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Jasleen Saini and Promita Sinha at Little Flower School in Jamshedpur on Wednesday. Telegraph picture
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Two students of Telco-based Little Flower School on Tuesday fell inches short of glory ending up as the first runner-up of the Council for the Indian School for Certificate Examinations organised Frank Anthony Memorial All India Inter School Debate competition.
Though, the team of Jasleen Saini and Promita Sinha conceded the top spot to Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai, they had enough reasons to hold their heads high as they arrived back in Jamshedpur from Modern High School for Girls, Calcutta — the venue for the event.
For one, they beat competition from three states — Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha — to be the sole representatives of the eastern zone in the final round of the debate. The team ended as runners-up in the zonal round of the debate that was held at De Nobili School, Dhanbad, in April this year to progress to the regional round. They then aced the regional round finishing on top at St Paul’s School, Rourkela, this August to bag a chance to compete in the national final of the debate scheduled in Calcutta.
At the final round too, the duo held their own, fending off competition from 16 students from eight schools across the country and giving the Mumbai team a run for its money till the last moment.
“We are proud that we could make it to the nationals. Winning matters, but the important thing was that we qualified and gave it our very best. What excites us more is that we were the only team from the eastern zone in the event,” Jasleen, who was adjudged the best speaker, told The Telegraph.
The team walked home with a cash prize of Rs 3,000 while Jasleen was awarded another cash prize of Rs 3,000 and a silver medal for being the best speaker.
The topic for this year’s final was “Changing Values- Will the youth hold onto the values of older generation”, which was given to the participants at the spot. While Jasleen spoke against the motion, her team mate Class IX student Promita defended the topic.
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