The Debaters' Council

National Team for World Schools Debating Championship 2012

2011-10-24T21:22:00.003+05:30

The team to represent Sri Lanka at the World Schools Debating Championship 2012, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa next year, was selected over the course of the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of October 2011. Selections were conducted by the Debaters' Council of Sri Lanka, and the team to participate at WSDC 2012 is as follows:

Maleen Jayasuriya - Wesley College

Meghal Perera - Ladies' College

Sanjit Dias - S. Thomas' College

Tamara Fernando - Colombo International School

Maya Wijeyeratne - Ladies' College

We congratulate the team members on their selection and wish them the best of luck as they represent the country at the Championship.

Lilian Nixon Challenge Shield 2011

2011-10-24T20:55:00.003+05:30

The Debate Competition for the Lilian Nixon Challenge Shield 2011, organized by Ladies' College, was held on the 22nd and 23rd of October, with the participation of around 18 teams. At the end of the three preliminary debates worked off on the 22nd, the eight teams that broke into the knock out rounds were (in descending order) ,

1) Wesley College (A)

2) Colombo International School (A)

3) S. Thomas' College

4) Royal College (A)

5) Ananda College (A)

6) Trinity College

7) Royal College (B)

8) Anula Vidyalaya

The two teams which ultimately made their way to the final were Wesley College and S. Thomas' College. The motion for the final was "This house would conduct pharmaceutical trials on death row convicts".

Wesley College, who proposed the motion, was represented by,

Maleen Jayasuriya (C)

Sithira Gunasekera

Chrisjith Xavier

while S. Thomas' College comprised,

Sanjit Dias (C)

Sidath Gajanayaka

Shamlin Abdul Cader

At the end of it all, the five-member judging panel voted unanimously in favour of Wesley College, making them the champions of the competition and the winners of the Challenge Shield. The panel of adjudicators comprised Deshan Pushparajah, Shamalie Jayatunge, Vishaka Wijenayake, Shan Dantanarayana and Sandaruwani de Silva.

Sanjit Dias of S. Thomas' College was adjudged the Most Outstanding Speaker of the competition.

This competition also incorporated a Novice Final for new and inexperienced debaters, for the very first time, and the two teams which competed in it were Methodist College and Ananda College (B). The Novice Final was ultimately won by Ananda College.

WSDC 2012 Selections- Rescheduled

2011-10-12T19:01:00.002+05:30

Selections for the National Team for WSDC 2012 have been postponed, and will not be held on the 15th and 16th of October. Selections will take place on the following weekend (22nd and 23rd October 2011). Those who are interested in participating at the selection debates are requested to send in their CVs to the following address:

debaterscouncil@gmail.com

Any further developments will be made known on the blog.

Selections for WSDC 2012

2011-09-27T15:54:00.003+05:30

The World Schools Debating Championships 2012 will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from the 17th to the 27th of January 2012.

The selections for Team Sri Lanka will be held on the 15th and 16th of October 2011. Applications to participate at the selection debates will be accepted until the 11th of October 2011. If you are interested in participating at the selection debates, please submit a CV outlining your debating achievements along with your Date of Birth and contact details before the above date to the following address:

debaterscouncil@gmail.com

Successful candidates will be notified of their eligibility to attend the selection debates by the 13th of October 2011.

Selections by the panel are subject to approval by the Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka.

Team Sri Lanka at WSDC 2011

2011-09-27T15:10:00.005+05:30

The World Schools Debating Championships 2011 were held in Dundee, Scotland, from the 16th to the 26th of August. This year marked Sri Lanka's 6th year participating officially at the Championships.

Selections for the team began in late January, and after a series of eight workshops and competitive debates, the following were selected to represent the country this year:

Sanjit Dias (Captain) - S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
Tamara Fernando - Colombo International School
Manisha Dissanayake - Ladies' College
Raaliya Hussain - Methodist College
Lithmal Jayawardhana - Ananda College

The team was coached by Kithmina Hewage, a former member of the national team, and at present, an under-graduate at Johns Hopkins University.

The team did well to secure four wins out of the eight preliminary debates. The team overcame Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Peru, but were defeated by South Korea, USA, India and New Zealend, with the latter two being very close debates. Unfortunately, the team did not break into the knock-out rounds this year, but were ranked 23rd based on wins and losses, and 19th based on speaker points, out of the 48 teams which participated at the Championships.

The Championships were won by Singapore-the first ever Asian team to achieve this feat-who beat Australia 7-2 in the Grand Final, opposing the motion "This house believes that autocracy is doomed in the age of Facebook".

Special commendation goes out to Sanjit Dias, Tamara Fernando and Manisha Dissanayake, who were ranked 9th, 11th, and 14th respectively on the "English as a Second Language"(ESL) speaker tab.

Musaeus College Impromptu Debating Competition 2011

2011-09-26T19:31:00.006+05:30

The above tournament, organized by the Debating Circle of Musaeus College, was held on the 11th and 14th of June, with the Grand Final being held on the latter date.

The inter-school competition saw 14 of the top teams in Colombo participate, and the two finalists who emerged from the debates on the 11th, were St. Joseph's College and Holy Family Convent, Colombo 04.

The motion for the Grand Final was "This house believes that the source of crime is social deprivation"

The team from St. Joseph's College, who proposed the motion, comprised,

Keith James (C)
Daniel Ferdinandus
Shehara Herath
Sherveen Fernando (R)

while Holy Family Convent was represented by

Rosheni Ratnayake (C)
Shenelle Perera
Mihiri Weerasekara

The three-member judging panel for the final comprised Shamir Zavahir, Oshan Fernando and Viraga Perera.

After a closely contested debate, the judges' decision was split; 2-1 in favour of St. Joseph's College.

Manisha Dissanayake of Ladies' College was adjudged the best speaker of the competition.

6th Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship- 2011

2011-09-26T16:18:00.002+05:30

The above tournament, organized by the Moot Court and Debating Society(MCDS) of the faculty of law, University of Colombo, was held on two seperate weekends in the month of February. The six preliminary rounds were worked off on the 19th and 20th, while the knock-out rounds and the Grand Final were held on the 27th.

This year's tournament saw close to 60 teams participating, with a high level of debate displayed at all encounters.

The Grand Final was between S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, and St. Joseph's College, with the former proposing the motion, "This house believes that judicial activism is unjust in a democracy"

The team from S. Thomas' College comprised,

Minaal Wickremesinghe (C)
Si-Hua Chang
Sanjit Dias

while the team from St. Joseph's College was represented by

Jeevith Sukumaran
Kevin De Silva (C)
Keith James

The debate was judged by a panel of nine adjudicators, all of whom have had a wealth of experience debating at school and university level.

