Contributor: Nur Rohmawati Hasanah, S.Si Kegiatan SALAM atau Pesantren Akhlak…

Alsebaya‘s first International Debate Competition
Written by Mr. Agus Arruf Bahariyanto, S. Pd

O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. (Surah Al-Hujurat Verse 13)
What is the World Scholar’s Cup?
The World Scholar’s Cup is an international academic competition with more than 15,000 students participating from over 65 countries every year. It aims to teach students with not-taught-in-school lessons. There are six subjects in the World Scholar’s Cup curriculum and the questions require critical thinking with basic knowledge rather than memorization. The six subjects are as follow:
- Science & Technology
- Literature & Media
- Art & Music
- Special Area
- History
- Social Studies
The World Scholar’s Cup has three rounds: the Regional Rounds, the Global Round and the Tournament of Champions. The community events allow participants to have fun and mingle with other participants from different teams.
The tournament is divided into two divisions, junior and senior, depending on the age of the students. Participants who are 11 years of age and older are classified as Juniors.
Regional Round (Sekolah Ciputra, Surabaya)
All Regional Round consist of four team events, as follows:
- Scholar’s Bowl – every team competes in the theatre with a clicker solving analytic questions and multimedia challenges which every question harder than the ones before
- Collaborative Writing – every team answer three questions out of the six questions given, one question each, within 1.5 hours (30 minutes discussion with teammates, 45 minutes writing, 15 minutes editing one another’s work)
- Scholar’s Challenge – each participant answers a 120-question multiple choice exam within 60 minutes. Students can mark more than one answer per question, though there is only one answer. The fewer answer marks, the more points are earned if the answer is correct. In this challenge, students can win a medal in each subject.
- Team Debate – each team debates three times across all subjects with 15 minutes of research time and 12 minutes of speaking time (4 minutes each). Winning teams face other winners while non-winning teams face other non-winning teams.

Global Round (Bangkok, Thailand)
The WSC Global Round is an annual competition hosted in different countries. In 2023, SDIA 11 Surabaya team joined Global Round in Bangkok, Thailand. To be qualified for the tournament, the team must exceed a point threshold for the Regional round.
The additional events in Global Round:
- Scavengers’ Hunt – Students are teamed up randomly and given tasks. At least one person in the team has a camera, and the tasks are completed by taking photos and videos. The tasks may relate to the curriculum, teamwork, organizer, or just silly. Each task is worth a certain number of points depending upon the difficulty. At the end of the scavenge, the leader collects the photos and score them. These scores do not count toward the scores in the competition as a whole, but are only used for this event. Teams with the highest scores can be called for an award in an award ceremony.
- Culture Fair – At every Global Round we celebrate our diversity of origins with a cultural fair in which schools can set up booths representing their countries. There will be food, souvenirs, performances and demonstrations. Everywhere you turn, you’ll learn something new, and take home something that reminds you our world is full of friendship, difference, and delight.


Alsebaya’s World Scholar’s Cup 2023
We are pridefully celebrating the great achievements of our SDIA 11 Surabaya Scholar’s Cup 2023 Team who brought back 30 amazing medals from Bangkok, Thailand
The teams were:
- Kevan Aditra Prasetyo, Rajendra Harsha Ramadhan, M. Yusuf Yudha
- Steven Putra Dewanndaru, M. Raqi Atthoriq, Khalisa Azky Anindita
- Purnama Lathifa Al Zaini Yahya, Nayla Aulia M, Darell Azka Budiman
accompanied by Mr. Agus Arruf travelled to Bangkok, Thailand for the competition. This was the Global round, competing against teams who qualified from the highly competitive regional rounds and they had some amazing achievements.
These are amazing successes at a truly global level, which shows how the SD Islam Al Azhar 11 Surabaya’s curriculum prepares our students to be great global leaders and compete against their peers from top schools around the world.
Special thanks to Mr Agus and the Team for their support and mentorship of the students.


The Achievements:
Raqi : 4 medals 1 Gold Cria Award 1 Silver Cria Top Team 1 Silver literature 1 Silver Debate Champion | Steven: 3 medals 1 Gold Asimov Award 1 Silver Cria Award 1 Silver Cria Top Team | Khalisa: 3 medals 1 Gold Asimov Award 1 Silver Cria Award 1 Silver Cria Top Team |
Nayla: 4 medals 1 Gold Cria Award 1 Silver Top Team 1 Silver Team Bowl 1 Silver Debate Champion | Darell: 4 medals 1 Silver Cria Top Team 1 Silver Cria Award 1 Silver Team Bowl 1 Silver Literature | Purnama : 3 medals 1 Silver Team Bowl 1 Silver Cria Award 1 Silver Cria Top Team |
Kevan: 3 Medals 1 Gold Cria Award 1 Silver Cria Top Team 1 Silver Debate Champion | Raja: 3 Medals 1 Silver Cria Top Team 1 Silver Cria Award 1 Silver Debate Champion | Yusuf: 3 Medals 1 Gold Asimov 1 Silver Cria Top Team 1 Silver Cria Award |
“The World Scholar’s Cup is not just a competition, it’s a celebration of learning.”