Diplomathon™ – a conference series on international relations – held its inaugural session in the UAE on February 1-2 in association with the Oxford School Dubai and Members of International Schools Association (MISA). Diplomathon’s handcrafted and curated stage for middle and high school students featured 11 simulated plenary sessions.
With a razor sharp focus on self development, Diplomathon™ is a unique platform for engaging the youth in real time conversations and emotional regulation to be “world-ready”. Globalisation is a crucial catalyst in today’s day and age. It is a win-win situation for countries on our planet. For instance, studies have shown that globalisation has succeeded in lifting millions (if not a billion) people out of poverty and has ensured a decent life for them. It goes without saying that the benefits of globalisation have nonetheless reached a large proportion of humanity.
Being a registered trademark of Apogeeoh Education Private Limited, Diplomathon™ is a student leadership conference that uses a different approach of imparting learning to students on global affairs through simulations like Model UN, which is an educational replica of the international organisations that aims at helping students to develop a variety of skills such as leadership, public speaking, critical thinking and negotiation, along with learning and experiencing international relations and what it’s like being a diplomat. Besides, it also gives students the opportunity to work collaboratively as a team above and despite all the differences between them, find and/or reach solutions and conclusions to current global crises.
Diplomathon UAE 2019 witnessed participation from more than 330 students from over 30 different schools across the United Arab Emirates, in addition to 70 students from seven different schools in India. The participants were bifurcated grade-wise across 11 plenary sessions which were simulations of international organisations like the UNSC, GCC, IFJ, FIFA to name a few.
The first day of the conference witnessed committee sessions followed by a unique speaker session on the theme: Transcending Boundaries. The student interactive session witnessed the presence of eminent guests including guest of honour Kamal Kalwani – philanthropist, vice-chairperson Ambassador Group of Schools, host representative Aisha Ansari – principal, The Oxford School, Dubai, and dynamic speaker and IFS officer Harshvardhan Patel, third secretary (LT) Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi. The series of speeches was launched by Hridday Bhatia, co-founder of Diplomathon™ and director, Apogeeoh Education Pvt Ltd. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Vandana Lulla – director of Podar Group of International Schools. Niyati Khanna, co-founder and international head of Diplomathon™ delivered the closing address and reignited the purpose of Diplomathon for the millennials of the 21st century.
The second day of the conference witnessed committees leading to the formation of solutions and conclusions in the form of resolutions followed by the closing ceremony. The winners of each plenary session along with the top six schools and the winning school were declared in the closing ceremony.
The top six schools at Diplomathon UAE 2019 in no particular order were The Winchester School Jebel Ali, The Oxford School, Podar International School Khar, Podar International School Powai, Gems Modern Academy. The winning school award – “Best School Delegation” trophy was bagged by SSPM’s Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir, Borivali, Mumbai.
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