The 9-person panel comprised Nishantha De Silva (chair), Gehan Goonatilleka, Shan Dantanarayana, Rehan Almeida, Deshan Pushparajah, Charana Kanankenamage, Shamalie Jayatunge, Luwie Ganeshathas, and Galusha Wirithamulla.

The decision went unanimously in favour of S. Thomas' College, who emerged the undefeated champions, having previously won all six preliminary debates-the only team to achieve this feat.

Minaal Wickremesinghe, the captain of the victorious side, was adjudged the best speaker of the championship.

CIS Crowned Best of the Best

2011-01-30T19:03:00.003+05:30

The Grand Final of the Debaters' Council Schools League 2010 was held on the 29th of January at the Colombo International School Auditorium.

The Final, between Colombo International School and S. Thomas' College turned out to be a hotly contested affair. The motion for the final was "This House Would Ban Wikileaks." CIS proposed the motion while S. Thomas' College opposed

The adjudicators considering both sides, decided on a close 6-3 split in favor of Cololmbo International School. Hence CIS became the CHAMPIONS of the League.

The 9 member adjudication panel at the grand final consisted of Mr. Rehan Almeida, Mr. Nishantha De Silva, Mr. Gehan Gunatilleke, Mr. Deshan Pushparajah, Ms Shamalie Jayatunge, Mr. Charana Kanankegamage, Ms Vishakha Wijenayake, Mr. Shaan Dantanarayana and Ms Raneesha De Alwis.

Commenting on the finals, Chief Adjudicator Mr. Rehan Almeida highlighted that the debate itself was not of the highest quality but commended both teams on producing some spectacular performances over the previous year.

The two finalist teams were represented by

Colombo International School
Tamara Fernando (Captain)
Manjaree Gamage
Menakshi Uduwela

S. Thomas' College
Vinura Ladduwahetty (Captain)
Minaal Wickremasinghe
Sanjit Dias

The following were the top speakers at the League (In Descending order)

Sanjit Dias, S. Thomas' College College - Most outstanding speaker
Maleen Jayasuriya, Wesley College
Meghal Perera, Ladies' College
Minaal Wickremasinghe, S. Thomas' College
Chrisjit Xavier, Wesley College

The event, being the climax of the now flagship schools tournament of the Debaters' Council saw the presence of teachers & well wishers from all over the country.

8 long months and 57 debates from the start of this year's tournament. Colombo International School, the champion of champions at school level debating.

Based on the final rankings, Colombo International School. S. Thomas' College, Wesley College and Ladies' College will gain automatic qualification for The DC Schools League 2011, while the remaining schools will be relegated to qualify again at the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship 2011 to be held in February this year.

The Debaters' Council congratulates both finalists and all other participating teams for the high standard of debating displayed right throughout.

Debaters' Council Schools League 2010 - The promise of a thriller

2011-01-27T20:06:00.003+05:30

The much awaited grand final of the 2nd annual DC Schools' League will be worked off on the 29th of January (Saturday) at the Colombo International School Auditorium. The final is to commence at 3.45 p.m

After 56 grueling debates amongst the top 8 teams in the country, Colombo International School and S. Thomas' College will battle it out in the Grand Final. The motion for the debate will be "THW Ban Wikileaks." CIS will propose the motion while S. Thomas' College will oppose.

The debate promises to be an equal match-up on paper with both teams exhibiting tons of talent and promise over their quota of debates last year.

The CIS team will most likely field an all girl team comprising of Tamara Fernando (C), Menakshi Uduwela and Manjaree Gamage. Of their 14 first round debates, CIS emerged victorious in 11 encounters and led the table comfortably at the conclusion. However, they will surely miss the services of some key debaters who will not be available for the grand final debate.

The STC team is expected to be made up of Minaal Wickremasinghe and former Sri Lankan team members Sanjit Dias and Vinura Ladduwahetty (C). In contrast to CIS, STC got off to a rather poor start to this year's league, but recovered in time to scarcely edge out last year's victors Wesley College in a battle of points. However, with a more successful 2nd half compared to their opponents, STC will enjoy the benefit of momentum going into Saturday.

We wish to invite all members and well wishers to grace this event

World Schools Debating Championship 2011 - National Selections to commence soon

2010-12-06T15:31:00.004+05:30

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

2010-11-02T21:37:00.003+05:30

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

2010-11-02T21:20:00.002+05:30

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

2010-10-18T14:06:00.003+05:30

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

2010-10-03T15:24:00.003+05:30

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

2010-09-28T08:44:00.004+05:30

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

2010-09-26T11:30:00.000+05:30

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

2010-09-18T22:34:00.000+05:30

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

2010-09-18T22:28:00.002+05:30

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

2010-09-01T09:23:00.002+05:30

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

2010-08-24T13:05:00.003+05:30

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

2010-08-24T12:51:00.003+05:30

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

2010-07-28T08:32:00.002+05:30

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

2010-07-20T11:18:00.002+05:30

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

2010-07-07T16:04:00.001+05:30

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

2010-07-05T22:06:00.004+05:30

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

2010-07-05T21:21:00.008+05:30

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

2010-07-05T21:09:00.003+05:30

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

2010-07-01T08:30:00.001+05:30

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

2010-07-01T08:28:00.002+05:30

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

2010-07-01T08:18:00.002+05:30

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

2010-06-14T08:37:00.003+05:30

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

2010-06-11T08:16:00.002+05:30

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

2010-05-31T22:35:00.004+05:30

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

2010-05-25T20:09:00.003+05:30

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

2010-05-18T15:04:00.003+05:30

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

2010-05-13T08:41:00.002+05:30

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

2010-05-12T14:03:00.006+05:30

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

2010-05-12T13:58:00.002+05:30

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

2010-04-23T07:59:00.001+05:30

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

2010-04-19T16:50:00.002+05:30

Please click here

And then there were eight...

2010-04-03T19:02:00.002+05:30

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

2010-03-21T10:12:00.000+05:30

Please click here

MCDS Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championships 2010

2010-02-21T23:00:00.002+05:30

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

2010-02-21T22:58:00.001+05:30

Please click here

Team Sri Lanka make great strides at WSDC 2010

2010-02-21T22:35:00.002+05:30

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

2010-02-21T22:33:00.002+05:30

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

2010-02-21T22:31:00.000+05:30

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

2010-02-21T22:30:00.001+05:30

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

2010-01-25T14:24:00.009+05:30

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!!

2010-01-19T21:59:00.003+05:30

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

2010-01-06T08:45:00.002+05:30

Please Click Here

Sydney A wins WUDC 2010

2010-01-06T08:36:00.002+05:30

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

2010-01-01T11:55:00.000+05:30

World Debating Website: WUDC 2010 Break details

Wesley College WINS Inaugural Debaters' Council Schools League

2009-12-21T11:37:00.005+05:30

The Grand Final of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League 2009 was held on the 15th of December at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).

