World Schools Debating Championship 2011 - National Selections to commence soon

The World Schools Debating Championships for 2011 will be held from the 16th to the 26th of August next year in Dundee, Scotland.

As in the past 5 years, the Debaters' Council will conduct selections to chose the 5 Debaters who will represent the country at this event. The DC's selections have been endorsed by the Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka on all previous occasions.

For the purpose of selections, the Debaters' Council has appointed a renowned panel of selectors including those with extensive international experience both in terms of Adjudication and Debating.

As notified earlier, the top 15 speakers from the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championships 2010 (organized by the Moot Court and Debating Society of the University of Colombo earlier this year) will be chosen by default to take part in the selection process.

However, in addition to the above, the Debaters' Council will open up selections to those deserving candidates who were either not placed in the top 15 or who were not able to participate at the aforesaid tournament due to unavoidable circumstances. For this purpose the Council calls upon all other interested students who have experience in English Debating to forward their Curriculum Vitaes via email to debaterscouncil@gmail.com by the 19th of December 2010. The selection committee will peruse the CV's submitted and chose deserving candidates which the committee feels would stand a reasonable chance of being selected to the 5 member national side. The CV should contain the following information:

1. Full Name
2. Date of Birth
3. School
4. Past Debating experience
5. Awards won for Debating

The eligibility criteria for WSDC 2011 are that the debater should not be above 20 years of age or below 14 years of age on the 16th of August 2011 and should have been enrolled in a Secondary School within 6 months from the commencement of the tournament.

The selected Debaters will be subjected to 8 workshops starting in early January, where they will have the chance to display their talents. At the conclusion of this process, the Selection committee will meet to determine the final 5 who will be chosen to attend the championships in Dundee.

DC Schools League - Final Points Table - CIS, STC enter finals

After 6 long months, 56 exciting debates and a very tense last month we now have our finalists for the DC Schools' League 2010.

With 11 wins and 29 points, Colombo International School top the rankings in the preliminary rounds and enter the finals as firm favorites.

After a close battle with Wesley College, S. Thomas' College have taken the 2nd spot edging out their competitors by a single point. They enter the finals with 10 wins and 29 points.

Wesley College will be disappointed to have been placed 3rd having entered the competition as favorites. More disappointing would be the fact that they missed out on a spot in the finals by 1 point. However, they can boast of an impressive record of 10 wins and 28 points during the tournament.

Having returned an impressive 8 wins and 26 points, Ladies' College bring up the rear of those automatically qualifying for DC Schools' League 2010 being placed 4th.

St. Joseph's College, Methodist College, D. S Senanayake College and Bishop's College have all turned in commendable performances over the past 6 months but will now be relegated back into the general pool from which they will have to qualify once again next year.

Over the past 6 months, the quality of debates turned in by the 8 participating schools has been outstanding with marked improvements being made along the way. Congratulations to all the debaters, coaches and teachers in charge concerned. Congratulations especially to our 2 finalists, Colombo International School and S. Thomas' College for the high standards of debating displayed over the course of the tournament.

Not to be forgetten are the untiring efforts of our two convenors, Mr. David Rajasingham and Mr. Michael Mendis without whom the the schedule of debates could not have been completed on time and also our two chief adjudicators, Mr. Rehan Almeida and Mr. Anisha Yasaratne for ensuring a panel of high quality adjudicators at each debate

The date of the grand finals will be announced in due course.

DC Schools League - Semi Finals end in Stalemate

The much anticipated double semi final between S. Thomas' College and Wesley College ended in a stalemate with both teams carrying one debate each, both on split decisions.

Wesley College won the prepared round opposing the motion "TH Supports no-fault divorce laws" while their opponents came back to take the impromptu round opposing the motion "THBT the right to free speech does not extend to offending religions"

The results mean that no change has occurred in the current standings of both teams. Much now rests on the performance of the other contender, Colombo International School to determine the fate of these two teams

STC win Nixons

The Lilian Nixon Challenge Trophy, the annual tournament organized by Ladies' College was held on the 16th & 17th October 2010. More than 20 teams participated at the event.

S. Thomas' College emerged champions of the tournament beating D. S Senanayake College in the finals with a 5-0 unanimous decision in their favor. The motion for the final was "THW Ban Race Based political parties".

The other semi-finalists at the event were S. Thomas' College B Team and Colombo International School.

Maleen Jayasuriya of Wesley College was adjudged the most outstanding speaker at the competition.

S. Thomas' College has now won the championships 3 years in a row.

Congratulations to Ladies' College on organizing a well-oiled tournament and the participants on their achievements

Wesley and STC match step for step, LC knocked out

Wesley College and S. Thomas' College registered comfortable wins this week beating a common opposition, Bishop's College. Also interesting to note was that both debates were won by the same margin of points.

S. Thomas' College opposed the motion "THW give racists a platform" in an impromptu debate while Wesley College proposed the motion "THW split up companes that are 'too big to fail'" in a prepared round

The win by STC now means that Ladies' College will have no chance of entering the finals, narrowing the fight down to CIS, STC and WC.

DC Schools League - Points Table - Tables turn as CIS take the lead

47 of the 56 first round debates of the DC Schools League 2010 have been completed as we enter into the last month of competition and the above are the standings as at today.

Teams already relegated

Based on current standings and theoretical possibilities, St. Joseph's College, Methodist College, D. S Senanayake College and Bishop's College have already taken the 4 slots to be relegated back into the pool from which next year's 4 new contestants will be chosen from. However standings within these four could change based on the results from next month's debates

Ladies' College face up hill task to enter final

With their surprise loss to D. S Senanayake College last week, Asians' Semifinalists Ladies' College will now face an up hill task if they are to enter the finals. With only one debate left (compared to 3 or more for S. Thomas' College and Wesley College), they will be keen to win it convincingly, before they allow fate and the numbers' game to set in.

