ISDS: Indian Schools Debating Society

Home
India
Chennai
ISDS: Indian Schools Debating Society

The Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS) is a not-for-profit organization that aims to take competitive debating to students across India. What is ISDS?

Since its inception in 2008, ISDS has taken on activities every year to encourage students to take up debate as an activity and think critically. What does ISDS do? A pioneer in bringing the ‘World Schools’ format of debating to India, ISDS continually trains young Indians with the assistance of the best debaters from India and around the world. In addition to equipping students, ISDS also frequen

tly hosts teacher training programmes to integrate debating into teaching school curriculum, while also orienting teachers into the process of being on adjudication panels in debating tournaments. How has ISDS improved networks and access? ISDS initially spread its activities all over Chennai, slowly building much needed expertise before beginning to expand its activities to schools in Bangalore, Delhi, Dehradun, Trivandrum, Cochin, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Pune. ISDS has provided coaching in debate to hundreds of students between the ages of 13 and 18. Furthermore, ISDS has reached out to over 300 teacher coordinators from over 150 schools in 2016-17 alone, introducing them to debating, and enabling them use debating in pedagogic methods. How have ISDS teams performed internationally? ISDS has represented India in international debating competitions, including the World Schools Debating Championship (2008-2015), Russell McVeagh Debating Championships, New Zealand (2011), and the Asia World Schools Debating Championship (2014, 2016). In just its 3rd year at the World Schools Debating Championship, the team representing India managed to break to the top 16 teams. Since then, ISDS has broken 3 other teams, and their speakers have also routinely placed among the Top 10 English as a Second Language speakers. Due to this success, team India has been classified as a status B nation, i.e., among the top 14 nations at the tournament. In addition, Team ISDS India was crowned the champion of the Asia World Schools Debating Championship 2016 that was held in Bangkok. For further details: http://www.indianschoolsdebatingsociety.com/
For more information on the history of ISDS, and how it operates: http://www.indianschoolsdebatingsociety.com/about-isds/

19/02/2026

07/08/2025

TEAM INDIA: WORLD CHAMPIONS!

WSDC 2025 Wrap-up: After winning 7 out of 8 preliminary rounds, and progressing through incredible debates in the octofinals, quarters and semi, Team India WON WSDC 2025 ON A UNANIMOUS 9-0 DECISION!!
Commiserations to Team Australia who were incredible finals opponents, and a brilliant team.

In speaker awards, Uday Vir Khosla ranked as the 2nd Best Speaker in the entire world, as well as the top English as Second Language (ESL) speaker. In addition, Veda Kalra ranked as the 3rd best speaker in the world and the 2nd best ESL speaker. Avni Kaur Chaddha was the 4th best speaker in the world, and 3rd best ESL Speaker.

We’re overwhelmed and overjoyed to have had such an incredible result, and beyond proud of the team. This would not be possible without our dedicated coaches Lucia, Chris, Ananya and Sriram who worked tirelessly from near and afar, and the Team India extended training team, alumni, and selectors whose shoulders we stand on each year - it truly does take a village to raise a team. A huge shoutout also to our sparring partners throughout the year!

As with every year, we'd like to especially thank the team's managers and operational support Namita, Parth, and Ragini, and our parents, whose work behind the scenes is priceless.

ISDS would not be here today without the generous financial and material support of our sponsors, Ramco Systems - we are unbelievably lucky.

Last but certainly not the least, we are so grateful for our community of well wishers - your encouragement means a lot to us, and we hope to continue to make you and the country proud in the years to come!

If you want to make history as part of the national team, try out for Team India! If you’re hardworking, love to learn, dissect arguments for fun - WE WANT YOU. More updates to come on this page!

12/11/2024

The Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS) has a number of coaching positions open for Team India and the Development Teams for 2025. We are looking for humble, driven, and passionate candidates. Please consider applying if you are interested in working with an organisation focused on aspiring for excellence within international competitive debating. Salient information regarding these positions can be found in the role specific documents linked to our application form: https://zfrmz.in/11VU4roXH3mXuhW7kUcu

About ISDS and the Indian Debating Squad
ISDS officially selects, trains, and represents India at the World Schools Debating Championships, the world’s largest and most prestigious debating tournament. We reach thousands of students from diverse backgrounds, running one of the world’s largest, most diverse, and rigorous selection processes to select the Indian debate team.
- Team India were the World Champions in 2019 and Grandfinalists in 2018, with a Team India speaker ranking the best in the World across both years.
- India was also the top breaking Team in the world at WSDC 2023 and 2024.
- India development teams were Grandfinalists at AWSDC 2023, Semifinalists at Doxbridge WSDC 2022 and 2023, and Quarterfinalists in 2024.