Attorney General, President's Counsel Mr. Mohan Peiris, graced the occasion at the Chief Guest, while Ms. Nadi Dharmasiri, AGM - Marketing at Asian Alliance Insurance PLC (the title sponsor of the tournament) graced the occasion as Guest of Honor.

The Final, between Wesley College and Bishop's College turned out to be a hotly contested affair with the debate being of the highest quality. The motion for the final was "This House Believes that 'Responsibility to Protect' should be the base principle of the modern United Nations." Bishop's College proposed the motion while Wesley College opposed.

The adjudicators considering both sides, decided on a 4-1 split in favor of Wesley College. Hence Wesley College became the CHAMPIONS of the League.

The adjudicators at the grand final were Mr. Mohammed Adamaly, Mr. Thushara Hettihamu, Mr. Anisha Yasaratne, Mr. Kumaravadivel Guruparan & Ms. Shamalie Jayatunga.

The two finalist teams were represented by

Wesley College
Maleen Jayasuriya (Captain)
Sithira Gunasekera
Chrisjit Xavier

Bishop's College
Sandaruwani De Silva (Captain)
Charuni Pathmeswaran
Wanya Gunawardena.

The following were the top speakers at the League (In Descending order)

Sandaruwani De Silva, Bishop's College - Most outstanding speaker
Yohan Senarath, Colombo International School
Michael Mendis, St. Joseph's College
Maleen Jayasuriya, Wesley College
Sanjit Dias, S. Thomas' College.

The event, the 1st major public event organized by the Debaters' Council on account of its now flagship tournament saw an attendance of over 100 students, teachers & well wishers from all over the country.

8 long months, 57 debates later. Wesley College has been crowned, the champion of champions in school level debating.

From the final rankings, Wesley College, Bishop's College, St. Joseph's College and S. Thomas' College will gain automatic qualification for The DC Schools League 2010, while the remaining schools will be relegated to qualify again at the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship 2010 to be held in February.

The Debaters' Council congratulates both finalists and all other participating teams for the high standard of debating displayed right throughout.

We wish to also thank Asian Alliance Insurance PLC for their support in this herculean effort

Preview to the Grand Final - Sunday Times article

2009-12-06T17:23:00.001+05:30

Please click here

The Hindu - Colombo team victorious in debate hosted by National Law School

2009-12-06T17:22:00.000+05:30

Please click here

AAIC DC Schools League Grand Final

2009-12-03T20:15:00.002+05:30

The grand final of the AAIC DC Schools League 2009 will be held on the 15th of December at Committee Room E of the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) from 3.30 p. onwards.

Wesley College and Bishop's College will battle it out for supreme honors on this day.

All well wishers are welcome to attend this final.

Faculty of Law Dominates National Law School Tournament

2009-12-03T20:10:00.002+05:30

The teams representing the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo at the largest Parliamentary Style Debating Tournament in South Asia, the National Law School Tournament held annually in India did the country proud recently by singlehandedly dominating the same.

The A team comprising of Shamalie Jayatunga, Luwie Ganeshadhason and Sachintha Dias defeated RVCE 'A' of Bangalore in the finals and their arch rivals Ramjas College of the University of Delhi in the Semi finals to win the tournament after a lapse of 3 years.

Shamalie was ranked the 3rd best speaker and Luwie and Sachintha the 7th and 4th best respectively.

Damitha was adjudged the best adjudicator at the tournament.

The C team comprising of Galusha, Sanduni and Shanil won the NLS Novices debating champiosnhip with Shanil becoming the best debater in that tournament.

Other teams from Sri Lanka at the tournament were the Arts Faculty of the University of Colombo and the University of Moratuwa.

We wish to congratulate the Faculty of Law for their excellent performance at the tournament.

Sunday Times article on the AAIC DC Schools League 2009

2009-11-30T20:49:00.001+05:30

Please click here

AAIC DC Schools League - Final Points Tally

2009-11-21T10:58:00.006+05:30

After 56 grueling debates over a period of 7 months, the following is the final tally of the inaugural Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League.

We congratulate all the Debaters for a job well done in the first rounds.

Wesley College & Bishop's College will battle it out in the Grand Final Debate. Details of the same will be made available soon.

Chief Adjudicator rules on Controversial Debate

2009-11-21T10:56:00.005+05:30

The controversial debate between St. Joseph's College & S. Thomas' College which ended in a non-event recently was referred to the CA by the Convenor.

After considering submissions from both teams, the CA has ruled the debate to be a NO RESULT.

As such, there will be no wins and losses awarded to the two teams. The points up for grabs will be split in half.

Colombo International School win Musaeus Debates

2009-11-21T10:54:00.003+05:30

Colombo International School edged out S. Thomas' College in the grand final of the Musaeus College debates held recently.

The Debate was a culmination of 4 rounds of debate where over 10 teams participated.

We congratulate CIS on winning the championship and S. Thomas' College for reaching the finals.

The tournament was endorsed by the Debaters' Council

AAIC DC Schools League - Walkovers

2009-11-21T10:51:00.003+05:30

Colombo International School provided walkovers to Methodist College and S. Thomas' College on their 2nd round debates recently.

St. Bridget's Convent provided a walkover to Colombo International School in their 2nd round debate against the latter.

AAIC DC Schools League - SJC vs STC

2009-11-21T10:41:00.002+05:30

Both rounds of Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League between St. Joseph's College & S. Thomas' College were held on October 30th 2009.

The Impromptu debate was won comfortably S. Thomas' College on a 4 point margin.

However pandemonium prevailed in the prepared debate, with miscommunication about the timing of the debate resulting in a non-event. The Convenor has referred the verdict of this debate to the Chief Adjudicator, Mr. Nishantha De Silva, who is expected to rule on it shortly.

The detailed results of the Impromptu debate are as follows

St. Joseph's College vs S. Thomas' College - 0-3 (STC)

AAIC DC Schools League - Debates 41,42 & 43 - ...and then there were three

2009-10-26T20:40:00.002+05:30

The three league debates held last week turned out to be crucial deciders for the teams at the higher end of the table.

In the first of the tussles, Bishop's College concluded their final debate of the season against Methodist College in their 2nd round debate at Kollupitiya. This win made Bishop's College the first qualifier for the Grand Final of the League to be held in early December, with an unsurpassable 9 wins against their name.

Both rounds of debate between St. Joseph's College & Wesley College were also held on the same day. Wesley College beat their hosts in the prepared round by a comfortable margin of 3 points on the topic "THBT China should ratify post Kyoto-Protocol." In the return debate, Wesley College again got the better of their opponents winning the debate by 2 points albeit on a split decision.

