ISDS Junior Iron-person Triathlon Orientation��

Contents

About the Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS) – our vision and impact

The ISDS Ironperson Triathlon

Our vision is to empower 200 million Indian school students through debate education to think critically, communicate effectively, and lead with courage

Participating in debates in English Foreign Language classrooms has proven to improve critical thinking aspects by 82% and speaking skills by 96%

Debate had positive impacts on English Language Arts test scores indicating an equivalent to 68% of a full year of average 9th grade learning

School-based debate activities increase

the predicted probability of voting by 15%, expressive political participation increases by 13.1%

Sources: (1) Schueler, B. E., & Larned, K. E. (2023). Interscholastic Policy Debate Promotes Critical Thinking and College-Going: Evidence From Boston Public Schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231200234 (2) Sources: (1) Iman, Jaya (2017).Debate Instruction in EFL Classroom: Impacts on the Critical Thinking and Speaking Skill International Journal of Instruction, 10.12973/iji.2017.1046a (3) Avril Keating, Jan Germen Janmaat, Education Through Citizenship at School: Do School Activities Have a Lasting Impact on Youth Political Engagement?, Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 69, Issue 2, April 2016, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsv017

Our impact

6000+

150+ 

54% 

Yearly ecosystem¹ student reach across 55+ cities

Volunteers supporting us yearly as of 2023

Note(s): (1) Ecosystem reach refers to direct reach through enrollment in our programmes and indirect partner programming and downstream effects (2) The World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) is the most prestigious debating tournament for school students in the world, where students represent their countries (3) The International Competition for Young Debaters (ICYD) is the largest, most prestigious under 15 debating tournament hosted by the Cambridge and Oxford Unions (4) Top 10 in the country that the institution is in (5) Yearly data is calculated based on 2023

Representation of girls in our direct programming

33% 

Tier 2/3 city representation in our direct programming

13 

Championships won historically, including WSDC²

7

Total ‘World’s Best Speaker’ awards in WSDC and ICYD³

85% 

Team India alumni entering a top 10 uni⁴ for undergrad

9.3/10

Avg. student feedback score across ISDS Programmes

Contents

About the Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS) – our vision and impact

The ISDS Ironperson Triathlon

The ISDS Ironperson Triathlon is India’s flagship junior championship for individuals in grades 7-9

…to crown the Champion!

If you are the best among the best, you are India’s Junior Iron-person Champion, and you get to access additional training and opportunities from ISDS!

…testing holistic debate skills…

Show us not just your best not just in speeches, because good debating needs more! We test your knowledge of the world and your reading and listening skills.

Compete against peers from across the country! Our first edition saw ~200 students from 15+ cities, and we expect this time to be bigger and better!

…A nationwide debate marathon…

Participants complete knowledge, speech, and comprehension challenges individually across a three-hour span

Knowledge

Speech

Comprehension

Objective

Duration

Score weight

This section tests students’ current affairs and general knowledge and application

This section tests students’ responsiveness, speaking skills, and critical thinking

This section tests students’ ability to absorb information through reading and listening

Format

Multiple choice objective questions

Extempore speech delivery activity with 3 topic options

Reading and listening comprehension-based Q&A

30 minutes

30 minutes

30 minutes

30%

30%

40%

Winners of the Triathlon receive access to ISDS workshops and direct entry into later rounds of selections for the Indian National Debate Squad

Winners receive access to ISDS workshops and community engagement forums

Top performers receive direct invites to Round 2 and 3 of the selections for the Indian National Debate Squad

Prizes worth INR 32,000

The winner receives entry into the ISDS Debate Certification Course – an evaluative, structured program that covers core debating skills in the World Schools format across 12 modules

Top 3 performers receive training passes to ISDS masterclasses

1

Regional Selections

2000+ students enter this stage across the nation, and are evaluated based on their participation in WSDC-style debates

3

National Camp

2

Intermediate Round

4

National Debate Squad

Top students form the Indian National Debate Squad, which receives rigorous coaching over a period of 6 months and mentorship

Top 300 performers are tested on general knowledge and WSDC debating skills

Top 20 performers enter this stage directly

Top ~70 students are invited to Chennai for a week-long National Selection Camp where they are developed and evaluated