Three way competition for entry into finals, CIS seem favorites

With 5 teams seemingly out of the reckoning, the competition has now closed down on 3 teams battling it out to qualify for the finals. Colombo International School, with 9 wins out of 11 seem favorites to cross the finish line first. However the most interesting competition could prove to be between Wesley College and S. Thomas' College with the 2 debates scheduled on October 23rd (the final day of debates) between the 2 teams becoming a potential semi final.

The remaining 9 debates in the league promise to be exciting times for the competition

Law Faculty bags another regional scalp

The RV Debating tournament (RVDT) was held from the 18th -21st September 2010 at RV College of Engineering, Bangalore. 46 teams from around India and other parts of South Asia took part in the event (now in its 2nd year). The difference between RVDT and many other debating tournaments is that it allowed for mixed teams (teams mixed between institutions) and independents to participate as debaters. The achievements of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo at this tournament are as follows.

1. FOLC-A team (which included David Rajasingham, Luwie Ganeshathasan and Shamalie Jayatunge) emerged the winner of the competition. The team had 4 out of 6 wins in the preliminary rounds. Their only two losses came against Nanda Cross (whom they met in the finals). They beat IIT Bombay A in the quarter finals (on a 2-1 split), National Law school of India University B at the semi-finals (5-0). In the Finals they beat Nanda Cross which included Sharmila Parmanand (see below for Sharmila’s debating CV) Vipul Nanda (see below for Vipul’s debating CV) and Harini Vishwanathan who were last year’s defending champions, on 6-1 split.

2. FOLC- B team (which included Shanil Wijesinha, Vishakha Wijenayake and Rhadeena de Alwis) was unlucky not to break to the top 8 and finished on 3 wins. Despite some bad adjudication in a couple of rounds (where even the opposition admitted they had lost) the team was ranked 3rd on the tab on Speaker scores (Behind Nanda cross (1) and FOLC –A (2)).

3. All 6 speakers (from the two teams) were ranked in the top 25 in the speaker tab this included Luwie Ganeshathasan (4th), Shamalie Jayatunge (5th), Shanil Wijesinha (8th), David Rajasingham (9th), Rhadeena de Alwis (11th), Vishakha Wijenayake (22nd).

Ladies' College and Wesley College make the nation proud

Ladies' College and Wesley College, participated at the Second Asian Schools Debating Championship 2010 held in Manila. After seven rounds of heated debates on a wide variety of themes Both A and B teams of Ladies' College and Wesley College advanced to the octo finals as the top 12th,5th and 4th teams in the preliminary rounds.A team of Ladies' College advanced to the quarter finals after beating the Ladies' College B team in what was termed a 'cannibalistic' round. Ladies College A team advanced to the semi finals and lost the semi finals in a close 4-3 split decision.The Ladies' College C team narrowly missed the main break and advanced to the Novice Championship out of which they emerged winners. Shamalie Jayatunge the coach of Ladies' College was ranked as the 8th best adjudicator of the tournament from the breaking adjudicators. Manisha Dissanayake was ranked second best speaker of the tournament and Kalyaani Vickneswaran was ranked as 8th best speaker in the speaker tabs.

The respective Ladies' College teams were as following. the A team comprised of Meghal Perera,Naomi Wijetunge and Enakshi Wickramanayake. The B team comprised of Kalyaani Vickneswaran,Manisha Dissanayake and Radeeni Algama. The C team comprised of Anisha Dias Bandaranaike,Radhika Sundararaj and Sunela Pathirana.

The Wesley College team which broke 4th in with 6-1 win ratio to the main break lost the quarterfinals in a controversial split decision. The teams representing Wesley College consisted of Maleen Jayasuriya,Chrisjit Xavier and Sithira Gunasekara.
All in all the competition was both enjoyable and an eye opener it is hoped that more teams will participate in next years edition in South Korea.

Wesley in triple wins

Wesley College vs St. Joseph's College

Motion: That proportional representation should be the basis for electoral systems
Venue: Wesley College
Debate type: Prepared
Result: WC bt SJC (3:0)

Wesley College vs D. S Senanayake College

Motion: THBT state sponsored stockpiling or destruction of agricultural surplus should be a crime against humanity
Venue: Wesley College
Debate type: Prepared
Result: WC bt DSS (3:0)

D. S Senanayake College awarded a walkover to Wesley College for the impromptu debate scheduled on the same date

Wesley down Joes convincingly

Wesley College downed St. Joseph's College convincingly at an Impromptu debate held at the latter venue on Saturday. The debate was awarded unanimously to Wesley College but was held to be a good one.

The motion for debate was "THBT tax defaulters should be disenfranchised"

Wesley College and Ladies' College to carry the Sri Lankan flag

Teams from Wesley College and Ladies' College will participate at the 2nd annual Asian Schools Debating Championships to be held in Manila, Philippines from the 05th to the 09th of September 2010. We wish the schools best of luck at the championships.

