In order to encourage and support the increase in the number of French-speakers around the world, the Institut français, in partnership with the Eloquentia Association, is organising Public Speaking Competitions on four continents throughout 2019. This competition is part of the presidential programme "Ambitions for the French Language and Multilingualism" initiated by Emmanuel Macron, in order to "restore French to its rightful place and role around the world". This programme consists of 33 measures focused on “Learning”, “Communicating” and “Creating”.

In India, while Hindi and English are the two official languages, French is the most commonly studied foreign language. A Times of India article from January 6th, 2014 reported that 10% of students learn French in primary and secondary school. Today, these figures continue to rise.

In India, the competition is open to students aged 18 to 25, who speak French at least a B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Led by the Alliance française, the competition will select several local finalists who will be invited to Chennai to participate in five days of public speaking training, led by experts from the Eloquentia association.

A national final will then rank the Indian students and designate the national champion.

All the national finalists from each participating country will meet in France in march 2020 to take part in a programme of activities related to the competition’s themes.

Chosen as the theme of the public speaking contest in India, the fight against inequality is particularly relevant given the country’s social, economic and political situation. During their speeches, the students have been called upon to raise their voices against inequality in all its forms, including issues related to gender, access to education, employment, housing, culture and even healthcare.

The public speaking competition was created in order to promote intellectual debate around the world by examining the evolution of today’s societies and encouraging new generations to get involved.