Jleeb, January 21, 2021: The young debaters of Bhavans Indian Education School, Kuwait, put in an impressive performance at ‘The Claude Martin Debates 2021’ that were organised by La Martinière College, Lucknow, India, in memory of its founder, Major General Claude Martin, who was a major general in the English East India Company's Bengal Army.

The event that witnessed a series of fierce debates was flagged off on January 19, 2021. On the first day, there were 16 participating schools, and the team comprising outstanding debaters of IES, Simone Trikha of 11B, Jerome John Thomas of 11D, Amit Prakasan Nambiar of 11D and Abin K. Saju of 11D, after successfully getting through the first two rounds of debating, was shortlisted for the semifinal round that was conducted on January 20, 2021. In the semifinal, Team IES pitted against their counterparts, Mayo College, Ajmer, La Martinière College, Lucknow and La Martinière for Girls School, Kolkata, convincingly demonstrating its debating skills. As the round was a fight to the finish, it was quite impossible for the virtual spectators to guess who would qualify for the final until the declaration of the result. Even though the team could not get through the semifinal, the impressive performance of the debaters, that enabled them to reach the semifinal of the prestigious international event, sparked a huge wave of exhilaration among the students, the teachers and the parents who warmly applauded them. The team had been trained by the department of English, IES.