It must be noted that 3 teams from Ladies' College participated at last year's edition with the A team creditably reaching the quarter finals

DC Schools League 2010 - Results Update

S. Thomas' College vs Ladies' College

Motion: TH Supports an upper house in the Sri Lankan legislature
Venue: S. Thomas' College
Debate type: Prepared
Result: STC bt LC (2:1)

S. Thomas' College vs Ladies' College

Motion: THW require all fast food restaurants to meet a minimum nutritional standard
Venue: Ladies' College
Debate type: Impromptu
Result: STC bt LC (2:1)

Colombo International School vs Bishop's College

Motion: THW abolish inheritance
Venue: Bishop's College
Debate Type: Prepared
Result: CIS bt BC (3:0)

Ladies' College vs Colombo International School

Motion: THW ban the Burqa in public
Venue: Ladies' College
Debate Type: Impromptu
Result: CIS bt LC (3:0)

St. Joseph's College vs Bishop's College

Motion: THBT politicians should not be allowed to own media companies
Venue: St. Joseph's College
Debate Type: Impromptu
Result: SJC bt BC (3:0)

St. Joseph's College vs Ladies' College

Motion: THBT the charges against Goldman Sachs should be dropped due to the failures of the State as Regulator
Venue: St. Joseph's College
Debate Type: Prepared
Result: LC bt SJC (3:0)

Wesley College vs Ladies' College

Motion: THW place caps on election spending
Venue: Wesley College
Debate Type: Impromptu
Result: LC bt Wesley (3:0)

Colombo International School vs St. Joseph's College

Motion: THW use the education system to instill moral norms in children beyond mere obedience to the law
Venue: St. Joseph's College
Debate Type: Impromptu
Result: CIS bt SJC (3:0)

DC Schools League - Week 10 - LC falter for the first time

Week 10 of the 2nd annual DC Schools' League saw Ladies College losing their first debate of the season going down to St. Joseph's College in a hard fought close debate at Flower Road.

The hosts proposed the motion "THW financially incentivize both interfaith & interethnic marriages". The debate was awarded on a split decision.

DC Schools League - Week 09 - STC bounce back

S. Thomas' College bounced back from a double defeat at the hands of Colombo International School 2 weeks ago to beat St. Joseph's College on a convincing unanimous victory.

The debate was held at S. Thomas' with the hosts proposing the motion "THW ban depictions of cruelty to animals"

EurOpen 2010 Stuttgart Debating Tournament

Dear global debating community!

We hereby announce and invite you to our this year's EurOpen 2010 Open International Debating Championship in Stuttgart and Tubingen!

This tournament will take place in World Schools Format from

SAT 6th - SAT 13th NOVEMBER 2010.

We expect a mix of many international teams, as well as local school teams to spend six days of good debates, sightseeing and plain fun here in the southwest of Germany.

--Team size and composition--

Due to room restrictions at schools we need to cap the number of teams at 40. We're aiming at 15 local teams and 25 openings for teams who need accommodation.
If you are a local team, we'd like you to sign up only if it is possible for you to name two judges, so that you can provide at least one judge on each tournament day. If this is not in any way possible, please contact us prior to signup.
International teams (or German teams who need accommodation) need to bring at least one judge. This can also be the coach.
Number of speakers for both groups is a maximum of six.

--Accommodation and fees--

All international teams will be accommodated in one or two hostels, depending on the number of signups. If you team needs accommodation, we will need roughly 200EUR from each of your team members. Unfortunately, we cannot be more precise about that as of yet. These costs cover all transportation, as well as room and board. Part fee may vary with financial support and sponsoring but should not exceed this value.
If you are 'local' enough to spend the nights elsewhere, we'd like you to pay 25EUR administration fee per participant.

--Registration--

...is now open and ends on 30th SEPTEMBER 2010. This deadline will be final, we're afraid, since we'll publish the draw right afterwards. We have created a webpage through which you can register your team.

www.europen2010.com

--Schedule--

A tentative schedule can be found on our webpage as well.

www.europen2010.com

--Motions--

There will be eight preliminary rounds, from which FIVE will be prepared. All final rounds are impromptus. Prep time for the final is 2 hours.


This House...

1) would give foreigners domiciled in a country the right to vote in that country's general elections
2) would scrap the euro
3) would repatriate cultural artefacts
4) would abolish aid to Third World countries
5) would support measures to allow oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas.

The motions can also be found here:

www.europen2010.com

--What else?--

That is up to you. If you have any questions whatsoever, do not hesitate to ask us:

David Whitehead (convenor) whitehead@schoolsdebate.de
Christopher Sanchez (convenor) chris.sanchez@gmx.de
Timo Schwander (registration and webpage) timo@schwander-online.de
Carmen Belafi (accommodation) carmen.belafi@web.de
Sabine Koole (registration) sabinekoole@web.de

There are many more to help us, but they'll have to wait for you to sign up and get the tournament started ;) So what are you waiting for?

Also visit our society's webpage here: www.schoolsdebate.de

We've used the WSDC contacts to create this e-mail list. If you want to be off our distribution list, please let us know.

Hoping to see you all soon here with us in Stuttgart and Tubingen!
David, Chris, Timo, Carmen and Sabine

DC Schools League - Schools penalized

Colombo International School and D. S Senanayake College have been penalized 1 point each for the offense of fielding a debater outside of the registered number. The Chief Adjudicator, having perused submissions made by both parties felt that this was a sufficient punishment for the offense concerned. However a stern warning has been issued to both schools regarding any future violations which could result in suspension of their teams from further participation in the tournament

DC Schools League - Points table - Metho lead, LC and CIS standout

20 debates of the DC Schools League 2010 have been completed thus far and the following are the standings at the end of the same.

Methodist College, having completed a majority of their debates lead the table with 4 wins and 14 points. However, with other teams completing further debates the chart toppers are expected to slide down the table in coming weeks. However the standouts have been Colombo International School whose recent double against S. Thomas' College puts them at 2nd place and Ladies' College who have enjoyed an unbeaten run thus far this year.

Defending champions Wesley College and last year's runner up Bishop's College have not had a good outing thus far. The 2 schools currently hold the 6th and 7 places on the table.