The commendable double by Wesley College now puts WC and SJC in close competition for the second spot at the Finale, while champions of the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championships 2009, S. Thomas' College now find themselves competing for the fourth position (which guarantees automatic qualification for the 2010 edition of the DC Schools Leageu) on the table with Colombo International School, notably the runner up at the same tournament.

The remaining 5 debates would prove crucial to all the aforesaid teams as they battle to secure their respective positions in the competition.

The detailed results of the previous week's debates are as follows

Methodist College vs Bishop's College - 0-3 (BC)
St. Joseph's College vs Wesley College - 0-3 (WC)
Wesley College vs St. Joseph's College - 2-1 (WC)

Lilian Nixon Challenge Shield 2009 - S. Thomas' retain honors

2009-10-22T17:16:00.002+05:30

The Lilian Nixon Challenge Shield 2009, organized by Ladies' College was worked off on the 17th of October 2009.

The tournament, which took place over 2 days saw the participation of 20 teams from DC member and non-member schools and exhibited keen competition amongst the participants.

After 5 rounds of debate, S. Thomas' College (the defending champions) and Wesley College were pitted against each other in the Grand Final debate on the 18th of October 2009. At the conclusion of a close debate, STC emerged victors yet again.

David Rajasingham from S. Thomas' College was recognized as the most outstanding speaker of the competition.

The other teams breaking into the Quarter Finals were as follows.

Colombo International School - Semi Finalist
Visakha Vidyalaya - Semi Finalist
Royal College
St. Joseph's College "B"
Ananda College
Methodist College

Ladies' College is a full member school of the Debaters' Council and the tournament was endorsed by the Council.

We wish to congratulate Ladies' College on a successfully organized competition

AAIC DC Schools League - Updated points table

2009-10-11T11:20:00.003+05:30

With the inaugural Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League moving into its latter stages, the 40 debates thus far seen have yielded many keen tussles, upsets and vast improvements.

However, with the exit of Royal College from the tournament, only 8 more debates remain in the competition. Nonetheless, we are no closer to determining who the finalists will be with 4 of the remaining 7 teams in with the statistical chance of qualifying for the same.

Bishop's College remains at the top of the table with 8 wins out of 11 debates. St. Joseph's College and Wesley College have both enjoyed commendable winning streaks over the last 6 weeks and have moved up the rankings and now threaten to overtake Bishop's College.

It must be remembered that the 4 top teams will automatically qualify for next year's league while the others will be relegated to compete amongst other teams at next year's Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship to qualify yet again.

AAIC DC Schools League - Debates 39 & 40 - SJC have field day

2009-10-11T11:14:00.003+05:30

St. Joseph's College ran through Colombo International School at two separate debates held on Saturday at Maradana.

The hosts, proposing in the 1st round debate, beat the visitors in an extremely hard fought contest. The 2nd round debate however yielded better results for St. Joseph's, with the team beating their opponents by a comfortable 6 point margin.

The detailed results of the debates are as follows:

St. Joseph's College vs Colombo International School - 3-0 (SJC)
Colombo International School vs St. Joseph's College - 0-3 (SJC)

AAIC DC Schools League - Royal bow out

2009-10-11T11:10:00.002+05:30

The Convenor of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League hereby informs that Royal College has been disqualified from the tournament over providing more than the allowed 2 walkovers per team.

All other participating teams are advised that the points table will be adjusted to reflect the position that Royal College never took part in the tournament. As such all points earned (or lost) against the school at debates will be forefeited.

AAIC DC Schools League - Debate 38 - Wesley march on as S. Thomas' lose again

2009-09-27T11:57:00.002+05:30

The concluded week saw Debate 38 of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League taking place between Wesley College and S. Thomas' College, hosted at the latter venue.

Wesley College continued their winning streak beating their hosts comfortably with a 4 point margin.

The debate was adjudicated by Chief Adjudicator Mr. Nishantha de Silva, Mr. Anisha Yasaratne and Ms. Suzie Beling.

The detailed results are as follows:

S. Thomas' College vs Wesley College - 0-3 (WC)

International World Schools Debate Tournament 2009 Deadline 1 October

2009-09-20T23:20:00.002+05:30

I would just like to remind everybody who intends to participate at the Ljutomer WS international tournament
that the application deadline is October 1st. Please, send the application forms as soon as possible.
More details about the tournament follows.

INTERNATIONAL WORLDS SCHOOLS DEBATE TOURNAMENT
Ljutomer, Slovenia, 6th and 7th November 2009

ZIP, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia and Gimnazija Franca Miklošiča Ljutomer kindly invite you to our traditional annual International high school debate tournament in Ljutomer.

TOURNAMENT BASICS
Debate format: Worlds School Debate Format, 8 minute speeches.
Number of speakers per team: 3. Everybody who comes needs to debate all the debate rounds. Important: we are not accepting 4 or 5 member teams!

Accompanying adults should be judges. The rule is one or two teams one judge, three teams two judges. In short: everybody who comes as an adult should be able to judge.

Team cap: 40 teams.
The registration will be closed when we reach team cap, so register as soon as possible.

Number of debate rounds:
6 - 3 on prepared motions, 3 on impromptu + semi finals (impromptu)+finals (prepared)

Pairings:
Computer programme TRPC by Rich Edwards
Power paired after 1st round

PREPARED DEBATE MOTIONS
This House has no confidence in capitalism.
The House favours military intervention in Somalia.
This House would forcefeed anorexics.
This House believes that heavy trucks should start paying for environmental damages.

ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE DAY
European countries: Wednesday or Thursday, 4th or 5th November
USA, South Korea and other oversee countries can come a few days earlier.
Departure: Sunday, the 8th of November

ACCOMODATION
Debaters will be offered home stays by Ljutomer debaters. Judges will be accomodated in the hotel.

REGISTRATION
Deadline: October 1st
Number of teams per country: 2 to 3 (if there are lots of countries registering we will limit to 2) Please, send a request for application form to debata©siol.net

Additional teams can enter the tournament in case there are some free spots left after the registration deadline. Several countries already expressed their intention to participate with the debaters which are selected for 2010 Worlds, so we do encourage national teams to participate.

In cases where more teams per country will register, the priority will be given to the teams endorsed by national debate organisation.

We are going to close the registration when we reach the team cup.

PARTICIPATION FEES
Debaters: 40 EUR
Judges: 80 EUR (covers 3 nights/breakfast and tournament meals)

PAYMENT
One payment for each travelling group.
Payment deadline: October, 31st
Special attention: The costs of the bank transfer should be paid by you – we should get the net sum.

