Defending Champions, T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School in Kumasi, are out of 2019 Luv FM High School Debate competition after they succumbed to impressive Tepa SHS in a quarter-final duel.

With nine points separating the two sides, Tepa SHS amassed 222 to 213 by AMASS. The Tepa SHA team joined Opoku Ware to pick the last two semi-final tickets on the day.

Friday’s competition was one that many had looked forward to because it involved the defending champions.

With only a point qualifying them for the quarter-finals, T.I. AMASS, had come in to prove their mettle that saw them crowned champions in the maiden edition last year.

The day’s motion was, “Teacher Apathy is the Cause of Falling Standards of Education in Public Schools,” for which the female duo spoke.

They argued often lack of intrinsic motivation which leads to lackadaisical attitude takes a toll on standards in public schools.

“Most teachers are not intrinsically motivated to discharge their duties and Absenteeism is another apathetic attitude in the public schools.

Most teachers exhibit in their loss of interest in the teaching profession, and apathy because teachers no longer play their supervisory roles.

That is why we say that students cannot perform very high when teachers are apathetic”, they concluded.

Speakers of Tepa SHS began with a strong rebuttal for the argument T.I. AMASS advanced, saying, “It is absurd and totally fallacious for our opponent to conclude that because there are few instances of absenteeism, lackadaisical and other negative attitudes of some teachers, they hurriedly conclude that it is this attitude that has led to the fallen standards of education.”

They continued, “now let me ask, are all teachers guilty of all these crimes against teachers? I put it to you that, you are rather guilty of the sin of fallacy and offensive generalization.

It is like saying my patron who is a Fante likes meat and fish, does it mean all Fante's like meat and fish?

Ridiculous, isn’t it?”

Then the principal Speaker for Tepa SHS, Sandra Narh, led the onslaught to point out lack of supervision by GES and the Education Ministry, as the cause, not the teacher.

“Granted without admitting that there is apathy on the part of teachers, whose responsibility is it to crack the whip and ensure GES regulations? It is the Ministry Of Education, of Couse.

And when they complain of lack of logistics to do effective monitoring and supervision. Whose responsibility are those, government? 

It is the government.

And has successful government succeeded in doing that? NO,” she concluded.

The second contest of the day saw Yaa Asantewaa Girls and Opoku Ware School battle it out on the controversial Comprehensive Sexuality Education.

The motion was, “CSE is Great Intervention to Alleviate Sexual Abuse’’.

 Adjoa Amanfo of Yaa Asantewaa Girls advanced the point CSE will empower girls and also address the phenomenon of sexual harassment.

“The CSE program will provide the right information to the young ones that will grant them self-efficacy and how to handle themselves when or if abused.

This will gradually will reduce sexual abuse, and prevent the right information from getting into the wrong hands”.

On the contrary, the ‘Santasi Boys’ of Opoku Ware School argued that the introduction of the program will rather worsen the situation.

“The Comprehensive Sexuality Education, in summary, preaches that individuals can have their rights to sexual pleasures as they desire. If implemented will lead to an increase in the rate of sexual abuse and sexual harassment.

They continue that, “It is irrelevant in alleviating sexual abuse because the needed part of sexuality like adolescent reproductive health etc, are already captured in the existing curriculum.

Religious and moral education, and Citizen Education in primary schools, Integrated Science in JHS and Social Studies, Biology in SHS. Why the need to duplicate something we are already practising, there is something definitely amidst.

The CSE program contains extreme content which we believe when adopted will lead to an increase in sexual abuse”, they concluded.

In the end, Yaa Asantewaa Girls fell managed 214 points, falling six points short of Opoku Ware’s haul of 221.

With this, the semi-final list reads St. Monica’s, St. Jerome, Opoku Ware and Tepa SHSs.