Bryan Manzi,16, Kassy Irebe, 16 and Ivan Kamali Rudakubana, 17, were the first team to represent Rwanda in the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) held in Stuttgart, Germany, recently.

The WSDC is a global competition for high school debaters that takes place each year in a different country hosted by a national debating body.

The three debaters under a debating organisation called IDebateRwanda left for the competitions on July 17 and returned on Monday after emerging 38th out of the 54 nations that participated in the WSDC 2016.

"This has been our first time in WSDC and I am proud of my team. This is a competition we are going to continue participating in because now we know the international standards, system and rules to follow so as to come out in number one position, " said Divine Mutoni Kitoko, a coach at IDebate Rwanda.

Emmanuel Migambi Mugisha, the head of the national team at IDebate Rwanda and one of the judges at the WSDC 2016, said the debate culture is intended to give young people a critical and constructive mind.

"If you debate, you are trained to think and it helps you be informed at all times about various global issues,” said Manzi, one of the debaters .

IDebate Rwanda was started in 2012 by a group of Rwandan youth and their slogan is, "Thinking and Speaking a Better World.”

The search for the next debaters to represent Rwanda will start in December during the Dreamers Academy Camp organized by IDebate Rwanda where all high school students in Rwanda can apply to join.

"We anticipate a better performance next year because we have a lot of information about the competitions and enough time to coach ,” said Mutoni.