Top 2 performers enter this stage directly

Membership into ISDS’ Student Development Community

Top 3 performers receive invitations to the ISDS Student Development Community – a platform to engage with and practice against schools debaters across India

Become Ironperson Champion

Be recognised as one of the best junior debaters in India

View the 2023 Champion’s speech in favour of the motion ‘University students from developing countries who have completed education in developed nations should be required to work in their country of origin for a number of years compulsorily’ here

Section 1 Overview: Knowledge

9

Section 1: Knowledge

Sample MCQ Question:

What Indian company was forced to declare bankruptcy after going through a series of losses?

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1. WeWork
2. Reliance
3. BYJUS
4. Sun Pharma

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The knowledge section contains MCQ questions that test you in different areas:

1. Indian current affairs 2. International current affairs

3. General Knowledge 4. Critical thinking and application

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Section 1: Knowledge

Sample MCQ Question:

In recent discussions, particularly related to governmental initiatives, what does the acronym "DOGE" stand for?

1. Digital Online Government Exchange
2. Department of Government Efficiency
3. Data Optimization and Governance Engine
4. Directorate of Global Economics

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The knowledge section contains MCQ questions that test you in different areas:

1. Indian current affairs 2. International current affairs

3. General Knowledge 4. Critical thinking and application

​

Section 1: Knowledge

Sample MCQ Question:

Which of the following definitions best describes the term "unicorn" in the context of startups?

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1. A mythical creature with a single horn on its head.
2. A startup company valued at over $1 billion.
3. A legendary investor known for funding successful startups
4. A small, agile startup with a disruptive business model.

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The knowledge section contains MCQ questions that test you in different areas:

1. Indian current affairs 2. International current affairs

3. General Knowledge 4. Critical thinking and application

​

Section 1: Knowledge

Sample MCQ Question:

A referendum was held for citizens to vote for/against Brexit in 2016. This referendum yielded a 52/48 split, tilted marginally toward leaving the EU.

Which of the following claims can include this example, if you were arguing against the topic ‘We should use local referenda to make local construction decisions’

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1. Local people can easily be swayed by corrupt officials and construction companies
2. It is the responsibility of the local government to make these decisions
3. People from minority religions or races are further marginalized
4. Local referenda could also result in dissatisfaction among the local people

The knowledge section contains MCQ questions that test you in different areas:

1. Indian current affairs 2. International current affairs

3. General Knowledge and application 4. Critical thinking and application

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Section 2 Overview: Speech

14

Section 2: Speech

We expect speeches to contain the following elements

1. Clear logical flow - introduction, body with clear arguments, conclusion, connecting statements
2. General knowledge - use of good, real world examples and analogies
3. Persuasiveness - rigorous logic, descriptive language, emotive delivery, etc.

Sample speech topics: (Speech duration: 4:00 minutes)

1. While messaging the public, environmental movements should prioritize including local agendas over a global one (e.g., focusing on highlighting local issues like cleaning up a beach, reducing emissions of local factories, etc. as opposed to on global issues like messaging about worldwide climate change, polar ice caps melting, global ocean temperatures rising, etc. )
2. Colleges and universities should significantly reduce funding for educational courses that have low rates of employment
3. The government should ban the advertisement of cosmetic beauty products e.g., fairness creams, rapid weight loss products, lip plumpers, etc.

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Click here to view the the speech of last year’s Triathlon Champion

Section 3 Overview: Comprehension

16

Section 3: Comprehension

In this section, participants will have to read a passage or watch a video carefully based on which they will have to answer a number of questions

Sample passage and questions:

1. If you as a policy maker decided to curb population, what is one method you would employ? Give one reason why. What is one method you would avoid, give one reason why.
2. State 4 similarities between India and China in the 70s.
3. What is one widespread harm of a declining population?
4. Why was the one child policy more relaxed for the minorities?

Section 3: Comprehension

In this section, participants will have to read a passage or watch a video carefully based on which they will have to answer a number of questions

Sample video and questions:

1. Why are youth more likely to be invested in social movements?
2. Name three prominent youth leaders along with
3. What are some existing criticisms of youth-led movements?

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