Bank details:
Bank account holder: Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, adress: Svetosavska 24, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Bank name: Nova ljubljanska banka
Bank adress: Trg republike 2, 1520 Ljubljana, Slovenia
IBAN is the bank account: IBAN SI56020560051711807
SWIFT CODE: LJBASI2X

Very important: Please, make sure that on the bank statement will be clearly stated the name of the group or individuals you are paying for.

SCHEDULE
Friday, 6th November 2009
.9.00 – 10.00 Judges meeting.
10.00 Opening of the tournament
10.30 Announcement of the impromptu motion
11.30 ROUND 1, impromptu
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch
14.00 ROUND 2, prepared
16. 00 Announcement of the impromptu motion
17.00 ROUND 3, impromptu
18.30 Snacks
19.00 ROUND 4, prepared

Saturday, 7th November 2008
8.30 Announcement of impromptu motion
9.30 ROUND 5, impromptu
11.00 ROUND 6, prepared
12.30 Lunch
13.00 Announcement of the semi-finalists
14.00 SEMI FINALS, impromptu
16.00 FINALS, prepared
17.30 Closing ceremony

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
All the inquiries about the tournament and registration, please, adress to me at bojana.skrt@siol.net, all the questions about Ljutomer, school, home stays, travel to Liana Miholič, the coach of the Ljutomer English Debate Club at the liana.miholic@guest.arnes.si

The application form is in the other attachment. Please, fill the application form out and send it to bojana.skrt@siol.net as soon as possible, but no later than 1st of October.

Looking forward seeing you in Slovenia,

Bojana Skrt, ZIP
Liana Miholič and Martina Domajnko, Gimnazija Franca Miklošiča Ljutomer

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

Posted by Alfred Charles Snider (on globaldebateblog.blogspot.com)

AAIC DC Schools League - Wesley take home impressive double, SJC get their own back

2009-09-20T23:01:00.002+05:30

The Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League saw another interesting week with 3 crucial debates concluding over the weekend.

Wesley College hosted Colombo International School for both scheduled rounds at Borella on Saturday. The prepared debate was taken by Wesley College by a fairly convincing margin. Wesley College also carried the Impromptu debate albeit on a split decision.

A 2nd round encounter between St. Joseph's College and Bishop's College concluded on Sunday with St. Joseph's College emerging victorious by a close margin of 1 point.

The successful double saw Wesley College move up the rankings this week but the loss faced by Bishop's College has opened up the tournament once again. This scenario makes for some more crucial debates in the last 6 weeks of the competition.

The detailed results of this week's debates are as follows

Wesley College vs Colombo International School - 3-0 (WC)
Colombo International School vs Wesley College - 1-2 (WC)
St. Joseph's College vs Bishop's College - 3-0 (SJC)

AAIC DC Schools League 2009 - Debate 34 - Metho shock Thora

2009-09-15T22:15:00.002+05:30

Methodist College shocked S. Thomas' College to take a comfortable 3-0 victory at a 2nd round debate held at Mount Lavinia last Saturday.

Having done so, the victors keep themselves in the running to enter the top 4 in the competition which would earn them an automatic qualification for the 2010 edition of the League.

The detailed results of the debate are as follows.

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

Musaeus College Debating Tournament - Thora and CIS to face off

2009-09-15T22:10:00.002+05:30

The first rounds of the Musaeus College Debating Tournament 2009 was held on Sunday 13th September with 18 registered schools.

S. Thomas' College and Colombo International School succeeded in entering the grand finals of the tournament, which is expected to be worked off in early October.

Musaeus College is a full member of the Debaters' Council, and the tournament was endorsed by the same.

Ladies College A break at ASDC

2009-09-15T22:07:00.002+05:30

The Ladies' College A team, participating at the inaugural Asian Schools Debating Championships in Manila, Phillipines prevailed in breaking into the top 16. It was however unfortunate that they were knocked out soon after.

We congratulate the 3 teams that took part at the championships on their excellent performance.

Musaeus College Debating Tournament 2009

2009-09-11T09:03:00.002+05:30

The first rounds of the 2009 edition of the Musaeus College Impromptu Debating Tournament will be held on Sunday, 13th September at Musaeus College. The tournament will be held in the Asian Universities' format of debate. 18 teams have thus far registered for the competition.

The tournament has been endorsed by the Debaters' Council

Ladies' College make good start at ASDC

2009-09-11T08:52:00.003+05:30

The 3 teams representing Ladies' College at the Asian Schools Debating Championship in Manila, Phillipines have made a commendable start to their campaign.

In the first two days of debate, the A & B teams have won 3 out of 4 debates respectively while the C team have recorded a 50% success rate.

All 3 teams will face 3 more debates today, at the conclusion of which the best performing teams will 'break' into the knockout leg of the tournament.

AAIC DC Schools League - Debates 32 & 33

2009-09-08T22:19:00.002+05:30

Debate 32 of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC schools league between Colombo International School and Methodist College was held last Saturday at Methodist College. Colombo International School continued their winning run at this debate, beating Methodist College on a unanimous decision.

The other scheduled debate for the day between Royal College and Wesley College was aborted with Royal College providing a walkover to their hosts.

The detailed results are as follows

Methodist College vs Colombo International School- 0-3 (CIS)
Wesley College vs Royal College - 3-0 (WC)

AAIC DC Schools League - Debates 29,30 & 31

2009-09-02T22:57:00.002+05:30

Debates in the Asian Alliance DC Schools League commenced after a lapse for the school break last week with 3 scheduled debates occurring featuring Bishop's College, Wesley College, Colombo International School and S. Thomas' College.

Bishop's College hosting CIS for a 2nd round debate at Boyd Place ended their 8 debate winning streak, losing to their opponents on a unanimous but close margin.

However, Bishop's College regained their form to beat Wesley College at another 2nd round debate on the same day hosted by the latter school. The debate was awarded on a split decision.

At the 3rd debate of the day featuring Wesley College & S. Thomas' College hosted by the former, STC came away winners in a high scoring debate on a close margin.

The details of the debates are as follows

Colombo International School vs Bishop's College - 3-0 (CIS)
Wesley College vs Bishop's College - 1-2 (BC)
Wesley College vs S. Thomas' College - 0-3 (STC)

International Training Program 2009 - Workshop for Adjudicators

2009-08-16T19:30:00.003+05:30

A workshop for Adjudicators conducted by the International Coaches was held on the 8th of August concurrently with a 1st round AAIC DC Schools League debate between S. Thomas' College and Colombo International School.

Adjudicators of all levels attended the workshop and were trained on basic as well as advanced judging skills

International Training Program 2009 - General Workshop for Schools

2009-08-16T19:00:00.003+05:30

A large scale workshop conducted by Mr. Alex Campbell for school debaters mainly of the beginner to intermediate level was held on the 11th of August at the Law Faculty premises of the University of Colombo.