However, with 36 more debates to go, the tournament still remains very much open. All eyes will be on whether Ladies' College can further their unbeaten run and whether schools in the middle of the table can catch up to the leaders. The coming weeks promise to be an exciting time for the League.

DC Schools League 2010 - Week 08 - CIS deal double blow to STC

Colombo International School proved that they are serious contenders for the championships by beating S. Thomas' College twice over the weekend. Both debates were held in Mount Lavinia.

In the first of the two debates,CIS successfully opposed the motion "THW ban crossovers in parliament." The debate was carried unanimously on a 1 point margin.

The impromptu leg saw a closer tussle with the visitors taking the debate on a split decision. The motion for the same was "THBT all serious crimes should be trialled by jury."

Asian Schools Debating Championships - Letter of invitation

Dear Asian Debate Community,

Now in its 2nd year, the Asian Schools Debate Championship is once again inviting you to be a part of this prestigious competition.

What is ASDC, you may ask? (OMG. What rock have you been living under? Just kidding!) Here are 7 Reasons Why You Must Join ASDC:


1. It is the by far LARGEST and most PRESTIGIOUS Asian high school debate tournament, gathering more than 300 students from the region.



ASDC will invite and welcome 80 teams composed of high school debaters and college adjudicators alike. No other competition for high school students in Asia convenes as much as ASDC does. During last year’s ASDC, institutions from countries such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea and the Philippines came to grace the competition. This year, we’re expecting more countries and more teams to join the fastest growing tournament for the Asian high school circuit.



2. It is an avenue for CULTURAL EXCHANGE as it pools together young individuals with different traditions and diverse perspectives.



ASDC is not all tournament and debate. With 3 social events: The Opening Dinner, Break Night and Championship Dinner, the tournament gives all debaters and adjudicators a chance to interact with each other in a venue outside of debate. There will, in fact, be one occasion where we will enjoin everyone to come in their national costumes and get to know the different colors of Asia.



3. It fosters SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS and INTELLECTUAL DISCOURSE amongst the youth today.



ASDC will take on the Asian Parliamentary Format, a 3-on-3 debate where teams are given 30 minutes to prepare on motions that will be announced impromptu. Motions will be created by the Adjudication Core and will range from topics such as the Environment, to Economics, to Foreign Policy and Pop Culture. This meeting of the minds fosters social awareness and social transformation amongst the youth of Asia.



4. It prides itself with top-notch ADJUDICATION.



The 2010 ASDC Adjudication Core will be headed by Carlito Reyes II (DLSU, Philippines), a national semi-finalist and hailed one of the best speakers in Asia in the recently concluded Asians BP. Along with him are the following Deputy Chief Adjudicators:



Skanda Prasad (MSRIT, India)

Zheng Bo (China)

Meor Alif (IIU, Malaysia)

Sadhana Rai (NUS, Singapore)



In the spirit of a diverse adjudication pool, ASDC will be subsidizing 10 international adjudicators’ registration fee. Interested adjudicators may apply by submitting their Curriculum Vitae to the Adjudication Core through e-mail. CVs may be sent to asianschoolsdebatec hampionship@ yahoo.com, with the subject APPLICATION FOR ADJUDICATION SUBSIDY- , .



The adjudication rule for this competition is different from other tournaments. For every 3 teams that an institution wishes to send, the contingent is required 1 adjudicator. Any team in excess of 3 teams will require 1 additional adjudicator per team.

5. It is organized by a WORLD-CLASS ORGANIZATION adept in hosting both national and global tournaments and competitions.



ASDC is brought to you by the La Salle Debate Society (LSDS). LSDS has hosted various national tournaments in the past years, as well as earning rights to host international tournaments in the future. The National Asian Schools Debate Championship, a national Asian tournament for high schools, was the birthplace for the idea to host a larger tournament, thus giving birth to the first ever Asian Schools Debate Championship (ASDC). LSDS also won the right to host the 2011-2012 World Universities Debate Championship, winning the bid against Harthouse, from Canada.



6. It gives you a taste of Filipino culture and hospitality while getting your money’s worth.



Registration Fee is set at PHP 4,000 (USD 90) for Stay-out Delegates while PHP 9,000 (USD 200) for Stay-in Delegates. Your registration fee covers Lunch for all days, Food during Social events and tournament kits. If your institution is a Stay-in Delegation, you registration covers all of the above including Accommodations for 5 days in at least a 3-star hotel, Breakfast on all days of the competition and Dinner for days without Social events.



7. It gives you the voice to make this competition your own.



This is the last year De La Salle University and the La Salle Debate Society will be hosting ASDC because we’re putting the hosting of ASDC up for bids. This year, the Organizing Committee is hosting the first ever Asian Schools Council (ASC), where every institution is given a voice to air out their concerns on the various aspects of the competition and suggestions to improve the tournament in the future. Institutions interested to bid will also be invited to present their intentions for the tournament.



We’re excited about hosting you this September 7-11, 2010 in De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. So, what are you waiting for? Log on to www.asdc2010. com and register your institution now! REGISTRATION IS NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN! Slots are filling up fast so get on clicking!


Attached are the registration details and schedule the we will follow for the entire process.


WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN MANILA SOON! Spread the word. ANIMO LA SALLE!

Crystal Anne J. Francisco
"Future President of the Philippines"
Convenor, 2nd Asian Schools Debate Championship
BS in Applied Economics, De La Salle University

DC Schools League - Week 07 - LC down CIS

Ladies' College continued their winning streak in DC Schools' League 2010 beating Colombo International School on a split decision. The motion for debate was "THBT the United States has a just case in international law to invade Pakistan". The debate was held at Flower Road

DC Schools League - Week 06 - A Marathon of debates

Week 06 of the DC Schools League saw 5 debates in all involving 7 of the 8 participating schools.

