A torrent of words and ideas marked the opening of Calcutta's Festival of the Spoken Word at The Heritage School on Friday morning.

The event presented by Calcutta Debating Circle and The Telegraph with Century Ply as principal sponsor started with Colloquium 2015: "Life beyond School".

Students from six foreign institutions - Oxford, Cambridge, University of Toronto, London School of Economics, Institute of Business Administration Karachi and North South University Dhaka - participated in the fifth edition of the debate. They were joined by students from St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta, La Martiniere for Boys and Girls, Modern High School, Birla High School, The Heritage School and Christ University Bangalore.

"I have always had this urge to show off on a global scale as how good our students are... with an urge to show off to the world how good all of you are and how better all of you will become and you stand shoulder to shoulder in terms of talent, in terms of ability with your peers from every corner of the world," said Kunal Sarkar, the founding member of Calcutta Debating Circle, before the debates.

Six members from each institution debated on three topics. The three debates were judged by US consul-general Craig L. Hall, Sujata Sen, director of British Council (east) India, Kaveri Dutt, principal of Loreto Day School Bowbazar, Michael Shane Calvert, MLA representing Anglo Indian community, Kishore Bhimani, sports writer and Purnendu Roy, chairman, Genesis Group of Companies.

The debates were chaired by professor Suman Mukherjee and Shankar Ramalingam, member of the Calcutta Debating Circle.

MOTION: Quality education remains the domain of the privileged

VERDICT:Motion stands

Joybeer Datta Gupta from La Martiniere for Boys took four minutes to establish "that education may remain in the domain of the common man but quality education has and will remain in the domain of the privileged".

He walked away with the winners' trophy, arguing better than his peers from Toronto, Karachi, Dhaka and the city.

Joybeer pointed out the importance of writing, speaking and critical ability to get into a good institution. "In order to gain these you need to come from a background in which these were taught to you. And such backgrounds are not easily available if you are not privileged," he said.

Refuting him and others were Safee Ul Haque, a sophomore from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. He argued how linking quality education with money is a grave injustice, citing institutions and individuals like the UN and Malala Yousafzai working for education for everyone.

He insisted that there has to be a change in the mindset of associating quality with money. "You cannot negate scholarships and financial aid programmes because education is what enables the privilege that you get and that is passed on to your generation," he said. Safee won the runner-up trophy.

Speaking for the motion was also Daniyal Ali Waseem from IBA Karachi and Mohit Poddar from The Heritage School. Sunniva Bean from the University of Toronto and Akif Chowdhury from North South University Dhaka argued against the motion.

MOTION:Intolerance in the society is the failure of proper education

VERDICT:Motion defeated

Intolerance is not learnt through classroom education, argued an Oxford University graduate. But the learning that happens outside the classroom is also education, pointed out a student of Modern High School for Girls.

"When a newborn smiles for the first time they don't care what the race, religion, gender, political opinions are of the faces that smile back at them. They smile because human beings are not born with hatred or division or intolerance in their heart... instead we learn intolerance from those around us. We learn it as we grow up. That's not the learning happening in the classroom," argued Francesca Whalen, a history graduate from Balliol College, University of Oxford. She won the winners trophy in this category.

Savi Garg of Modern High School for Girls countered Francesca's "myopic view of education". For her, education did not begin with the first period in school and end with the last bell: it also comprised listening to people and reading newspapers.

Speaking for the motion, Anirudh Mathur of London School of Economics said that though the lynching in Dadri are visible examples of intolerance the subtle forms of "discrimination arise where we start to think that people who are different to us are worse than us".

The runner-up, Chirag Basu of Birla High School, said:The proposition would have us believe that intolerance refers to only and only the pursuit of one's beliefs in an unnecessary and a fanatic and dogmatic manner. <>Intolerance need not always be associated with extremism or fundamentalism. Intolerance can also be interpreted in a more holistic and an all encompassing manner to mean the struggle against social malpractices or institutions." He cited Raja Rammohun Roy's struggle against Sati as an example of intolerance.

Swarochish Goswami from the University of Toronto spoke for the motion and Sayantan Bhattacharya of The Heritage School spoke against the motion.

MOTION:Pure Science and liberal arts have become subservient to professional education

VERDICT:Motion stands

Creativity and innovation were pitied against practicality and employability as six speakers argued for and against the motion.

The winner in this category Thomas Simpson, from Cambridge University, argued for internships and how companies value professional skills.

"It's no longer typical for someone to go and do a degree and then wander into a dream job. They need to go and do the degree but also gain practical experience and do things like internships," said the third-year student of Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge.

The runner-up, Aratrika Brahmachari from La Martiniere for Girls, felt that in a country like India where "30 per cent of the population live below the poverty line... survival is provided by a professional degree and a professional education".

Speaking against the motion, Niladry Sabir from North South University Dhaka said fields that nurture creativity and fuel the drive to get more knowledge are just as necessary as professional education.

Akansha Maria Paul from Christ Law University spoke for the motion and Catherine Ruth Cravern from London School of Economics and Rajarshi Roy from St. Xavier's Collegiate School argued against.