Fr. George Hess SJ Memorial Literary Competitions — Seven Literary Events for Classes VI to XII: A School Literary Series Template

Academic & Youth Fair · School Literary Competitions

A school-association literary competition series for ICSE/ISC schools in India: Creative Writing, Painting / Drawing, Declamation, Debate, Quiz, Storytelling and Poem Writing for Sub-Junior (Classes VI-VIII), Junior (IX-X) and Senior (XI-XII) students, with zonal, regional and national rounds.

A ready-made school literary series: creative writing, painting and drawing, declamation, debate, quiz, storytelling and poem writing in three class bands, each marked out of 50 (debate out of 100). Built for zonal, regional and national rounds, with no boys and girls split.

This template models a national literary competition series run by an association of ICSE/ISC schools in India. It is built from the organiser’s own published rules for the 2025 national round and extended with the newest 2026 zonal edition. It carries seven events: Creative Writing, Painting / Drawing, Declamation, Debate, Quiz, Storytelling and Poem Writing. Four are individual events and two are team events of two students; Debate and Quiz are the team events, and Storytelling and Poem Writing were added in the 2026 zonal rules.

Students compete in three categories by class, not by age: Sub-Juniors (Classes VI to VIII), Juniors (IX and X) and Seniors (XI and XII). Boys and girls are not grouped separately. The rules print classes and not ages, so the template gives each band a representative age range (11-13, 14-15 and 16-18) and restricts entry by class name; an organiser who sorts entrants by class should treat the class restriction as the rule. Individual and team events sit in separate groups, giving six groups in all. Debate is open to Juniors and Seniors only, Storytelling to Sub-Juniors only and Poem Writing to Juniors only, and one candidate may take part in only one event because the events run at the same time at the venue.

Time limits and marks follow the printed rules. Declamation is three minutes for Sub-Juniors and four minutes for Juniors and Seniors, with a warning bell thirty seconds before the end. Debate is a team of two, one speaking for and one against, for four minutes with a warning bell at three. Creative Writing allows 30 minutes of planning and then 90 minutes of writing, and Painting / Drawing runs four hours. Quiz and Poem Writing print no time limit, so none is installed. Printed judging criteria for each event total 50 marks, so every event is scored out of 50, except Debate, which adds the marks of both speakers and is scored out of 100. A deduction of 5 marks per judge for running over time is carried in the registration content, not as structure.

The competition has three levels: zonal, regional and national. Only the Gold Medal winners of a zonal round go on to the regional round, and only regional winners go to the national round, so an organiser running one round sets up one event per round and carries the qualifiers across. The rules print no points for places, so First, Second and Third are installed for both individuals and teams with no points. Participation certificates go to everyone and merit certificates to the top three. Entry caps per school, fees, travel and lodging are not modelled; they appear as registration-page content instead.

Where this event comes from

The structure follows the organiser’s own 2025 national rules, extended with the 2026 zonal edition, which adds Storytelling and Poem Writing.

Where this event is run

Run in India by a school association for its member ICSE/ISC schools, as a zonal, regional and national series. A school literary competition with writing, speech, debate, quiz and art events by class band is a common format in schools across India and elsewhere.

• India

Key facts

• Seven events: Creative Writing, Painting / Drawing, Declamation, Debate, Quiz, Storytelling and Poem Writing
• Three class bands: Sub-Junior (VI-VIII), Junior (IX-X) and Senior (XI-XII), with no boys and girls split
• Debate for Juniors and Seniors only, as a team of two; Quiz as a team of two
• One event per candidate, because the events run at the same time
• Each event marked out of 50; Debate out of 100 for the two speakers together
• Zonal, regional and national rounds; only zonal Gold Medal winners go to the regional round

Age groups

6

Competition items

7

Competitions

16

Grade bands

0

Rank awards

6

Age groups

Every candidate is placed into one of these groups by age, and competitions are run per group.

Sub-Jr Solo

11From

–

13To

Candidates aged 11 to 13 compete in this group

Junior Solo

14From

–

15To

Candidates aged 14 to 15 compete in this group

Senior Solo

16From

–

18To

Candidates aged 16 to 18 compete in this group

Sub-Jr Team

11From

–

13To

Candidates aged 11 to 13 compete in this group

Junior Team

14From

–

15To

Candidates aged 14 to 15 compete in this group

Senior Team

16From

–

18To

Candidates aged 16 to 18 compete in this group

Competition items

The events themselves — each with the category it belongs to and how judges score it.

Creative Writing

Creative WritingMarks

Painting / Drawing

ArtMarks

Declamation

OralMarks

Debate

OralMarks

Quiz

OralMarks

Storytelling

OralMarks

Poem Writing

Creative WritingMarks

Frequently asked questions

Can I change this template after installing it?

Yes — installing it creates a fully configured, live event, not a locked package. Every age group, competition item, rule and scoring setting can be edited afterwards to match exactly what your event actually needs.

Do I need technical knowledge to set this up?

No. Installing a template does the setup work for you; you only need to review the details (dates, unit or house names) and open registration.

Want the fuller picture first? See our guide to Judge scoring and tabulation software.