One of Grenada’s most anticipated annual youth public speaking competitions is poised to kick off a new season later this month, with 18 secondary schools across the island set to compete for the 2026 championship title. Organized by Grenada Electricity Services Limited (Grenlec), the preliminary rounds of this year’s Grenlec Debates are scheduled to begin on Monday, September 21, running through September 23. Defending 2025 champions St Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School (SAASS) will return to the tournament to defend their crown, after claiming last year’s title with an impressive 343 points in the final round. In the 2025 competition, Anglican High School finished as runner-up with 322 points, while St Joseph’s Convent, St George and Presentation Brothers’ College tied for third place.
More than a traditional debate competition, the Grenlec Debates are designed to foster critical thinking, research skills and collaborative learning among young people, pushing participants to explore nuanced perspectives on local, national and global issues that impact their communities. Ahead of the opening round, competing students and their coaching teams attended a mandatory orientation and skills training session on September 4 to prepare for the tournament’s structure and requirements.
A landmark shift to the competition’s format introduced after its post-COVID-19 return in 2023 remains in place for 2026: the full transition to an impromptu debate structure. Unlike traditional formats that allow teams weeks to prepare arguments for pre-assigned topics, this model gives participants only a broad advance theme to guide general research. On the day of a debate, teams draw their specific topic at random, and have just 30 minutes to craft their arguments independently, without input or assistance from their coaches.
Prudence Greenidge, Grenlec’s Manager of Corporate Communications, explained that the impromptu structure has already delivered transformative benefits for young participants. “The students now own the debates,” she noted, emphasizing that the format ensures every interpretation, original idea and spoken argument presented reflects the authentic perspectives of the young people competing, rather than scripted input from adult coaches. Greenidge added that the format has consistently helped students build greater self-confidence, allowing their individual talents and critical thinking abilities to take center stage.
For this year’s preliminary rounds, the broad overarching theme is Spicemas, with the tournament’s dedicated Motions Committee developing a range of specific motions that explore different cultural, social and economic dimensions of Grenada’s iconic festival. Across all rounds of the competition, Grenlec centers its mission on prioritizing holistic youth development: the tournament is structured to help young people build transferable life skills, from polished public speaking to active listening, and to teach participants to respect and engage meaningfully with viewpoints that differ from their own.
To expand public access to the competition, all debates will be recorded and edited for broadcast, following a structured content plan that will share preliminary round highlights with audiences, and air full debates starting from the second round of the tournament. Viewers will be able to follow the competition on local television and Grenlec’s official YouTube channel to catch all the action from the 18 competing schools. The full roster of participating institutions includes: Wesley College, Grenada Boys’ Secondary School, St Joseph’s Convent, Grenville, Beacon High School, St David’s Catholic Secondary School, St Mark’s Secondary School, The Anglican High School, Presentation Brothers’ College, Westmorland Secondary School, The St George’s Institute, St Joseph’s Convent, St George, St Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School, Hillsborough Secondary School, Bishop’s College, Westerhall Secondary School, Grenville Secondary School, Mac Donald College and Happy Hill Secondary School.
Greenidge emphasized that the entire project, from the on-ground competition to the broadcast distribution, is rooted in a commitment to nurturing young talent, encouraging academic curiosity, rigorous research and open public dialogue. She also acknowledged the significant pressure that comes with public speaking, and praised every student competing for the courage to step into the spotlight and share their ideas with the nation.