Our Vision and Values

aboutisds

Welcome

ISDS is India’s largest and most successful non-profit debate education organization reaching thousands of students across 55+ cities in India every year.
Our vision is to transform the 200 million middle and high school students across India from diverse backgrounds through debate to think critically, communicate effectively, and lead with courage. We also officially select, train, and represent India at the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC), the world’s most prestigious debating tournament. Our teams have made history – Team India won the World Championship in 2019, after reaching the Grand final and finishing as runners up in 2018. Team India is also the only team to have finished top ranked at the end of preliminary rounds after winning all their debates in three consecutive in-person World Championships: 2019, 2023 and 2024.

ISDS at a Glance

Our Impact
6000
Yearly ecosystem(1) student reach across 55+ cities
54
Representation of girls in our direct programming
13
Championships won historically, including WSDC(2)
85
Team India alumni entering a top univ.(4) for undergrads
150
No. of volunteers supporting us yearly as of 2023
33
Tier 2/3 city representation in our direct programming
7
Total 'World's Best Speaker' awards in WSDC and ICYD(3)
9
Average participation feedback across ISDS programmes

Note(s): (1) Ecosystem reach refers to direct reach through enrollment in our programmes and indirect partner programming and downstream effects (2) The World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) is the most prestigious debating tournament for school students in the world, where students represent their countries (3) The International Competition for Young Debaters (ICYD) is the largest, most prestigious under 15 debating tournament hosted by the Cambridge and Oxford Unions (4) Top 10 in the country that the institution is in (5) Yearly data is calculated based on 2023

Take a look at this feature on our Journey by The Wire:
ISDS: The Organisation Behind India’s Rise as Debating World Champions

video_intro
Watch this speech by one of our head coaches and mentors, Sayeqa Islam, to know more about our initial years.

History and Vision

The Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS) is a not-for-profit organization that started out as a small group of five schools that came together in Chennai in 2008 as part of Mr. Venketrama Raja and Mrs. Nirmala Raja’s larger vision to inculcate debate in core school curricula in India. Students from these schools were selected and trained to represent India at the World Schools Debating Championships by international debate coaches.

Since 2008, ISDS has transformed from being a small society of schools in Chennai to a full-fledged academy that has reached 50,000+ students through our selections, courses, and workshops over 55 cities[1]. We are supported by a team of home-grown alumni and trainers, and international advisors from around the world.

Our vision is to:
 ‘Transform young school students across India from diverse backgrounds through debate to think critically, communicate effectively, and lead with courage’.

[1] A majority of our students have come from these cities – a number of our other students come from multiple other cities in India

Why Debate

Our tool of change is competitive debate, because we believe debate can create confident and collaborative communicators who can evaluate positions from different perspectives respectfully. It empowers students through knowledge and encourages them to be action and solution oriented in the face of socio-economic and political challenges. Debate also creates enriching engagement with academic curricula, and helps students articulate themselves better in essays and interviews.

ISDS has consistently provided intense coaching in debate to hundreds of students, with the ultimate aim of inspiring organized thought and speech in the minds of children between the ages of 13 and 18.

Meet our Alums

Recent Posts

Our Strategic Priorities

1/ Student Engagement:
Each year, we want to invest students in debate and critical thinking through training, workshops, competitions, online engagement, etc. We already reach thousands of students, but we won’t rest until we grow to reach millions.

2/ Diversity and Inclusion:
We believe that strength lies in diversity of thought, background, and identity. We continually reflect on increasing this diversity within ISDS through the students we work with, our team of staff and coaches, and our curriculum.

3/ Competitive Excellence:
High quality and healthy competition can inspire and improve us. We work each year to enable our students excel domestically and internationally in competitions they participate in.

4/ Organisational Sustainability:
Self-improvement never sleeps – we will spare no effort in improving our organisation and ecosystem to ensure we are a lasting presence in the debate landscape in India.

Our Organisational Values

We are committed to displaying and inculcating three behaviours in all our work. [2]

1/ Hunger:
We set high expectations and raise aspirations for ourselves and our students. In reaching these, no challenge is too hairy, and difficult work is par for the course.

2/ Humility:
We understand and learn from our mistakes and successes. We are always open to feedback and take on important tasks regardless of the extent of spotlight they receive.

3/ People-smarts:
We care about people and relationships in our interactions. We work to display emotional intelligence and bring out the best in those we work with.

[2] Inspired by Patrick Lencioni’s ‘The Ideal Team Player (2016)

wsdc2019_teamindiaISDS has represented India in several international debating competitions, including the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC), since its inception in 2008. In 2019, Team India won the WSDC title in Bangkok, Thailand.

View our Achievements