The workshop was attended by over 240 students from more than 35 schools across the country. The whole day workshop was organized in conjunction with the Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka.

We wish to thank the Ministry of Education for supporting this venture of the Debaters' Council, the Moot Court & Debating Society of the Law Faculty for providing the logistics for the workshop and Asian Alliance Insurance PLC for sponsoring the certificates for the same

International Training Program 2009 - Advanced workshop for Schools' Debaters

2009-08-16T14:04:00.003+05:30

An advanced workshop for school debaters well versed in debating was held on the 5th of August and conducted by the International Coaches. 30 approved students from 7 schools took part in the half day event. Advanced skills in further improving the already acquired art of debating were taught at the workshop.

The workshop was hosted by Ladies' College. We wish to thank the administration of the school for extending their support to our venture

International Training Program 2009 - Workshop for Universities

2009-08-16T13:59:00.002+05:30

A two day workshop for University Debaters conducted by the Specialist International coaches Ms. Jessica Prince and Mr. Alex Campbell was held on the 3rd & 4th of August 2009. Approximately 30 participants from the Medical, Arts & Law Faculties of the University of Colombo, Royal Institute of Colombo & The University of Moratuwa participated at the event. The workshop was conducted in the British Parliamentary style of debate.

The coaches were also invited by the Dean of the Faculty of Law for a dinner on the 5th of August in recognition of their contribution.

AAIC DC Schools League Week 15 - CIS down STC

2009-08-16T09:32:00.003+05:30

Colombo International School won their first debate of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League 2009, beating S. Thomas' College in a close debate on Saturday, 8th August 2009. The motion for debate was "TH Supports the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq", with STC proposing and CIS opposing.

The debate was held concurrently with an Adjudicators' workshop conducted by the Debaters' Council. It was adjudicated by the distinguished panel of Ms. Jessica Prince, Mr. Alex Campbell and Mr. Nishantha De Silva.

The details of the debate were as follows

Colombo International School vs S. Thomas' College - 3-0 (CIS)

Improving English debating - Sunday Times article

2009-08-03T18:19:00.001+05:30

Please click here

International Training Program - Public Training Schedule

2009-07-26T11:49:00.003+05:30

Ms. Jessica Prince and Mr. Alex Campbell (both alumni of Oxford University) will be on a coaching tour of the Island from the 1st to the 14th of August. Their mandate will be to train the Sri Lanka Schools Team for the World Schools Debating Championships 2010.

In addition to the training of the team, the following public workshops will also be held.

Workshop for Universities

A two day workshop in the WUDC format of Debate will be held on the 03rd & 04th of August at the Law Faculty Premises. Please contact Guruparan on 0773704178 or Hafeez on 0715104999 for further details

Advanced workshop for Schools Debaters

An advanced workshop for schools debaters will be held on the morning of the 5th of August. Participation at this workshop will be limited to 30 students, and applications will be scrutinized by the Debaters' Council prior to approval. Please contact Charana on 0714052012 for further details

General Workshop for Schools

A general workshop on the World Schools Style of Debate will be held on the 11th of August from 9 a.m to 5 p.m at the University of Colombo Premises. Please contact Charana on 0714052012 for further details.

Workshop for Adjudicators/Coaches

A workshop for all Adjudicators and Coaches will be held on the 8th of August at 10 a.m at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. Please contact Nishantha on 0777268164 for further details.

Workshop for Corporate Clients

Workshops on Effective Negotiation, Presentation and Argumentation are also offered to interested Companies. The workshops will be 4 hours in length with an option to extend and will be priced at Rs. 70,000/-. Please contact Deshan on 0772962549 for further details

Ladies' College to participate at the inaugural Asian Schools Debating Championship

2009-07-26T11:39:00.002+05:30

Three teams from Ladies' College (a member school of the Debaters' Council) have been registered for the Asian Schools Debating Championships to be worked off in Manila in September. We wish the teams the very best in achieving success.

Jessica Prince and Alex Campbell to visit Sri Lanka

2009-07-18T11:39:00.002+05:30

Jessica Prince, The world's no. 1 ranked debater in 2007 and Alex Campbell, the former Head Coach of the Oxford Union (both alumni of Oxford University, UK) will be in Sri Lanka on a coaching tour from the 1st to the 14th of August 2009.

The coaches will be here on a mandate to coach the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Team for WSDC 2010. They will also conduct workshops for all schools and universities debaters. Select inhouse corporate training workshops will also be conducted.

More details of scheduled events will be posted here shortly.

The profiles of the trainers are as below.

Jessica Prince

Jessica Prince was the world’s number one ranked debater in 2007, having won the coveted title of Best Speaker at the World Universities Debating Championship in 2007. She has extensive coaching experience, including working with the Canadian World Schools team for various years, training under-privileged children in London, coaching the 2008 Qatar World Schools team, running debate workshops at the Oxford Union and training young executives in the Corporate sector.
Jessica is a Canadian from Victoria, British Columbia. She has a BA (Hons) in Political Science from McGill University in Canada and a 2nd BA (Senior Status) in Law from Oxford University. Jessica has represented Canada at the World Schools Debatnig Championships, and was the President of CUSID (the Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate), winner of the Canadian British Parliamentary Championships, top speaker at the one-time North American Women's Championships, and a two-time finalist of the Canadian Nationals while at McGill. During her time at Oxford, Jessica was also Grand Finalist in the Cambridge IV, which is the most prestigious Debating Competition in the UK.

Alex Campbell

Alex Campbell is a former Head Coach of the prestigious Oxford Union. An American from Boston, Massachusetts, he has an MPhil in Economics from Oxford University and a BA (Hons) in Economics from McGill University, Canada. Alex was one of the top 10 speakers at the 2007 World Universities Championships, as well as the only person to make the Grand Finals of both the Canadian and British National Championships. While functioning as Head Coach of one of the oldest and most revered debating institutions in the world, comprising over 1000 members, he has taught weekly workshops and created a comprehensive coaching curriculum.
In 2007, Alex traveled to Hong Kong as part of a three week teaching tour for the English Speaking Union. In 2008, he spent over a month in Qatar, giving workshops for over 20 schools and for over 500 students and faculty. After Oxford, Alex worked at Lehman Brothers as a proprietary equity derivatives trader, and will be attending Stanford University next spring in the pursuit of an MBA.

Rev Dr Don Stanley Abeysekara Challenge Shield - BC and STC take home honors

2009-07-15T08:57:00.003+05:30

The grand final of the Rev Dr Don Stanley Abeysekara Challenge Shield organized by St. Joseph's College was worked off on the 10th of July at the school hall.

The senior final was between Bishop's College and Colombo International School on the motion "THBT China should lead the new world order." Bishop's College took the debate on a 4-1 split.