Ladies' College taking on Methodist College at a prepared debate in Colombo 03, beat their hosts in a very close debate on a split decision. The motion for the debate was "THBT a celibate priest is an unhappy priest"

In a separate 2nd round debate, Methodist College beat visitors Bishop's College convincingly proposing the motion "THW criminalise an extreme lack of hygiene"

Colombo International School and Wesley College completed both their rounds on the same day with both debates being held at the latter school. Both teams shared the pie with CIS beating their hosts in the prepared round on the motion "THBT net neutrality should be imposed on ISPs" and Wesley College returning the favor on the impromptu motion "THW criminalise an extreme lack of hygiene"

In the final debate of the week St. Joseph's College beat D. S Senanayake College convincingly opposing the motion "THB all professional sporting leagues should have wage caps for their athletes". The debate was held at D. S Senanayake College

DC Schools League - Week 05 - CIS, LC triumph

The concluded week saw two debates in the Debaters' Council Schools League 2010.

Ladies' College completed a comfortable double against traditional rivals Bishop's College at Boyd Place yesterday beating the latter by a 5 point margin. The girls from Colombo 07 opposed the motion 'THW ban the physical punishment of children by parents'.

Colombo International School entered the fray this week on a successful note by beating St. Joseph's College in a first round debate held at Maradana on the same day. SJC proposed the motion "THBT South American countries should nationalize their natural resources". The debate was decided on a 1 point margin but was held by the adjudicators as a poor one

DC Schools League - Week 04 - SJC, LC and Metho record wins

Week 04 of the DC Schools League 2010 saw 3 debates with 6 of the 8 teams taking part.

In the first debate, SJC taking on D. S Senanayake College at home, beat the visitors by a comfortable 5 point margin proposing the motion "THW scrap the National List when electing the legislature."

Ladies' College in their first debate of the season beat traditional rivals Bishop's College in a separate debate held at Flower Road. The hosts proposed the motion "THBT the ideal of indivisible human rights is not suited to developing nations"

Methodist College surprised tournament favorites Wesley College beating them at a very close debate. The debate was held to be generally poor. The motion for debate was "TH supports a ban on the use of runway models below a healthy BMI"

DC Schools' League - Week 03 - Metho slide further

S. Thomas' College avenged their first round defeat against Methodist College beating the latter in a prepared debate over the weekend. The hosts proposed the motion "TH supports a federal Sri Lanka" beating their opponents with a close margin.

In a separate debate Bishop's College opened their account beating the same opponents by a clearer margin. They proposed the motion "THBT EU-style regional economic integration is detrimental to the world economy"

Next week's debates will see Ladies' College and St. Joseph's College in action for the first time. The former will host traditional rivals Bishop's College in a prepared debate at home.

DC Schools League - Week 02 - Metho pegged back, STC DS & Wesley open accounts

Week 02 of the 2nd DC Schools League 2010 saw 3 debates involving 5 of the participating teams.

Methodist College, participating in two of the three debates lost their early advantage gained last week, losing both debates on rather clear margins.

In the first of the two debates, D. S Senanayake College avenged last week's defeat by beating the guests by a unanimous margin of 5 points. They proposed the motion "THW prosecute Robert Mugabe for crimes against humanity."

In the second debate, Wesley College beat their their guests on a split decision proposing the motion "THW abolish Sri Lanka's customary laws in favour of a uniform civil code". The debate was unanimously held to be a poor one.

In a separate debate at Mount Lavinia, S. Thomas' College opened their account beating last year's runner up Bishop's College by a 4 point margin. STC proposed the motion "THBT western liberal countries have a moral duty to spread democracy across the world using force where necessary"

DC Schools League 2010 - Metho off to a flier

The 2nd edition of the Debaters' Council Schools League got underway at Kollupitiya on Saturday with Methodist College taking on S. Thomas' College and D. S Senanayake College at home in impromptu debates.

At the first debate, Methodist College beat S. Thomas' College by a 2 point margin proposing the motion THBT Supreme Court Judges should be elected. At the second, the hosts beat D. S Senanayake College by a clearer 4 point margin proposing the motion THW compel priests to divulge the details of confessionals in criminal trials.

The successful double means that Methodist College has reaped first advantage at this year's league. All bodes well for a competitive tournament to come.

The detailed results are as follows

Methodist College vs S. Thomas' College - 3-0 (MC)
Methodist College vs D. S Senanayake College - 3-0 (MC)

Follow your favorite team at the League right here

DC Schools League 2010 will be worked off on the 15th of May 2010 at Methodist College. The finalized schedule will be uploaded no sooner the teams iron out certain complications.

This blog will be updated regularly with results and current standings within the league.

The details of the debates on the 15th are as follows

Methodist College vs S. Thomas' College (MC - 15th May 10 a.m)
Methodist College vs D. S Senanayake College (MC - 15th May 3 p.m)

Preview to the Debaters' Council Schools League 2010

The Debaters' Council Schools League is proud to announce the launch of the 2nd edition of DC Schools English Debating League. The tournament will commence on the 15th of May 2010 and run up till the 31st of October this year. A total of 56 first round debates will held with all 8 participating teams debating each other twice on a 'home and away' system.

