Imperial College : giving birth to champions at the World Scholar’s Cup

Flying the flag of Mauritius in USA is an uplifting moment for all of us. Four students from Imperial College represented Mauritius in the last World Scholar’s club in US. The students were awarded in the different competitions. Two of them were even rewarded with the Top scholars.

Kenny Savrimootoo, Sooklall Mohamad Anas, Cader Ishfaaq and Somera Laksayu are the new champions who represented Mauritius and competed with 483 colleges from the around the world in the US. It is the first time that Mauritius has participated in this competition and these students excelled in their performances. The four students showed their intellectual capability and team spirit during the competitions.

The World Scholar’s Cup aims at creating something different than the traditional academic competitions and conferences. It has as objective to create a thrilling journey for learning. It challenges teams to work in collaboration. It is a community of scholars and leaders that will last a lifetime. The aim of this non-profit making organization is to build up a platform for students to fall in love with education.

The prime goal is to motivate students of all backgrounds to discover new strengths, practice new skills and to inspire a global community of future scholars and leaders. Year 2017 theme was “An Unlikely World,” which consisted of areas of study like Science & Technology, History, Literature, Art and Music, Special Area (Modern Mythologies) and Social Studies.
The competition is divided into four segments: Team Debate, Collaborative Writing, Scholar’s Challenge and Scholar’s Bowl.

Tournament of Champions 2017 in US

The 2017 Tournament of Champions was scheduled for November 9-14, in the heart of the lovely New Haven (Connecticut) autumn. Kenny, Anas, Ishfaaq and Lakshayu obtained the opportunity to learn how to debate and to build new friendships among fellow scholars from all over the world.

Mr Dabydoyal Bawnathsingh, who had accompanied the students to USA, reveals that the competition was tough but the students were able to perform very well while facing their opponents from China, North America and UK. “It was an amazing experience for the students. I was there to support them and take care of them. Despite the terrible winter, the students did very well. The debates were very interesting. I believe that each and every student should get such a golden opportunity,” he says.

According to him, the students got the chance to interact with other students coming from different corners of the world. The champions also enjoyed the Yale Ball, where they danced with fellow scholars from over thirty countries. The Scholar’s Bowl, Debate Showcase, and Scholar’s Show were held at the New Haven’s historic College Street Music Hall. During a scavenger hunt, they explored every corner of Yale’s campus and the surrounding community. They encountered real alpacas, too!

From Mauritius to Cape Town

The World Scholar’s Cup in Mauritius took place at Imperial College on the 11th and 12th of April 2017. The pioneer to host a Regional Round with 84 students – 5 schools namely Imperial College with 15 teams, Hindu Girls College with 9 teams, College du Saint Esprit with 1 team, St Mary’s West with 1 team and New Devton with 2 teams as participants.

The scholars were fully engaged and the two days competition met with a huge success. Out of the 84 candidates, 45 were qualified for Global Round 2017 held in three different regions namely Hanoi (June 26 –July 1), Athens (July 18 – 23) and Cape Town (August 11 – 15).

Nevertheless, with the project, the management of the school has to struggle with serious financial shortcomings in order to send all 45 qualifiers to the Global Round in Cape Town. Kenny, Lakshayu, Ishfaaq and Anas went to Cape Town. There they participated in various events such as Debate Showcase, Scholar’s Ball, Scholar’s Show and Scholar’s Scavenge. All of them came out as winners and got selected for the finals.

The preparation

A full-fledged preparation was done at the college by the following teachers: Dabydoyal Bawnathsingh, Moloo Reena, Dumur Jeevedita, Rughoonundun Artee, Beessessur Hem Duth, St Flour Olivier, the Head of department and Vanessa Boodhoo from the management.

The rector Vikash Boodhoo also supported the team. “We, as teachers, provided our help but the students have done some brilliant work on their own. Several workshops were conducted to support them. They were well prepared and with such a good team, nothing could go wrong,” says Mrs Moloo.

World Scholar Society in Mauritius

The Imperial College has set up a World Scholar Society to be able to fund students participating in such international events. Last year, they encountered financial issues because of which other capable and deserving students could not participate at the Global level. So, this society will organise fund raising and look for sponsors for deserving students. 

World Scholar’s Cup 2018

In April 2018, the regional competition will begin at Imperial College. Newsletters are being sent to several colleges inviting them to participate. The host college is hoping to see more participation this year.

Kenny Savrimootoo : awarded as Top Scholar

Kenny, 15 years old, has received two awards, Scholar’s Bowl and Top Scholar for senior category. For him, this competition represents an enriching experience where he was able to develop several skills.

“It was a journey for self discovery. After this competition, I feel more mature and I understand my responsibilities very well. I have also learnt what it means to work as a team. Besides, I have been able to learn about several cultures and meet a variety of people of my age from different countries.”

Sooklall Mohamad Anas : “It has been a learning journey”

A Form 5 (Grade 11) student, Anas could not believe that he won an Honour Medal in USA. He describes the competition as tough. “It has been a learning journey. Through the debate, we have learnt about different topics and the perspectives of different students. We have enjoyed our stay in both Cape Town and USA. There were some activities that helped us to come out of our comfort zone.” 

Somera Laksayu : Winner of Top scholar

14-year old Laksayu is the winner of the title of Top Scholar in the Junior Category. He also won an Honour Medal. “It has been an extraordinary journey from Cape Town to USA. I did not expect to win in the US. It is the first time I was travelling without my parents. We had a lot of fun among friends.”  

Cader Ishfaaq : “It has been an incredible moment”

Ishfaaq Cader, a Form 4 (Grade 10) student, has had an enriching experience both in Cape Town and USA. He has also won an Honour Medal. For him, this competition offered them the opportunity to test their knowledge and level of English. He is quite surprised to observe that the way they speak English is not that bad.

“It has been an incredible moment where we learnt and had fun as well.”