The Rotary Club of Douglas’s schools public speaking competition is set to celebrate its 64th year with its 2025 contest.

The Douglas Rotary Club’s Youth Committee, in conjunction with the Department of Education, will be running the senior school competition on Monday, March 10 at St Ninian’s Lower School at 7pm.

The junior competition will then take place on Monday, March 17 at St John’s School at 6pm.

This year’s events are taking place at St Ninian’s and St John’s schools because they were last years’ competition winners.

Schools from all over the island have been invited to take part, with teams from six senior schools and eight junior schools set to take part in the competitions this year.

The subjects, which cover a variety of topics, are chosen by the entrants, with some of last year’s topic titles including ‘AI should be banned’, ‘mental health’, ‘should the Isle of Man increase its population to 100,000 people’, ‘the harms of social media’ and ‘can I make a difference’.

‘The subjects are always entertaining and thought provoking, making it an enjoyable and stimulating evening for the participating teams and the audience,’ said a spokesperson from the Douglas Rotary Club.

Mary Jane Falconer, chair of the Rotary Club of Douglas Youth Committee and chair of the panel of judges, commented: ‘I am always surprised at the high standard of delivery and the entertainment value of the topics chosen by the competitors who show great courage and determination in their delivery.

‘It isn’t easy standing up in front of an audience at the best of times, least alone when you are between the ages of 7 to 14.

‘I am extremely grateful to the support given to the competitors by their teachers.

‘I know that everyone who enters this competition will remember this day in years to come.

‘In fact, one of the school teachers I spoke to said that she had entered the competition as a young girl many years ago and this inspired her to set up a debating group in her school.’

A guest judge for this year’s event is Anne Clarke, the current chair of The Manx Music Speech and Dance Festival, who will provide ‘positive’ feedback to the competitors on the night.

In addition to the winner’s trophy, the Rotary Club of Douglas will award a prize of £750 to the winning school and gift tokens of varying amounts to every participating pupil who takes part.

The pupils will also receive a certificate as a keepsake.

For this year’s competition, there will also be an additional trophy that will be awarded to the pupil who ‘contributed most’ to the entertainment of the evening, which has been donated by the Major of Douglas who will help choose the winner and present it.