The 8 participating teams at this year's competition are as follows:

Wesley College
Bishop's College
St. Joseph's College
S. Thomas' College
Ladies' College
Methodist College
D. S Senanayake College
Colombo International School

The Co-Convenors for the tournament will be Mr. David Rajasingham and Mr. Michael Mendis while the Chief Adjudicator will be Mr. Rehan Almeida


Defending Champions and reigning champs of the Sri Lanka Schools Debating circuit Wesley College enter the competition as hot favorites again this year. However 14 debates per school means that the tournament is wide open for all teams to make it their own.

Last year's runner-up and the leader at group stage, Bishop's College enter the tournament with a fairly new team this year. This element of surprise could prove vital in their chances at DC Schools League 2010.

3rd & 4th Place holders at DC Schools League 2009, St. Joseph's College and S. Thomas' College will also enter the tournament with much anticipation. Both teams retain some big names from last year with a good blend of new comers as well.

Methodist College and Colombo International School may be the dark horses this year. Both schools have exhibited much potential at recent tournaments and are capable of rolling out incredible performances.

New entrants this year, Ladies' College and D. S Senanayake College have also shown much potential and will be keen to make an impression in the tournament both having been out of the debating circuit for a while. Ladies' College bring international debating experience to the tournament, after having participated at last year's Asian Schools Debating Championship.

All in all, DC Schools League 2010 promises to be a nail biting affair. Best of luck to the 8 participating teams.

Let the debates begin!

Changing of the Guard

Subsequent to the retirement of Mr. Deshan Pushparajah from the Chairmanship of the Debaters' Council, the Board of Directors of the council met recently and unanimously resolved that Mr. Anisha Yasaratne be appointed the Chairman of the Council. This appointment will however be subject to confirmation at the Annual General Meeting of the Charity to be held shortly.

Mr. Yasaratne is a longstanding stalwart of the Debaters' Council having been part of its founding membership. He is a past president of the Moot Court and Debating Society of the University of Colombo and has taken part in many international tournaments including the World Universities Debating Championship.

We wish him well for the coming year

Thinking and speaking a better world

Hi all,

I am sending the information about the conference we are organising in Slovenia and I kindly ask you that you share this information with your debate community. The Conference is for teachers, coaches, academics, researchers, trainers, university students ..... everybody who is involved in debate, argumentation, critical thinking. More at the end of this message and in the attachment.

THIRD International conference on argumentation, rhetoric, debate and the pedagogy of empowerment - Thinking and speaking a better world, October 22-23-24, 2010, Maribor, Slovenia

The conference will welcome scholars and educators from diverse fields for vigorous dialogue and exchange. This conference will unite scholars of argumentation and rhetoric, teachers, and organizers of local, national and international debating networks to discuss critical thinking and advocacy discourse through pedagogy. We intend for the conference to welcome all who are involved in public discussions and debates about different issues.

The conference is organized by Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Slovenia (Oddelek za filozofijo, Filozofska fakulteta, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija), World Debate Institute (University of Vermont USA) and ZIP (Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga/Pro et contra Institute for culture of dialogue Slovenia www.zainproti.com) and hosted by Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, http://www.ff.uni-mb.si

More information at http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/better/Welcome.html
Blogsite for latest news http://betterworldconference.blogspot.com/

Looking forward seeing you in Slovenia again,

--
Bojana Skrt
direktorica
Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga
Svetosavska 24, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
www.zainproti.com
+386 (0)41 423377

Team Sri Lanka at the Octo Finals of WSDC 2010

Please click here

And then there were eight...

The playoffs for the remaining 4 places for the Debaters' Council Schools League 2010 was held on April 3rd at the Law Faculty premises.

Ladies' College, Methodist College, Holy Family Convent, Ananda College, D. S Senanayake College and Colombo International School participated at 3 debates apiece to determine the top 4 spots. The teams were picked from the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championships held earlier this year

After 9 gruelling debates the following teams qualified to participate at the 6 month long tournament

Ladies' College (3 wins/ 0 losses)
D. S Senanayake College (2 wins/ 1 loss)
Methodist College (2 wins/ 1 loss)
Colombo International School (1 win/ 2 losses)

The above schools will join Wesley College, Bishop's College, St. Joseph's College and S. Thomas' College (who automatically qualified from the DC Schools League 2009) as the 8 teams who will battle it out this year for the coveted trophy.

The tournament will commence from the 25th of April. Participating teams are expected to submit the 6 registered debaters and the debates' schedule prior to this date.

The Debaters' Council Schools' League 2009 was won by Wesley College while the runner-up was Bishop's College. Sandaruwani De Silva from Bishop's College was the Best speaker of the tournament

Sunday times article on Team Sri Lanka at WSDC 2010

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MCDS Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championships 2010

The 2010 edition of the MCDS Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championships was held on the 19th, 20th and 21st of February 2010. Around 60 teams registered for the tournament this year. The tournament was endorsed by the Debaters' Council.

After 5 strenous and highly competitive rounds of Debating the top 8 teams broke into the Quarter Final Rounds. The following are the results from hence

Quarter Finals
Wesley College A bt St. Joseph's College B
St. Joseph's College A bt D. S Senanayake College A
Royal College A bt Ladies' College A
S. Thomas' College A bt S. Thomas' College B

Semi Finals
Wesley College A bt S. Thomas' College A
Royal College A bt St. Joseph's College A

Finals
Wesley College A bt Royal College A

Vinura Ladduwahetty from S. Thomas' College A was adjudged the Best Speaker at the Tournament.

We congratulate Wesley College for winning the tournament for the first time and Royal College for their excellent performance to reach the Finals.

Wesley College A was represented by
Maleen Jayasuriya - Captain
Sithira Gunasekera
Chrisjit Xavier
?

Royal College A was represented by
Themal Ellawela
Viraga Perera
Wijewardena

Tamil and Sinhala competitions were also organized parallel to the English version. We thank the Moot Court and Debating Society of the University of Colombo for the hard work put in to make the competition a success.

