Sacred Heart SS Mushanga win Green Schools national debate challenge

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 GREEN SCHOOLS INITIATIVE 

Live updates by Joseph Kizza
(Scroll down for earlier updates)
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 3:45 pm   

Vision Group will continue to screen the climate change schools regional debates on all its TVs: Urban TV, Bukedde 1, Bukedde 2, TV West, Wan Luo and TV East, announces New Vision Editor John Eremu.
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 BREAKING NEWS  

SACRED HEART SECONDARY SCHOOL MUSHANGA ARE THE WINNERS OF THE INAUGURAL CLIMATE CHANGE SCHOOLS NATIONAL CHALLENGE.

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 3:34 pm       Top debaters

 Top four debaters 

1. Sacred Heart SS Mushanga (gold medallists)

2. Mengo Senior School (silver medallists)

3. Soroti SS (bronze medallists)

4. Ntare School
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 3:22 pm       Who debated the best?

 Top debaters 

Jemimah Atim from St. Catherine Girls SS emerged the best female debater with 70.6 points.

Berach Ntorarainwe from Ntare School emerged the best male debater with 70.3 points.
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 3:18 pm       Awarding the best of the best 

Speeches done, awards next...

 Best climate change projects 

(They all get rewarded with an amount of money to fund their respective projects)

1. St Kizito High School (winner) - sh12 million
2. Kololo Senior Secondary School (first runner-up) - sh10 million
3. Tororo Girls School (second runner-up) - sh7.5 million
4. Kibubura Girls' Secondary School - sh5 million
5. Gayaza High School - sh5 million
6. Immaculate Heart Mushenga - sh5 million
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 3:06 pm       'Conserve the environment' 

NFA boss Okello says that Uganda's forest cover was 24% in the 1990s but is now 13% today, having lost over two milion hecctares of woodland to agriculture in that period.

He says that this is not sustainable and therefore the Government should advance ways of better conserving Uganda's natural resources as well as find resources to fund the joint efforts in environmental conservation.
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 3:03 pm       'Cutting emissions' 

Tom Okello, the executive director of National Forestry Authority (NFA), is representing the environment state minister Beatrice Anywar.

He says that Ugandans should be bothered about climate change because "we are seeing unpredictable rainfalls, flashfloods, landslides and doughts and this points towards our actions of mishandling the environement".

"As a country, we are committed to cutting down emissions," says Okello.

He says that young people are especially needed in climate change debates because they are the most affected by climate change because they are less resilient to the shocks and lack the resources to enable them counter the effects.
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 2:53 pm       'Young voices matter' 

Antonio Querido, FAO Uganda Country Representative, says "we have been blown away" by how the debates have been executed by the young participants.

"Your voices are important and we strongly belief that this platform also provides an opportunity if we are to develop policies...for sustainable development," he says.

Querido provides a reality check on the impact of climate change: He says over 200 million people, especially in the Great North have been under stress over the recent heat wave.

He says the entire world is facing a global challenge and that as Uganda, we are not far from the situation and therefore we need to minimise the fury of climate change.

"We are nothing without a conducive environment," says the FAO diplomat and urges everyone to leave with the same message: young voices matter.

"You are never too small to make a difference," Querido quotes 20-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
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 2:40 pm       'Sustainable future' 

Makerere University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe is represented by Peter Muhereza from the university's Dean of Students office.

He says that threats to the environment "lie at the very centre of debates on our future and the future of generations to come".

Nawangwe says initiatives like the Green Schools Initiative are necessary to assure all of us of a more sustainable future.

"This should not be an end in itself," says the VC, adding that there is need to create a platform through which this and many other issues can be distilled for the govenment and other actors to make informed decisions on tackling climate change.
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 2:32 pm       'Advocate by word and by deed' 

Ndyanabo says that he hopes the participating students are determined that this is not just an academic exercise but one of proactive effort going forward.

He rallies them to be "advocates of environmental protection" and to do "more research" and "advocate by word and by deed".

He says that the learners will be "personally responsible for the environment".

"We want you to overwhelm the world with this message of protection of the environment."

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 2:27 pm       'Education and action' 

In his remarks, Vision Group's deputy managing director Gervase Ndyanabo recognizes all the "students, teachers and all the people who have accompanied these students to reach where they have", as well as the sponsors and partners.

"It has been beautiful: the quality of the debate," he says of today's sessions.

Ndyanabo says that today's event only marks the end of "the first round of a long process that is aimed at combatting all the evils of climate change."

He says the spirit of the Green Schools Initiative is to play a role in curbing the devastating effects of climate change through "education and action".

He says students need to be environmentally conscious at their early age.
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 1:55 pm      Recycling plastic bottles 

Should a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles introduced to promote recycling and reduce littering?

The affirmative side (Sacred Heart SS Mushanga) argue that with such a scheme in place, people will be making an extra buck by using a bottle and returning it. They add that a bottle that has just been used will be much easier to recycle compared to one that has undergone excessive wear and tear as a result of lying on the ground for months or even years after being dumped.

The negative team (Mengo SS) argue that the well-to-do members of public will not be proactive in returning used bottles, as they will see the money promised in return, for instance sh100, as negligible.

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 1:31 pm      The final showdown 

The two schools that have advanced to the final are: Mengo Senior School and Sacred Heart SS Mushanga.

They will debate the motion: This House would introduce a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles to promote recycling and reduce littering.

