Youth debates internationally
"International Youth Debate - Country Competitions in Central and Eastern Europe" is a German-language school competition in Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , Russia ( Moscow and St. Petersburg ), Slovakia , Slovenia , the Czech Republic , Ukraine and Hungary .
The project is supported by the Goethe-Institut , the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” , the non-profit Hertie Foundation and the Central Office for Schools Abroad . There are also local supporters, in Poland this is the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation , in the Czech Republic the German-Czech Future Fund . In the Ukraine the project is supported by the Klitschko Foundation, in Lithuania by the Lithuanian Information and Technology Center for Schoolchildren and in Hungary by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, E.ON Hungária, the Audi Academy, the local self-government of the Hungarian Germans and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Jugend debattiert international is the only international speech competition for schoolchildren in German to date. It is intended to help young people in Central and Eastern Europe to be able to present their views and positions in a substantiated and convincing manner and to promote the German language as a medium of debate. The subject of the competition is debating in German on topics from the areas of everyday school life, fundamental rights, history (especially dealing with historical injustice experiences) and Europe . The project is aimed at pupils from the 10th grade who have at least a B2 level of German according to the Common European Framework of Reference .
competition
In the 2015/16 school year, 2302 pupils at 157 schools took part in the competition. The project will be integrated into the classroom at these schools. Trained teachers teach the students how to debate and conduct debates with them. The pupils first debate with one another at the school and school association level, the best then move on to the state level and finally to the international final. The first and second place winners of the state competitions from all project countries take part in this. Since the IV. International Final in Berlin 2010, the winners of the national competition Jugend debattiert in Germany have supported the participants as mentors.
Structure and evaluation of the debates
Four students at a time, two for and two against, debate a total of 24 minutes in German on socio-political issues (e.g. "Should Turkey be accepted into the EU ?" ). The format of the debate is precisely defined: at the beginning each debater has two minutes of undisturbed speaking time in which he can present his position, followed by the 12-minute free debate - the actual "dispute phase" - and at the end each participant has one One minute to make a final word in the light of the debate. There is no external interviewer. At the school level, topics from everyday school life are debated, at the higher competition levels from the areas of politics, fundamental and human rights, history (especially dealing with historical injustice experiences) and Europe.
The debate is judged by a three to five-member jury. The judges will judge based on points. The performance of each participant is assessed according to four criteria: expertise, expressiveness, ability to talk, and persuasiveness. The debaters' knowledge of German is not included in the assessment.
history
International Youth Debate was held for the first time in 2005 in Poland and the Czech Republic. Schools in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine have also been participating since 2006. In 2009 the project started after a two-year pilot phase in schools in Moscow and Saint Petersburg and in the school year 2010/11 it was extended to Hungary. Slovakia and Slovenia have also been participating in the project since 2016.
Overview: the international finals
| Final event | Topic of debate | Patron / Guest of Honor | winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. International Final Prague (Czech Republic), October 5th, 2007 | "Should denial of genocide be criminalized in the European Union?" | Václav Havel , former President of the Czech Republic. Republic / Wolfgang Thierse , Vice President of the German Bundestag | Jakub Štefela, Liberec (Czech Republic) and Peer Klüßendorf, Rostock (Germany) |
| II. International Final Warsaw (Poland), October 24, 2008 | "Should the national textbooks for teaching history in schools be replaced by a common European textbook?" | Bronisław Komorowski , Sejm Marshal of the Rep. Poland / Gerda Hasselfeldt , Vice-President of the German Bundestag | Barbara Wasilewska, Warsaw (Poland) and Wiebke Neelsen, Wismar (Germany) |
| III. International Final Prague (Czech Republic), 02/26/2010 | "Should August 23rd be proclaimed a Europe-wide day of remembrance for the victims of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes?" | Václav Havel , former President of the Czech Republic. Republic / Petra Pau , Vice-President of the German Bundestag | Jitka Rutrlová, Prague (Czech Republic) and Maximilian Behrens, Münster (Germany) |
| IV. International Final Berlin (Germany), November 12, 2010 | "Should Google Street View cover all major European cities?" | Guest of Honor: State Secretary Harro Semmler , Director of the German Bundestag | Irina Avdeeva, Moscow (Russia) |
| V. International Final Kiev (Ukraine), October 21, 2011 | "Should all European countries stipulate by law to phase out the use of atomic energy in the foreseeable future?" | Vitali Klitschko / Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth , Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine | Annett Lymar, Viljandi (Estonia) |
| VI. International Final Vilnius (Lithuania), October 19, 2012 | "Should ' hate speech ' against religions be prosecuted across Europe?" | Patron: Emanuelis Zingeris , Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Lithuanian Parliament | Gréta Szabó, Budapest (Hungary) |
| VII. International Final Budapest (Hungary), October 18, 2013 | "Should major sporting events be boycotted in the event of human rights violations in the host country?" | Patron: Viktor Kassai , Hungarian football referee and World Referee of the Year 2011 | Dominika Perlínová, Prague (Czech Republic) |
| VIII. International Final Warsaw (Poland), 10/17/2014 | "Should extremist parties be banned?" | Patron: Władysław Bartoszewski , State Secretary, Representative of the Prime Minister for International Dialogue | Anastasija Minitš, Tallinn (Estonia) |
| IX. International Final Riga (Latvia), 23/10/2015 | "Should all member states of the Council of Europe accept a minimum number of refugees annually?" | Patron: Andris Bērziņš , President of Latvia a. D. | Anna Ryan, Budapest (Hungary) |
| X. International Final Prague (Czech Republic), 23.09.2016 | "Should proof of state-organized doping lead to the exclusion of this country from international competitions?" | Patron: Karel Schwarzenberg , Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic a. D. | Khoi Nguyen, Prague (Czech Republic) |
| XI. International Final Tallinn (Estonia), 09/29/2017 | "Should the Internet be comprehensively regulated by the state?" | Patron: Eiki Nestor , President of the Estonian Parliament | Yana Bits, Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine) |
| XII. International Final Bratislava (Slovakia), 09/24/2018 | "Should broadcasters be better protected from government influence?" | Patron: Andrej Kiska , President of Slovakia | Yarema-Luka Yeleyko, Lviv (Ukraine) |
|
XIII. International final
Budapest (Hungary), 10/10/2019 |
"Should individual upper limits for air travel be introduced?" | Patronage: Ildikó Enyedi , director and Wilhelm Droste , author | Michail Krumov, Sofia (Bulgaria) |