Model United Nations: is it worth it for students?-Dihasya Perera, Parmiter’s School

With a growing digitalised world, are skills in debate still prevalent, or should students focus more time into their skills in technology?

A small group of students at Parmiter’s School recently attended a Model United Nations conference, many of which, for the first time. These students engaged in a weekend of debate and amendment-making, to come out on the other side, all much more confident debaters. The formalities that exist in the nature of Model United Nations, are often new to first-time debaters, however, they allow formal language to be used consistently throughout debate. As well as this, in order to prepare for the conferences, research had to be conducted about the delegates’ country, in order to write clauses for a full resolution, developing students’ research skills to substantiate their delegation’s arguments. Along with this, these students had participated and continued to attend Model United Nations Society sessions, within their school, to introduce them into the nature of MUN debate. 

It is evident that MUN conferences still are exceptional opportunities, to learn the rules of formal debate and encourage communication skills as well as learning to think quickly, producing astute responses to any questions or points of contention brought up by other delegates.

Manal El Fanichi, co-president and co-founder of the Model United Nations Society at Parmiter’s School reflected on her experience of Model UN, explaining that it ‘has been such a journey of honing on public speaking skills and being able to engage in conflict resolution, and going to conferences has meant we’ve made some great friends along the way. I think the best part is being able to run MUN Society with Dihasya, someone just as passionate as I am which makes all sessions feel that much more fun and not as though it’s a chore.’

Overall, Model United Nations conferences are outstanding events to attend, if you are interested in learning about public speaking and debate, for future careers or general skill development.