The two opposing teams are given a few minutes to prepare for the final debate showdown.


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 1:10 pm      WATCH 

Students of Kitante Hill School in Kampala demonstrate how to boost sports in school by recycling cloth and polythene into volleyball nets and balls.



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 12:59 pm    

Next up, Vanessa Nshuti, a student of Kololo SSS, recites a self-composed poem on climate change.
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 12:50 pm    

A video documentary by New Vision on the Green Schools Initiative is being shown.
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 12:27 pm      Picture this  📸

Is it justifiable for scientists to falsify information so as to exaggerate the harms of climate change?

This is what the two sides are debating.

While the negative side (opposers) argue that one of the consequences of exaggeration is the public not believing in what the government says in the future, the affirmative team underline that they are talking about "reasonable" and "considerable" exaggeration.  

The proposers of the motion argue that it makes sense creating a false crisis today so as to be able to fight a real, bigger crisis tomorrow.

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 11:58 am      Second semifinal under way

For the second semifinal, we have Sacred Heart SS - Mushanga versus Ntare School.

The motion for this one: Assuming a low probability of detection, this House supports scientists who falsify data in order to exaggerate the harms of climate change.
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 11:44 am      'Panda miti'

And the first semifinal debate is done. Before the next one can begin, students of St Peters College Tororo entertain guests during the interlude with a performance encouraging everyone to "panda miti" (plant trees).


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 11:34 am      'State sovereignty would be compromised'

The negative side (opposers) — Mengo SS — are arguing that allowing international organizations to come in and take full management of environmentally significant areas would "compromise the government's sovereignty".

They feel that such bodies would potentially come in with "other agendas", and that instead, they should empower the Government to make it work in a co-existance format.
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 11:19 am      Is government doing enough?

Both sides are going hard on each other, making their respective cases for the matter at hand.

In the context of climate change, should international bodies be given authority over environmentally significant areas or should that remain under the government's control?

The affirmative side feel that Uganda has very good policies but falls short in implementing the policies.

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 11:06 am      Semi-finals under way

Fredrick Musiimenta, the co-founder of Uganda Dialogue Arena, a think tank, is the lead judge.

He says that out of 100 participating schools across the country, 30 qualified for the nationals, which took place at Kololo SSS on Tuesday. 

Four made it for today's finals - and by the end of today, the winner will be known.

Five judges are adjudicating today's sessions and we are told they are "independent" and not associated with any of the participating finalists.

Soroti SS are the affirmative (proposers) while Mengo SS  are on the negative side (opposers).

The motion: This House should transfer complete management of environmentally significant areas to an international body instead of the national government of that area.

Arinda Saviour is the the chairperson of the debate.

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 10:50 am      'You are all winners'

Sweden's Ambassador to Uganda, Maria Håkansson, has wished all the contestants the very best but she is keen to underline that everyone should feel like a winner.
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 10:46 am      Planting of trees in schools

Vision Group's deputy managing director, Gervase Ndyanabo, commended the Embassy of Sweden and FAO for the partnership that seeks to address one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today.

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 10:46 am      Planting of trees in schools

Meanwhile, the Government has instructed all schools to plant trees as a way of mitigating the effects of climate change, according to primary education state minister, Joyce Moriku Kaducu.

"We want to bring all schools in Uganda, private or government, on board and we are here to do it. What is important is the way you encourage them," she told New Vision at the opening of the debate challenge at Kololo SSS on Tuesday.

The minister said that planting trees on the school's land will not only conserve the environment, but also protect the buildings.

"You will hear time and again that wind has blown off rooftops; there are floods causing so many destructions in schools partly because of the absence of trees."
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 10:39 am     The programme

Today's programme is quite compact. Here is how things will roll:

▪️ To begin with, there will be an inspection of exhibition stalls.

▪️ Then FAO will present a brief about the Green Schools Initiative.

▪️ Makerere University's Zainah Nampijja will deliver a keynote address on climate change and humanity.

▪️ New Vision has prepared a video documentary on the Green Schools Initiative, which will be shown.

▪️ Thereafter, the competition's semifinalists will be introduced, and the procedures and rules explained by the adjudicators.

▪️ In-between the first and second semifinals will see Tororo Boys students perform a tree planting song.

▪️ Kololo Senior Secondary School will then recite a poem on climate change.

▪️ Thereafter, the finalists will be introduced and the preparations for the finals will get under way.

▪️ Then the final debate.

▪️ The debate will be followed by speeches by different officials, after which the announcement of the winners and presentation of awards will follow.
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 10:22 am     Let's warm up, shall we?

On a chilly morning like today, now is the ideal time to get all warmed up with some breakfast.

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 10:17 am     Arrivals

Student representatives of participating schools are arriving at Makerere University and checking in at the event's venue: Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility.

Vision Group's Editor-in-Chief, Barbara Kaija (left, in the picture below), has also arrived.

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 10:00 am     Greening initiative

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the finals of the Green Schools national climate change debate challenge that is set get under way at the Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility located at Makerere University in Uganda's capital Kampala.

The competition is part of activities under the Green Schools Initiative that New Vision is implementing with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with financing from the Swedish embassy.

The contest opened at Kololo Senior Secondary School in Kampala on Tuesday (August 29), drawing as many as 30 schools confirmed for the preliminary rounds.

The finals are taking place today, and the winners will be awarded prizes.

The stage is set.