The semi-finals and finals of the national selection of the Youth Debate in Europe competition took place in Warsaw on 4-5 June.
Ukraine was represented in the German-language competition by 8 participants – three representatives from the south and north of the country, a Lviv resident and a Drohobych resident.
Anna Fedak, a tenth-grader at Lyceum No. 2 of the Drohobych City Council, demonstrated a brilliant performance and won the national final. Now the girl will represent Ukraine at the international final of the competition to be held in Berlin in September.
In the semi-finals, we debated the topic “Should the duration of summer holidays in Ukraine be significantly reduced?” In the final – “Should the 8th of March be cancelled as a public holiday in Ukraine?”
According to the terms of the competition, a draw is made before the debate begins, so no one knows in advance which position they will have to defend – “for” or “against”. Participants are judged on the basis of four criteria: knowledge of the topic, ability to express their opinions, ability to conduct a conversation, and ability to persuade.
The jury members were from Germany, and all presentations at the competition are in German.
<“Our Lyceum has been working towards this victory for a long time. Previously, the Lyceum’s students had reached the final of the competition and won prizes in the national final. However, Anna became the first to win the national final. She showed a brilliant result and will represent Ukraine at the international finals in Berlin,” says Oksana Dyakiv, a German teacher at Lyceum #2.
In total, two German language teachers, who acted as coaches and helped Anna with her preparation, Oksana Dyakiv and Oksana Drobinyak, contributed to the girl’s victory. The training was supported and facilitated by the school’s management and Lyceum director Larysa Pankevych.
By the way, Lyceum No. 2 of the Drohobych City Council is the only institution in the region with a debate club. Here, students learn the art of debate and prepare to participate in competitions at the interregional and national levels. Such skills develop critical thinking in young people, help to increase their general knowledge of various topics, and teach them to defend their own position and persuade their opponents.
Youth debates were first held in Poland and the Czech Republic in 2005. In Ukraine, they were launched in 2006. Drohobych officially joined the project in 2010, represented by Lyceum No. 2.
The project is supported by the Goethe Institute, the Foundation “Memory. Responsibility and Future Foundation, the Gertie Charitable Foundation and the Central Service for School Education Abroad.
It is designed for students starting from grade 10 with a B2 language level, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.