The Aga Khan School, Dhaka Inter-School Debate Festival 2007

Dear all,

The Aga Khan School, Dhaka Inter-school Debate Festival 2007 took place on the 6th, 7th and 8th of September with 9 institutions participating, namely the host school AKSD, BIT, Manarat, The Red Brick School, Mastermind, Notre Dame College, SFX Green Herald, Scholastica and Sunnydale in a format that was an amalgamation of the British Parliamentary as well as the World Schools styles.

With two preliminary rounds selecting the top 8 teams for the knockout rounds, the tournament saw debaters from different backgrounds debate regional and global issues in an excellent manner. An unique addition to the traditional form of debating was the introduction of the motion/side toss which we believed would ensure maximum transparency for all parties concerned. Debaters were given 4 motions on a particular theme per round and a toss was carried out which enabled both one side to either choose the motion while the other automatically was allowed the right to choose the side and vice-versa.

Stalin Bhai, Saddam Bhai, Tanvir Bhai, Rizwan Bhai, Rudra Bhai, Mabroor Bhai, Nafis Bhai, Azim Bhai, Tawseef Bhai, Salman Bhai and to all of the adjudicators who took their time to come and make The AIDF 2007; a very big THANK YOU to you all. Special thanks should go to Tanvir Bhai who put fever aside to come and adjudicate at the event.

With two weeks of preparation time (a week for handing out invitations and the second week for organization of the detailed program) we tried to the best of our ability to ensure a competition that was transparent, fair, orderly and most of all enjoyable to all who were present. If there were any lackings on our part we would make no excuses but would humbly apologise to everyone and hope that you may have the heart to forgive us.

I would however like to take a moment and applaud my volunteers and fellow organizing committee members because I took great pride in the fact that not only were we were able to maintain the time schedule, we finished 15 minutes early each day.

To all the participating schools (debaters, moderators and observers) thank you again for making this event successful. Success can never truly be measured on any numerical scale however to us it would mean the minimum of discomfort and the maximum hospitability that we could extend to you over the 3 days that you all were present.

To the runners up, The Red Brick School, congratulations, it's a new era for you guys in the debating arena.

To the champions Manarat International College, congratulations on winning the top prize and keeping the flag of your institution flying high. Hasan, a thumbs-up from us to you on achieving the title of best speaker.

In our last year of high school, the organizing committee hoped to hold a tournament that would encourage our younger generations to carry on the sprit of debating and enjoy the art for all its worth. To what extent we were able to achieve that, we believe it is you all who are the best judges to make that call.

Thank you all again and hope to see you in AKS,D next year.

On behalf of the entire Organising Committee,

Maimun Mustafa
Convenor
AIDF 2007