Sunday times article - preview to WSDC 2010

Please click here

Team Sri Lanka make great strides at WSDC 2010

The 2010 edition of the World Schools Debating Championships was held in Doha, Qatar from the 8th to 19th of February. Sri Lanka was represented at the tournament by the following

Sandaruwani De Silva - Captain
Sanjit Dias
Maleen Jayasuriya
Pranjeevan Kulasingham
Kithmina Hewage

Coach - Mr. Deshan Pushparajah

The Debaters performed beyond expectations at the Championships winning 6 out of their 8 first rounds debates. The team beat tournament heavyweights South Africa as well as Lebanon, UAE, Malaysia, Japan and Phiippines.

As such, team Sri Lanka broke into the Octo Finals for the first time ever being ranked 11th out of 57 teams. Sri Lanka broke higher than other major teams such as Scotland, Ireland, Pakistan and South Africa.

Up against 6th place team Slovenia in the Octo final round proposing the motion, THBT that there should be no law restricting the freedom of speech, the team unfortunately lost on a 4-1 split.

Sri Lanka was also placed 3rd on the tab of English as a Second Language (ESL) countries.

Special commendation is due to Sandaruwani for being placed 48th in the overall speaker tab and Sanjit Dias who was placed 3rd best speaker in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) category.

Kudos to all concerned!

DC Maverick opens - Final results from the Convenor

Thank you again for your participation at the inaugural DC Maverick Open Singles tournament. We hope you had an enjoyable weekend and look forward to your feedback.

The final results are as follows

Kumaravadivel Guruparan - DC Maverick Champion
Shan Danthanarayana and Poornima Wijemanne - DC Maverick Finals Winning team
Damitha Karunarathne (Faculty of Law) - DC Maverick Champion Adjudicator
Raaliya Hussain (Methodist College) - DC MAverick Novices Champion

Congratulations to all who took part and the Mavericks!

DC Maverick opens - Rankings and Semi Final Update from the Convenor

Hi everyone,

Thank you again for your participation at this year’s DC Maverick tournament and congratulations for your excellent performance. For those who were unable to make it we had 65 participants in all with 22 breaking to the semi final round as debaters and adjudicators.

Under Rule 18 the Semi Final matches will be as follows (in italics are the partners picked by the top 14 and in brackets are the rankings from the Prelims):

SF 1:
OG Guru (1), Raneesha (17)
OO Luwie (3), Meghal (20 / Schools 4)
CG Sachintha (6), Sanduni (22)
CO Aruna (8), Deborah
Adj Kandasamy (9), Michael (11), Hafiz (13)

SF 2:
OG Visakha (2), Sasha (42)
OO Shamalie (4), Naomi (32)
CG Shan (5), Poornima (28)
CO Shanil (7), Enakshi (40)
Adj Damitha (10), Radheena (12), Shazna (15)

Considering we are still finding our feet with this tournament format we appreciate your patience yesterday. We also request any further feedback in order to refine the format considerably based on your experience.

Thanks again and hope you had fun!

Best regards,

Anisha Yasaratne
Co-Convener

Sorry for the delay

The Blogger wishes to apologize for the delay in bringing you the news as he has been otherwise occupied over the last month.

Our regret for any inconvenience caused in this regard

Sri Lanka Schools Team leave for Qatar - Hopes run high

The Sri Lanka Schools Team for 2010 will leave for Doha, Qatar on 8th of February to participate at the 21st edition of the World Schools Debating Championship. The 11 day tournament will consist of 8 first round debates after which the top 16 teams will break into the Octo Finals after which all rounds will be on knockout basis.

The World Schools Debating Championship is an international debating competition for secondary school students. Starting in 1988, the tournament has been held in seventeen different countries around the world, and has been the stage at which the best student debaters in the world exhibited their talents. Past patrons of the tournament include Nelson Mandela and Tony Blair.

The contingent representing Sri Lanka will be as follows

Sandaruwani De Silva (Capt) - Bishop's College
Sanjit Dias - S. Thomas' College
Maleen Jayasuriya - Wesley College
Pranjeevan Kulasingham - S. Thomas' College
Kithmina Hewage - Colombo International School

Coach - Mr. Deshan Pushparajah

Sandaruwani De Silva, the Captain of the team will represent the country for an unprecendented 4th year this time while the remainder of the team are promising freshers.

The team has been training for over 7 months now under many professional debaters and has also had the benefit of expertise from foreign coaches Ms. Jessica Prince and Mr. Alex Campbell.

Sri Lanka will aim to take the momentum of recent years into the tournament and become the surprise champions of the competition.

The country first participated at the tournament in 2005 and has improved in leaps and bounds over the years. The record of past tournaments is as follows.


2005 - Calgary, Canada
(Represented by the Royal College Team of 2005)

Ashan Walpita - Captain
Hafeel Farisz
Feroze Ahamed
Mahela Liyanage
Laknath Gunatilleke

Coach: Mr. Sajith Amendra

Record: 1 Win/ 7 losses/ 4 Adjudicators
Rank : 28th/31
Highest Ranked Sri Lankan speaker : N/A


2006 - Cardiff, Wales
(First National Team approved by the Ministry of Education)

Deshan Pushparajah (Captain) - S. Thomas' College
Romali Tudawe - Colombo International School
Deborah Phillip - Ladies' College
Thilini Perera - Ladies' College
Sachintha Dias - St. Joseph's College

Coach: Mr. Sajith Amendra

Record: 2 Wins/ 6 losses/ 8 Adjudicators
Rank: 27th/36
Highest Ranked Sri Lankan speaker - Deshan Pushparajah


