Give students and apprentices the opportunity to debate current topics in the Youth debate competition with young people from all over Switzerland and thus participate in an extracurricular activity. YES organises the Youth debate National Competition on a yearly basis in three national languages (German, French and Italian) for secondary schools at level I and II.
Timeline
Internal school qualifications
Teachers organise internal debating events in their school and institutions. This enables the students to apply the method they have learned about in class and get excited about a friendly debating competition. In addition, such an event allows for an internal qualification to the Regional Finals.
Regional and National Finals
Students as well as apprentices at secondary level I and II from different schools compete against each other at our various Regional Finals. YES determines the number of qualification spots in consultation with the participating schools. The participants are evaluated by a jury consisting of notable personalities in politics, education, media, the working world and our alumni network.
The evaluation is based on the following four criteria:
- Factual knowledge
- Expressive ability
- Conversational skills
- Persuasive power
The best participants of all Regional Finals meet in spring for the big National Final. Outside of the debating competition we organise a general programme, which can include for example a visit to the House of Parliament and a Q&A with the Members of Parliament.
The participation at the National Final is without a doubt a wonderful experience for debate enthusiasts and a highlight of the programme year.