The Junior final was worked off between S. Thomas' College and Bishop's College. S. Thomas' College won the debate convincingly.

We congratulate St. Joseph's College on having organized this tournament, and especially for having arranged for the junior leg.

The tournament was ratified by the Debaters' Council.

01st Asian Schools Debating Championships

2009-07-07T09:06:00.002+05:30

The 01st ever Asian Schools Debating Championships will be held from September 09-13 2009 in Manila, Philippines. The event is a school specific tournament while registration is capped at 80 teams.

All schools are encouraged to participate at this tournament to gain international exposure.

The formal letter of invitation is attached here

Find the tournament website here

AAIC DC Schools League - Updated points table

2009-07-04T22:42:00.003+05:30

After 14 weeks of debating and 27 grueling debates, we have now come to the halfway stage of the tournament.

Bishop's College has taken a clear lead and now sit comfortably at 1st place. St. Bridget's Convent having completed 13 of their allotted 14 debates hold 2nd place, but are in danger of dropping below as other teams complete further debates.

Colombo International School are currently placed 8th but have 12 further debates to make amends for their disappointing start.

It must be remembered that the 4 top teams will automatically qualify for next year's league while the others will be relegated to compete amongst other teams at next year's Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship to qualify yet again.

In the coming weeks, a keen tussle should be seen not only to enter the grand final, but also to qualify within the top 4 teams in the competition.

AAIC DC Schools League 14 - BC takes command

2009-07-04T22:37:00.002+05:30

Bishop's College, extended their lead on the points table and continued their winning streak by beating other serious tournament contenders S. Thomas' College and Colombo International School.

Bishop's College, hosting the 1st round debate against Colombo International School took the debate unanimously on a 5 point margin.

Hosting the return debate against S. Thomas' College in the afternoon, Bishop's went on to beat them by a whopping margin of 12 points to complete a double against their opponents.

Bishop's College have now won 7 debate in a row after their early loss against St. Bridget's Convent.

The detailed results are as follows

Bishop's College vs Colombo International School - 3-0 (BC)
Bishop's College vs S. Thomas' College - 3-0 (BC)

AAIC DC Schools League - Week 13 - Marathon weekend creates clear favorites

2009-06-30T08:44:00.002+05:30

The 13th week of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League 2009, saw 5 debates featuring all 8 teams in the competition.

Colombo International School commenced their campaign on a disappointing note with a surprise loss to St. Bridget's Convent. The close debate was split 2-1.

Bishop's College beat Wesley College convincingly in their 2nd round debate at Boyd Place.

Bishop's College, in another debate, beat S. Thomas' College in a split debate at Mount Lavinia.

Methodist College had a mixed outing, losing to St. Joseph's College convincingly, whilst beating Royal College by a 10 point margin in another debate on the same date.

The detailed results are as follows

Colombo International School vs St. Bridget's Convent - 1-2 - St. Bridget's Convent
Bishop' College vs Wesley College - 3-0 - Bishop's College
Bishop's College vs S. Thomas' College - 2-1 - Bishop's College
Methodist College vs St. Joseph's College - 0-3 - St. Joseph's College
Methodist College vs Royal College - 3-0 - Methodist College

Bishop's College have now emerged as hot favorites for the title, having won 6 of their 7 debates and currently lie comfortably at the top of the table with 17 points to their name.

World Universities Debating Championships- 2009 - Grand Final Debate

2009-06-20T23:31:00.001+05:30

WSDC 2008 - Grand Final Video

2009-06-20T23:30:00.000+05:30

World Universities Debating Championships- 2010-Registration opens on June 22nd

2009-06-20T23:16:00.001+05:30

Hello from Turkey!
We are writing with some final details concerning the registration process for Worlds which commences next week. Please read this carefully as we hope we have been as clear as possible. If you have any outstanding queries regarding registration, you can contact Hasan Sadik Arik ath.s.arik@kocworlds.com.

Exact day and time
The first stage of registration for the Vehbi Koc Worlds 2010 begins on 22nd June 2009 (this coming Monday). Registration will be on a first-come, first serve basis so you should note the exact time at which registration starts. We will turn on the system at 9am Turkish time (GMT + 3). For your ease, this means the time will be as follows in some cities around the world (though we advise strongly that you re-check this time as we cannot be held responsible if we have got this wrong!):

San Francisco- 23:00pm (21st June 2009)
Ottawa– 02:00am
New York– 02:00am
Dublin– 07:00am
London– 07:00am
Paris– 08:00am
Berlin– 08:00am
Gabarone - 08:00am
Baghdad– 09:00am
Moscow– 10:00am
Mumbai – 11:30am
Dhaka– 12:00pm
Bangkok– 13:00pm
Beijing– 14:00pm
Tokyo– 15:00pm
Sydney– 16:00pm

What you need to do in order to register
At 9am Turkish time on the 22nd June 2009, you can access the registration page by clicking the REGISTER NOW link atwww.kocworlds2010.com. This will redirect you to our registration page. You will only have registered when you enter your details and then press the Register button. Please ensure that your details are correct, particularly your e-mail address – if you write this wrongly, we cannot send you a confirmation mail and you will face a very stressful couple of days.

The details required at this stage are as follows:
Institution Name, Country, City, Representative Name, Representative Status (is the person who is filling in the form a debater, adjudicator or not attending Worlds), Phone Work/Home, Phone Mobile, E-mail, No. of teams, No. of Adjudicators, Password (that you choose)

Please, please only register as many teams and judges as you plan to send! We will be merciless in our adherence to the pre-payment system and will delete teams who do not pay their pre-payment as described in our previous mail and on our website (www.kocworlds2010.com). To make it clear, if you register 3 teams and 2 judges and pay only 500 EUR in pre-payment, we will only accept this as payment for 2 teams and 1 judge. If you send an amount that does not correspond to n-1 (i.e. you send 400 EUR), we will take this to mean 1 team and 1 judge and you will not receive your 100 EUR back.

We want to reiterate two important facts about the pre-payment system:
1) Once you pay the pre-payment, it absolutely non-refundable. We instigated this approach because last year, teams registered and then disappeared for months meaning that the teams that eventually took their slots had to pay exorbitant air-fares.
2) You cannot pay 800 EUR for three teams and two judges in the Second Phase, then reduce your contingent to five people and expect the 300 EUR back or to top up your outstanding balance. Please only register and then pre-pay for teams that you will actually send.

