As part of the programmes marking the celebration of the Commonwealth Day which falls on the second Monday of every March, the Commonwealth debates was organised to create awareness of the Commonwealth through a healthy, competitive and fun mode among second cycle institutions.
On Saturday the 12 th of March 2005, at the Ghana National Teachers Hall (GNAT), four senior secondary schools out of the six invited schools presented themselves for the competition. The schools were Prempeh College, Opoku Ware Secondary School, Yaa Asantewaa Girls Secondary School, and St. Louis Secondary School all based Kumasi. In total the number of students present was a hundred and twenty with about five teachers.
The day began with an opening prayer by a member of CSG, followed by a brief exposition on the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth Society of Ghana by Mr. Columbus K. Bruce . Mr. Peter Arthur, one of the judges for the day then proceeded with addressing the debaters on the rules governing the debates and hoe marks would be awarded.
Prempeh College (a boy's school) and St.Louis Secondary School (a girl's school) set the ball rolling when they began with the first debate on the motion ‘Democratic Reform or Socio-economic Reform, where should the commonwealth focus? ' Prempeh College argued that in defining its principles, one of the pillars the commonwealth stands on is democracy and with that in place, socio-economic development would follow. On the other hand, their opponents argued that education does not necessarily fall under democracy and that the world would be a safer place if people could channel their energies to the desired places. |
