9-year-old bags second in international speech contest

KOCHI: Thejus Madhavan, a 9-year-old from Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala, bagged the second prize in the International Online Speaking Competition organised by Melio, an IIT-IIM alumni initiative. 
“Melio had conducted the competition as a part of its Teachers’ Day celebrations. They conduct online speaking and debating competitions for students aged between 5 and 17 from all over the world,” said Tina Tharakan, teacher. 

According to her, Thejus was the only student from the state to get through the various stages of the competition and secure a place among the finalists. “Melio, derived from Melior (Latin for Better), promotes personality development of children over online competitions. The aim is to provide the students with an exciting way to practice and improve their speaking skills,” she added. 

According to Sethulakshmi, Thejus’ aunt, children are evaluated by expert judges from IITs, IIMs and the National Law School. “Thejus contested in the under 10 category. The qualifier round was on September 1, and she successfully made it to the list of five finalists. She emerged as the second prize winner after a tough competition in the final round which was conducted on the September 5,” she said.

This is the first time Thejus has participated in a speech competition and that too online, she added. According to Sethulakshmi, Thejus had been getting top ranks in various scholarship examinations. “She was doing very well in academics. But I wanted her to develop other skills too. So, when the brochure for the competition was sent by the school, Thejus signed up,” said Sethulakshmi, who helped Thejus with her speech.

“Each participant was given two minutes to present their ideas. The competition was held on Zoom platform,” she said. According to her, this was the tenth edition of speaking challenge by Melio. “Thejus wants to continue taking part in more such competitions. It was really good to see her triumphing over other Indian students from the Gulf countries even though this was her first rodeo,” said Sethulakshmi, who is an English teacher.