Our journey so far has been shaped by an army of committed coaches, and maintaining our momentum would require more of you to join us. We are committed to excellence, care about the development of our coaches and students, and we're incredibly fun to work with!
If you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity through a confidential chat, please write back to us at [email protected] or [email protected]

23/05/2024

the remarkable Indian Schools Debating Championship 2023! Hosted in Arsha Vidya Mandir in Chennai, this event brought together over 200 debaters from all over the country and over 70 judges worldwide!
The team from Neerja Modi School – comprised of Hitishaa Goyal, Apal Jain, and Aditya Agrawal – emerged as the National Champions
Avni Chadha won the Best Speaker title and a full scholarship to the Lumiere Individual Research Scholars program.
The top 6 eligible speakers at ISDC directly entered the last stage of selections (National Selection Camp in Chennai) for the Indian Squad for 2023
Beyond the debates, ISDC 2023 offered more than just competition; it fostered camaraderie, shared experiences, and rewarding opportunities.
As we fondly reflect on the success of ISDC 2023, we eagerly anticipate the promise of an even grander championship in the future!

08/05/2024

The International Competition for Young Debaters (ICYD) is the largest and most prestigious competition for 15 and under debaters in the world. Every year, after rigorous regional rounds held across the globe, an International Finals day is conducted alternatingly by the Cambridge and Oxford Unions in the UK. The Oxford Union hosted the 2024 Finals Day, with 52 participating teams from across the world.

Four of our teams competed at ICYD Finals day after being selected onto our squad from the India Finals rounds. We're excited to share their incredible successes:

Aisha Goyal and Veda Kalra (Vasant Valley School, Delhi) finished as Open Grand Finalists. Veda was also adjudged 3rd Best Speaker at the competition.
Manveer Prathap Rathore and Punya Khemani (The Emerald Heights International School, Indore) were crowned ESL Champions!
Apoorv Gupta and Sudarshan Manikantan (Dhirubai Ambani International School. Mumbai) finished as ESL Finalists. Sudarshan was adjudged Best Speaker at ICYD, and Apoorv second best.
Arnav Agrawal and Rhea Grewal (Pathways World School, Gurgaon) also finished as ESL Finalists. They also finished in the top 8 teams of the competition, with Arnav placing as the 7th Best Speaker at ICYD.

It would be remiss of us not to thank our amazing volunteer coaches for their tireless effort - Tejas Subramaniam, Shruti Deb, and Prashasti Saxena. It takes a village to raise a debate team, and ours is large as it is generous.

We can't wait to go back to Cambridge next year for more!

Address

114, Velachery Road, Guindy
Chennai
600032

Telephone

+91 75500 99958

Website

http://tinyurl.com/isdsmasterclasses

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when ISDS: Indian Schools Debating Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to ISDS: Indian Schools Debating Society:

Shortcuts

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Chennai?

Our Story

What is ISDS? The Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS) is a not-for-profit organization that aims to take competitive debating to students across India. Since its inception in 2008, ISDS has taken on activities every year to encourage students to take up debate as an activity and think critically. What does ISDS do? A pioneer in bringing the ‘World Schools’ format of debating to India, ISDS continually trains young Indians with the assistance of the best debaters from India and around the world. In addition to equipping students, ISDS also frequently hosts teacher training programmes to integrate debating into teaching school curriculum, while also orienting teachers into the process of being on adjudication panels in debating tournaments. How has ISDS improved networks and access? ISDS initially spread its activities all over Chennai, slowly building much needed expertise before beginning to expand its activities to schools in Bangalore, Delhi, Dehradun, Trivandrum, Cochin, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Pune. ISDS has provided coaching in debate to hundreds of students between the ages of 13 and 18. Furthermore, ISDS has reached out to over 300 teacher coordinators from over 150 schools in 2016-17 alone, introducing them to debating, and enabling them use debating in pedagogic methods. How have ISDS teams performed internationally? Currently, Team India are World Champions! Team India, selected and trained by ISDS won the World Schools Debating Championships 2019 that took place in Bangkok, Thailand between the 24th and 31st of July.

In the past, ISDS has represented India in international debating competitions, including the World Schools Debating Championship (2008-2015), Russell McVeagh Debating Championships, New Zealand (2011), and the Asia World Schools Debating Championship (2014, 2016). In just its 3rd year at the World Schools Debating Championship, the team representing India managed to break to the top 16 teams. Since then, ISDS has broken 3 other teams, and their speakers have also routinely placed among the Top 10 English as a Second Language speakers. Due to this success, team India has been classified as a status B nation, i.e., among the top 14 nations at the tournament. In addition, Team ISDS India was crowned the champion of the Asia World Schools Debating Championship 2016 that was held in Bangkok. For further details: http://www.indianschoolsdebatingsociety.com/ For more information on the history of ISDS, and how it operates: http://www.indianschoolsdebatingsociety.com/about-isds/