Link to Main Points Document 1. Public Schools are Better Than Private Schools Imagine a single mother of two, barely earning enough to feed herself and her children three square meals. Does she not have the right to dream of a better future for her kids? A future where they earn and lead happy lives. A future where they can sustainably support their families. A future where they do not have to endure daily suffering, as she does today. “Education is an important clement in the struggle for human rights. It is the ‘means to help our children and our people rediscover their identity and thereby increase their self-respect. Education is our passport to the future,” said Malcolm X, an American-Muslim human rights activist, and a prominent figure in the Civil Rights movement, What he says holds for the children of today. Public schools provide free, universal access to education for all children. In the situation we have taken up, this certainly benefits the mother. But let's take a closer look at what more these schools have to offer. Students are exposed to a much greater diversity of cultures and ethnicities, promoting equality since childhood. In American private schools, for example, roughly 67% of the student population is white, whereas only 22.9% of the student population in public schools is white, according to a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report Religious affiliation is also a huge factor. Children may not choose to adopt the faiths of their parents, and these faiths should not affect their education, 78% of students who attend private schools go to schools that are religiously backed. This can nn, Public schools, on the other hand, are forbidden from discriminating against students - religiously or otherwise - by the Constitution. In India, for example, section 153A of the Indian Penal code, as well as cause discrimination based on reli articles 15, 16, and 29 of the constitution aim to protect discriminated students. Differently-abled students, by the law, should be accommodated in public schools. In 2020-21, the number of students ages 3-21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was 7.2 million, or 15 per cent of all public school students, These include learning, disabilities, speech or language impairment and developmental delays, among others. Unless they are schools tailored for differently-abled students, private schools tend to avoid these pupils, since teaching them averages a higher cost per student.Points Document Public schools are more fiscally responsible, in accounting for the budget constraint that is imposed upon them. This, along with the huge diversity, also discourages students from discriminating against their financially disadvantaged peers. Public schools are also much older, and therefore more integrated into society, giving a greater sense of community to its students. Some sources [my opponent] seem to believe that bullying is more of a problem in public schools than in their counterparts. Although physical bullying appears to be less prevalent in public schools, several studies report that verbal, social and cyberbullying are still hugely evident in private schools. These forms of bullying may seem less detrimental to an outsider, but most definitely are not. Bullying is a ubiquitous problem seen everywhere. Private schools are in no manner immune to this iniquity. 2. Putting an End to Space Exploration The skies were clear and the sun shone on the cold, freezing morning. The Kennedy Space Center in Florida was busy preparing to launch the 25th space shuttle - Mission 51-L. The 10th flight of the orbiter Challenger was one of the most publicised launches since it was the first time a civilian - Christa McAuliffe, a schoolteacher - would head into the boundless and perilous void we call space. Postponed five times due to bad weather, NASA took the contrite decision to launch the Challenger on January 28th 1986 - now recorded as the coldest day NASA has ever launched a shuttle. At 11:38 AM, NASA launched one of its most ambitious missions. Yet, a mere 73 seconds into the flight, the external fuel tank exploded, causing all seven crew members to plummet into the Atlantic Ocean, invariably killing them all within 3 minutes of the launch. It is nearly impossible for most of us to imagine the agony and gloom the families of the crew members must have endured. And what about Christa McAullife’s students? The hopes and dreams of hundreds of children across the globe were ruthlessly butchered. Folks, it is time we realise that space exploration isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.Link to Main Points Document Space is ever-expanding, and quite literally, ceaseless. We can never possibly have enough resources and time to fully learn and explore all of it. But here’s a thought for all your curious minds. Are we looking to explore space, or exploit it? We have already ravaged everything that our home planet has given us, and now we are ‘going to ruin the moon, and maybe even mars. We have spent billions of dollars trying to work out how to get off of Earth. Is it that hard to find a way to save it? Is it all we humans can do - problems, and escape them when we can’t avoid them anymore? We are on a mis to populate the desolate land of other foreign bodies. And in this process, we are more than likely to end up destroying the only life-sustaining planet we know of. fe our own. mn Now, let’s talk satellites. Obviously, they’re very important to society as we know it today. But we must also note that the rise in the number of satellites being launched into space is unsustainable. Over the past six decades, about 11,000 satellites have been launched, of which 7,000 remain in space, This number could swell to the hundreds of thousands by the end of this decade as private companies build ‘mega-constellations in Low Earth Orbit. The environmental dangers of such space debris are myriad, including light pollution that would hinder future scientific discovery. Satellite re-entries from the ‘mega-constellations could deposit hazardous levels of alumina into the upper atmosphere. The resulting solar radiation would have terrible consequences for the environment. The planned mega-constellations could throttle competition and innovation too if one country or company comes to dominate a particular orbit. High ideals are all well and good, but not when they come at the expense of the present. Our world is marred by war, famine, and poverty; billions of people are struggling simply to live from day to day. Our dreams of exploring space are a luxury they cannot afford, Instead of wasting our time and effort on macho prestige projects such as the space programme, we must set ourselves new targets. Once we have addressed the problems we face on Earth, we will have all the time we want to explore the universe; but not before then, The money spent on probes to distant planets would be better invested in the people of our own planet. A world free from disease, a world where no one lives in hunger, would be a truly great achievement.