AN ARTICULATE teenager has fought off tough competition to win the regional round of a public speaking competition with his musings on the perils of the ego.
Princethorpe College student Pratheesh Prabakaran, 16, came out on top of 15 competitors from schools across the Midlands to win the region’s round of the 2022 Catenian Association’s Public Speaking Competition for students from Catholic schools, held at Newman University.
The sixth former and newly elected Head of School impressed judges with his presentation on the topic of ‘The biggest problem in the world today’.
Pratheesh, who is studying A-levels in Maths, History and English, said: “We were presented with a choice of ten topics – all of them raised interesting questions, like ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ and ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’.
“However, there was one which instantly stood out to me – ‘the biggest problem in the world today,’ where you could finish that sentence with whatever you pleased.
I knew that the Catenians valued originality, so I decided to choose something I have been studying and observing for a while, the Ego.”
Competitors were marked by the judging panel on a variety of criteria including content, delivery, elocution and appearance.
Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Rod Isaacs, commented, “All the competitors gave incredible performances on the day, so Pratheesh’s victory is something that we are very proud of. It was a fantastic achievement for Pratheesh who was up against strong competition.
“It was fantastic to see so many schools competing. With such a broad range of topics covered, it really was a challenging and thought-provoking session.
“Princethorpe last won this leg of the competition in 2017, so it is wonderful to have the title and trophy return to Princethorpe College once again.”
Pratheesh will join regional winners from across the country at the Catenian Association’s National Public Speaking Final in September.
