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Notebook Zero Hour, India’s largest online inter school debate concludes with Indian Languages School from Lagos emerging

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19 Aug 20
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Notebook Zero Hour, India’s largest online inter school debate concludes with Indian Languages School from Lagos emerging

Notebook Zero Hour, India’s largest online inter school debate concludes with Indian Languages School from Lagos emerging as winners and Mayo college Girl’s school Ajmer, coming in a close second

- The public speaking online event which spanned across seven countries and over 60 plus schools witnessed immense participation from the education fraternity with anticipation of a bigger next round very soon  -

August 19th, National: India's largest online inter-school public speaking event Notebook Zero Hour powered by Stayfree®️ and in partnership with Save The Children Foundation has successfully come to an end with the Indian Languages School from Lagos, Nigeria emerging as winners, the finals were between them and Mayo College Girls’ school, Ajmer.

Notebook Zero Hour was conducted in search of the Best Debating Talent across India, Middle  East  and Africa.

In its first edition this year, the online debates commenced, in a league format with 64 marquee schools from India and abroad ready to face off against each other. The initial face-off saw 12 schools proceeding to the quarter-finals of which 4 winners proceeded to participate in the semi-finals followed by finals between Indian Languages School, Lagos and Mayo College Girls' School, Ajmer.

The title of the debate for the finals was 'Populism Is An Impediment to Development' where one student from each school was For and Against the topic. The finals was evaluated by six diverse judges who are experts in their field, Goutham Shivshanker, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court, Qualified Solicitor, England & Wales; Kashyap Gala, Category Head, Johnson & Johnson; Madhura Kapdia, Director Campaign and Communications, Save the Children, India; Dr Gunmeet Bindra ( Former principal Welham Boys School, Dehradun ) ; Priyanka Pani, Senior Regional Correspondent, MEA, IBIS Intelligence and Philip Burrett, Ex-Deputy Headmaster, The Doon School. All the debates including the finals were moderated by Subhayu Roy, Co-Founder, Notebook.

 

Speaking about this initiative, Mr Achin Bhattacharyya, Founder and CEO, Notebook, said, "We at Notebook are very happy at the kind of enthusiastic response that Zero hour has got from the student and teacher community where we witnessed more than 30,000 people attending Zero hour during the past few weeks. We sincerely thank Stayfree®️ and Save the Children for supporting our cause of celebrating the art of public speaking in students from all socio economic strata. I am very optimistic about the quality of public discourse in the years to come considering the kind of passion, intellect, maturity  and confidence that we have seen in our young debaters including those from small towns and rural areas. At Notebook, my team and I have taken a pledge to continuously engage with the student community as with an ever increasing user base of more than a million, they are the very purpose of our existence. We will soon come up with other engaging activities which will help in keeping the morale of our school children high during  this crucial phase of the pandemic.”

Sharing their joy, Mrs Sonali Gupta, Principal of Indian Languages School from Lagos said, “Team Notebook has been proactive in this current pandemic scenario by organizing numerous webinars for educators across the globe. The topics always highlight challenges faced by Students, Parents and Teachers, which are aptly addressed by eminent personalities and leaders from the Education sector. The idea of an online debate was unique. To conduct an International Competition with such high standards is a humongous task. Notebook has achieved this stupendous task, with perfection paying close attention to each aspect. Throughout the competition, students have been continuously motivated by their team. The Notebook craze has caught up in Lagos, with teachers, students and parents glued to the internet during the debate competitions. Also, more and more teachers and students are turning to the Notebook site for assistance with the study material. The videos are prepared paying attention to all parts of the lesson, yet are interesting enough and easy to comprehend. As Notebook continues to grow, we applaud their efforts and congratulate them once again on the colossal success of the ‘Zero Hour Debate’.

Ms.Kanchan Khandke, Principal of Mayo College Girls' School said, “We congratulate the entire Notebook team for injecting novelty in the field of debating. We express our good wishes as the  experience was undoubtedly enjoyable. Our girls have perhaps broken all records in the past,  in terms of their own performance and there cannot be a better learning than that. The challenges of the topic and the articulate opposition have helped them hone their skills further. We thank Notebook for the opportunity!”

The winners Megha Gopikuttan and Sougandhika Peri were awarded 12 months of subscription to Notebook and Time Magazine, an internship with Save The Children and Amazon Gift Cards worth INR 30,000. The runners up, Tanushree Gupta and Sanidhi Singh received a 12 months subscription to Notebook and Time Magazine and Amazon Gift Cards worth INR 10,000. Senior Supreme Court advocate Rana Mukherjee promised the students for an internship after and if they graduate in Law.

About Notebook Zero Hour:

Inspired and encouraged by the phenomenal success of the Together for Education webinars, and on request from institutions to engage with students directly, Notebook now presents Zero Hour – India’s Largest Public Speaking Event for School Students. This is the largest competitive public speaking event ever held for schools in India,and schools have a chance to pit themselves against the best speakers from other schools from the farthest reaches of the country.

About Notebook:

Notebook is India’s first after-school learning app. Engaging audio-visual content is used to deliver lessons tailored to the school curriculum. Teachers have access to these videos in the classroom, using the content to introduce topics, build interest, and help students to better visualize concepts. At home, students access the same videos from their personal connected devices – smartphones, laptops, desktops and internet-enabled televisions – to revise topics, prepare for examinations and benefit from the freedom that on-demand lessons afford them.

Started in 2018, Notebook has now catered to over a million users across India and abroad. More than 10,000 videos cover topics from classes I to XII of the CBSE board, alongside vernacular-aided lessons for U.P. Board and W.B. Board. Over 250 professionals, experienced educators and creative artists work round the clock to ensure that curricular content is delivered to the students in the most engaging possible way.

At the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown, Notebook offered its content to all students free of charge, enabling schools to conduct online classes using Notebook videos. This has led to deep and meaningful engagement with schools, and empowered teachers to cope with the lockdown better. Notebook also conducts regular online training sessions for teachers to help them manage online classes with greater ease. Powered by Notebook videos, Ramakrishna Mission Schools in Gwalior, M.P. became India’s first school to announce a completely online academic session to ensure safety of their students.


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