Prakriti’s Grade 8 and 9 learners participated in their first Model United Nations Event at Scottish High International School. The event was intense with each committee having about 30-40 delegates from a variety of schools. What attracted the learners was the depth of the agendas that the committees were exploring, from Oil funding of FIFA to Glass Ceiling for the Women in Companies to Feasibility of Non-proliferation in light of Iran’s Nuclear Deal and Pakistan’s WMD to Stakeholder vs Shareholder Capitalism. A refreshing change was inclusion of Lok Sabha for discussing the ban on Cryptocurrency and Crisis Committee Meetings for Indira Gandhi for 1971 war.
At the MUN, they were expected to make speeches, participate in the various discussions and debates (that often got intense), withstand scrutiny from fellow delegates and answer their questions, and work with them to come up with resolutions. It was wonderful to see how each of the students’ responded to this very new and rigourous environment. While most took time to get accustomed to the pace, energy and tension in the atmosphere, by the end of the first day, they all eventually got a grip on themselves and were participating vigourously. The second day was more fruitful for most of them and one student from G9 was even especially recognized for her contributions to the deliberations in her committee.
MUNs are a test of one’s grit, focus on self and learning from initial setbacks for improvising on one’s delivery of thought and questioning of others’ ideas. While everyone who thrives in an event such as this is a winner, two of our learners were awarded with a Special Mention!