Our policy for nations with notoriously slow internet-access
We have put in place a policy this year that protects the international nature of the tournament and ensures that institutions from nations with slow internet access are not automatically stripped of the opportunity to compete at Worlds. We have set aside 24 team slots for the nations listed below and institutions from these nations will compete with one another for places at Worlds. If institutions from these nations register in the first 300 teams, this will not affect the 24 team slots – these are independent of the 300 team slots that are purely first-come, first serve. The nations we have listed are below but if you believe your nation should be included, please get in touch withh.s.arik@kocworlds2010.com before Sunday 21st June 2009:

China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, all of the African continent (except for South Africa), all of the South American continent, all of the Middle East (except Qatar and UAE).

We want to reiterate that this does not mean that only 24 teams can come from the above mentioned countries and regions. We are saying that in addition to any teams from these countries and regions who register in the first 300 team slots, we will also put aside 24 places for the next teams from these countries and regions.

One final note: you will have noticed that we have mentioned 300 teams which are purely first-come, first serve and 24 teams set aside for nations with slow internet access. The remaining 36 team slots are set aside to ensure that every nation that went to Worlds last year can go this year. These 36 slots will be held until the end of the first registration phase and if untaken will then be given to teams on the waiting list.

Our n-1 and adjudication registration policy
If you register with 3 teams, you are constitutionally required to send 2 judges. If you send 2 teams, you are constitutionally required to send 1 judge. If you send 1 team, you are allowed but not constitutionally required to send 1 judge. If you wish to send more judges than your n-1 allocation, you should get in contact with Can Okar atc.okar@kocworlds2010.com. He will then speak with the regional DCA and a decision will be made as to whether we can accommodate your request for extra judges.

Some institutions have stated that they wish to send less than the number of judges stipulated by the Worlds Constitution (i.e. less than n-1) either because air-fare is very expensive or because they do not feel they have sufficiently qualified adjudicators. In this situation, we will expect you to pay the full registration as required by the Constitution (i.e. if you want to send 3 teams, you will be expected to pay for 8 people) but you must get permission from the adjudication team first. At the first stage of registration, you should enter 3 teams and 2 judges or 2 teams and 1 judge but you will need to contact Can Okar as soon as possible to let us know that you won’t actually be sending a judge. We will then use the registration fee you pay to subsidise an independent adjudicator to take the place of the judge that you should have sent. This policy has been discussed with representatives of the Worlds Council Executive and we believe that it isthe most effective way of ensuring that we get the right balance of serving the interests of teams that want to compete at Worlds without undermining the quality of the adjudication pool.

If you are planning to register as an independent adjudicator, you can do this on the first day of registration. However, you must contact a member of the adjudication team first so that we can ensure that you are sufficiently qualified. We are able to offer limited subsidies to independent adjudicators who show financial need so please do get in touch with us as soon as possible.

Observers may also register from 22nd June onwards but must contact Hasan at h.s.arik@kocworlds2010.com and take a look at our website for further details.

Communication
We realize that you may need to get in touch with us on the day of registration. We have set up two Skype accounts for which you can add us from tomorrow onwards. These accounts will be live from 8am Turkish time on the 22nd June 2009 through to 5pm Turkish time on the 22nd June 2009. These accounts are kocworldshotline1 and kocworldshotline2.

You can also call us that day on +90 212 338 19 26. Before then, you can e-mail us at h.s.arik@kocworlds2010.com. We would be much obliged if you could try to limit your queries on this day and in the immediate following two days to issues surrounding Phase 1. Once we have ensured that the Phase has been completed, we will gladly entertain questions regarding payment.

That is a lot of information for you to digest but we hope that it is clear. Let us reiterate, if there are any areas of confusion, please do get in touch with any questions or concerns. We have tried to set up a registration that is fair for all involved, transparent and in the spirit of our guiding Constitution. We also believe that it is in the interests of both individual institutions and the tournament as a whole from the perspectives of international involvement and strength of the adjudication pool.

The 22nd awaits. We are ready – we hope you are too.

With our warmest regards,
Fatih Mehmet Inal and Suleyman Onay
Co-Convenors, Koc Worlds 2010

Hasan Sadik Arik
Registration Officer, Koc Worlds 2010

Can Okar
Chief Adjudicator, Koc Worlds 2010

AAIC DC Schools League Week 12 - STC complete 01st round win against Metho

2009-06-20T20:18:00.003+05:30

Week 12 of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League saw S. Thomas' College take on Methodist College in a 01st round debate at Methodist College.

S. Thomas' College took the debate on a unanimous decision albeit with a close margin of 2 points.

The detailed results are as follows

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

(Motion:THW declare Azad (Freedom) for Kashmir)

Next week will see all 8 teams in action for the first time, with 5 debates scheduled for Saturday.

AAIC DC Schools League 2009 Week 11 - Metho takes close debate at Home

2009-06-17T09:28:00.002+05:30

Week 11 of the League saw Methodist College taking on Royal College in a 1st round debate at home.

Methodist College took the debate in a close finish with the judges split 2-1.

The detailed results are as follows

Methodist College vs Royal College - 2-1 (Methodist College)

(Motion:THB in slave reparation)

Methodist College have thus far won 3 out of their 6 debates with 8 points to their name, while Royal College have won only 1 out of their 4 debates and are yet to get off the mark on the points column.

(P.S As of 17th June 2009, the blogger is yet to receive the results of the week 10 debates of the league)

AAIC DC Schools League 2009 Week 09 - Mixed results for SBC, Close finish for Wesley

2009-06-10T11:44:00.002+05:30

The 09th week of the league saw 3 debates featuring 5 of the participating teams in the competition.

St. Bridget's Convent completed two more of their impromptu debates competing at home against Bishop's College and away against St. Joseph's College. Bishop's College had the better of their hosts by a convincing margin of 10 points, while St. Joseph's College went down in a close debate on a split decision.

Another close encounter transpired at Methodist College with the hosts losing to Wesley College on a split decision in the teams' 2nd round debate.

The detailed results are as follows:

St. Bridget's Convent vs Bishop's College - 0-3 (Bishop's College)

St. Joseph's College vs. St. Bridget's Convent - 1-2 (St. Bridget's Convent)

Methodist College vs Wesley College - 1-2 (Wesley College)

WSDC 2010 - Team Sri Lanka announced

2009-05-31T20:27:00.003+05:30

The panel of selectors appointed by the Debaters' Council met recently to determine the Sri Lanka Schools Team that will represent the country at the World Schools Debating Championships of 2010, to be held in Doha, Qatar in early 2010.

After much consideration the following have been chosen as the final five to represent Sri Lanka at the Competition.

Sandaruwani De Silva (Captain) - Bishop's College

Sanjith Dias - S. Thomas' College

Pranjeewan Kulasingham - S. Thomas' College

Kithmina Hewage - Colombo International School

Maleen Jayasuriya - Wesley College

Congratulations to those who have been selected and commiserations to the rest of you.

The Council will be in touch with those who were selected to brief them on how things will proceed from hence