2007 - Seoul, South Korea
(First team selected by the Debaters' Council - Approved by the Ministry of Education)

Sachintha Dias (Captain) - St. Joseph's College
Prawira Saldin - S. Thomas' College
Zahrah Cader - Asian International School
Themal Ellawela - Royal College
Sandaruwani De Silva - Bishop's College

Coaches: Mr. Sajith Amendra, Mr. Gehan Gunatilleke, Mr. Nishantha De Silva

Record: 3 Wins/ 5 losses
Rank: 24th/35
Highest Ranked Sri Lankan Speaker - Sachintha Dias


2008 - Washington DC, USA

David Rajasingham (Captain) - S. Thomas' College
Prawira Saldin - S. Thomas' College
Sandaruwani De Silva - Bishop's College
Tharindra Gunarathne - Ananda College

Coach: Mr. Deshan Pushparajah

Record: 4 Wins/ 4 losses/ 12 Adjudicators
Rank: 18th/39
Highest Ranked Sri Lankan Speaker - Prawira Saldin (50th in Global Speaker Ranking)


2009 - Athens, Greece

Prawira Saldin (Captain) - S. Thomas' College
Sandaruwani De Silva - Bishop's College
Themal Ellawela - Royal College
David Rajasingham - S. Thomas' College
Vinura Ladduwahetty - S. Thomas'College

Coaches - Mr. Sachintha Dias

Record: 4 Wins/ 4 losses/ 14 Adjudicators
Rank: 17th/39
Highest Ranked Sri Lankan Speaker - David Rajasingham (53rd in Global Speaker Ranking)


We wish Sandaruwani and her team all the best at the Championships.

The Inaugural DC Maverick - Open Singles!!

The Debaters' Council of Sri Lanka wishes to invite you for the Inaugural DC Maverick (Open Singles) - The DC's newest and most innovative venture yet- held on the 06th and 07th of February 2010 at the Law Faculty premises of the University of Colombo.

This tournament defers greatly from all past open tournaments organized and we assure you that things just keep getting spicier.

Ever wondered how it would be to judge a debate? Ever wondered how it would be to be judged by a school debater? Ever wonder how it would be if debaters started to judging adjudicators? Ever wonder how it would be to debate with a novice/guru? Well here's your chance to find answers to all your questions in a matter of a mere 2 days.

The DC Maverick will defer from standard tournaments in the following ways.

· Forget teams. All entries are on an individual basis. [Rule 1]
· Its all random. Positions in teams of 2 or as adjudicators are assigned randomly for BP style debates (4 teams per debate). Based on the draw you could either end up debating or judging. [Rules 3, 9]
· Everybody scores everybody. Even the debaters mark the judges based on their adjudication speech. [Rules 11]
· The best break and pick their partner. After 3 prelim rounds, the top 14 scorers break and may choose to pick a partner from outside the top 8 and debate, or to adjudicate. Teams are fixed from this point and go on to the Semi Finals and Grand Final. [Rules 13, 14, 16, 20]

The goals of the tournament are:

· opportunity for older debaters to debate instead of just judging
· opportunity for school debaters to debate with past gurus
· opportunity for school debaters to gain adjudication experience and also to get a chance to judge people who are constantly judging them
· a chance for experienced debaters to debate in teams/judge with newer debaters and possibly pass on some practical training
· to break the monotony of the same teams going around in the same tournament forma

Another spicy twist will be that the format of debate will be of the purest British Parliamentary style. Wondering what that is? It's a 4 team debate. Two proposition teams, two opposition teams. Don't know what that is? We'll teach you on opening day.

We encourage all member schools, universities and other past debaters to participate at this event as it will be a one of a kind experience to all participants concerned. Past debaters can have a great time reliving the 'old days', whilst School Debaters will gain much in the form of adjudication experience as well as debating with some of the best debaters in the country.

So please do join us this weekend for an opportunity to meet and debate with past and present debaters in an informal atmosphere. No hassle of finding team mates, just come along and we'll do the needful. If you wish to just come and watch, you're more than welcome. Even if you only want to heckle and make a nuisance of yourself, we'll be there to encourage you further.

There is however something slightly tedious you must do. You must register! We already have high demand for participation from debaters both past and present, but due to resource constraints we may not be able to accommodate all registrations. Hence please be kind enough to send in your registrations to Anisha at anishay@gmail.com by the 30th of January 2010 to avoid disappointment. Registrations need to include your name, age, institution (if applicable) and a short writeup detailing your past debating experience. You can also contact Anisha on 0777 268789 for further details about the tournament.

Please be there to support debating in Sri Lanka!

Video of the Grand Final Debate at WUDC 2010

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Sydney A wins WUDC 2010

University of Sydney A won the Grand Final of the World Universities Debating Championships 2010, held at Koc University, Turkey yesterday.

The draw for the Final of the 2010 World Universities Debating Championships was:

OG Harvard University A (Adam Chilton and Cormac Early)
OO London School of Economics (Art Ward and Rushabh Ranavat)
CG Oxford University A (Jonathan Leader Maynard and Shengwu Li)
CO University of Sydney A (Steve Hind and Chris Croke)

The Grand Final of the motion was: THB that the media should show the full horror of war

Shengwu Li was awarded the most outstanding speaker of the competition.

Moscow State Institute of International Relations A won the English as a Foreign Language competition, while Tel Aviv A won the English as a Second Language Competition.

De La Salle University in Manila won the right to host the 2012 tournament.


Courtesy: http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/

World Debating Website: WUDC 2010 Break details

World Debating Website: WUDC 2010 Break details