The average of the three participants’ scores and the score of their entire team will be tallied to get
each team’s grand score.
5. If in case one participant is absent from the debate, the points for that participant will be noted as
‘zero’ and the average score of the participants will once again be calculated divided by three, so
please ensure all 3 members of the debate team are present.
6. If in case one participant fails to join on time or is delayed by 5 minutes, then points will be deducted
from the Team Work category of the team score. Beyond 5 minutes, the participant will not be allowed
to join the debate and the team will have to continue with 2 members and will be scored accordingly.
7. In case of a tie in points, the score given by Judge 1 will count to determine which team has the higher
points and that team will go through. In case Judge 1 has also tied both teams in their scores, Judge 1
will have to cast a veto vote to select the team that goes through.
8. The scoring rubrics will remain the same for each level throughout the competition.
9. The judges’ discretion in the scoring of the teams will be accepted as final and an average of the
scores from both judges will be taken.
10. Decision of the judges will be final and binding.

TEAM POINTS Maximum Score

Preparation: Research processes, analysis & evaluation of data, facts, statistics
10
done before debates to support the argument
Organization & Clarity: Main arguments and responses are outlined in a clear,
20
effective and orderly way
Team Work: Equitable distribution of contribution by all 3 team members, &
10
each member of the team presenting an argument that built on their previous one
Opening Statement: Well organised, to the point and with good timing 5
Closing Statement: Well summed up, to the point and with good timing 5
TEAM TOTAL 50
 INDIVIDUAL SPEAKER POINTS Maximum Score
Turnout: Appearance, Body language & Confidence levels 10
Persuasiveness: Arguments were logical & convincing 20
Delivery: Communicated clearly & confidently, voice inflection & delivery speed 10
Rebuttals: Addressed opponents’ specific points with effective counter-argument 10
INDIVIDUAL TOTAL 50

GRAND TOTAL = TEAM TOTAL + AVG OF 3 INDIVIDUAL TOTALS