Douglas Academy Debaters Congratulated on Parliament Triumph
The Debating team at Douglas Academy in Milngavie has received praise from a local MSP and former school debate team member following their victory in a national competition last week. Arun Smith and Matthew McIlree won the final of the Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament, held in the chamber at Holyrood, after successfully opposing a motion that ’This house would deny smokers free access to healthcare’.
The pair were congratulated in a parliamentary motion lodged by Green MSP for the West of Scotland Ross Greer.
Greer commented “When I attended the final of the competition I saw that the quality of debate was extremely high, and winning the competition was a great achievement for Arun and Matthew. Debating is a great skill for pupils to develop and I’m proud that Douglas Academy is once more at the top of the debating league.
“I’m very pleased that Parliament was able to host this competition. Our Parliament is for all of Scotland, and it was fantastic to see debating teams making use of it. The first time I spoke in the chamber was as a Bearsden Academy pupil and it’s great to see local school students continue to make such good use of it.”