President Ali pledges $500,000 to create impromptu speech, debating awards at St Stanislaus College

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has pledged $500,000 annually to the Board of Governors of St Stanislaus College to establish a debating and impromptu speech award in honour of the late Lorraine Meratins who was regarded as an exceptional teacher.

The president made the announcement while commissioning the refurbished Physics and Chemistry laboratories and staff room at the secondary institution on Tuesday.

In his address, President Ali said the creation of the Lorraine Meratins debating and impromptu speech award will stimulate a tradition in impromptu speech, debating, and poetry. 

Reflecting on his time as a student at St Stanislaus College, President Ali spoke of the profound influence that the institution had on his life and how it helped to shape his future endeavours by providing him with a well-rounded educational experience. 

He emphasised that this same transformative experience awaits all current and future students given that the school continues to foster essential values of generosity, creativity, initiative, and academic excellence.

According to the head of state, the school’s strength lies in its ability to develop well-rounded, civic-minded individuals with diverse talents and skills.

“We don’t want this institution to focus only on academics. The strength of this institution is in creating rounded individuals, creating and understanding the talent of everyone who passes through here, building on that talent and giving them the best opportunity to deliver that talent to the population,” he emphasised. 

President Ali also spoke of the need to create an ecosystem at the school that will foster innovation, entrepreneurship and the development of new products and technologies that inspires students to go beyond and above their traditional academic pursuits.

He also called on the school administrators to take the lead in areas such as environmental studies, climate science, and low-carbon development strategies and find ways to  integrate them into the students’ education.