Selection Workshops for the World Schools Debating Championship 2014

The World Schools Debating Championship 2014 will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 5th to 15th August 2014.

Students of secondary schools with significant prior experience at the inter-school level in English medium Parliamentary Debating, who are above the age of 14 and will not have reached the age of 20 by the 15th of August 2014, are eligible to apply for selection.

Interested students may submit a CV outlining their debating achievement along with Date of Birth, School Attended and relevant contact details before the 15th of January 2014 via e-mail to debaterscouncil@gmail.com

Successful candidates will be notified by the 22nd of January 2014 of their eligibility to participate in the selections, which will be held on the 25th and 26th of January.

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

Lilian Nixon Debating Championship 2013

The above tournament, organized by the Debating Society of Ladies' College, was held on the 26th and 27th of October 2013 with the participation of 40 teams - the largest tournament hosted by a school so far. The teams included the regulars on the debating circuit, as well as new teams like St. John's College Jaffna, Overseas School of Colombo and British School in Colombo. In order to ensure that the best from among such a large pool of teams would break into the knock-out rounds, the organizers scheduled four preliminary debates as opposed to the usual three.

At the end of the preliminary rounds, the following teams broke into the quarter finals:
(In descending order)

Colombo International School (A)
S. Thomas' College (A)
Royal College (A)
S. Thomas' College (B)
Colombo International School (B)
Ananda College (A)
Holy Family Convent (A)
Lyceum International School Nugegoda (B)

The quarter-finals yielded no upsets, and the top seeded teams won their respective debates to proceed to the semi-finals. In the semi-final round, CIS (A) beat STC (B) opposing the motion "THBT a corrupt democracy is better than a dictatorship", while Royal (A) beat STC (A) proposing the motion "TH supports the censorship of media in times of political crisis"

Thus, the Grand Final was between Colombo International School and Royal College, on the theme of "Law and Order". The debate was adjudicated by a very experienced panel of judges, which comprised Shan Dantanarayana (Chair), Nishantha De Silva, Deshan Pushparajah, Shamalie Jayatunge, Damitha Karunaratne, Rhadeena de Alwis and Michael Mendis.

The team from Royal College comprised

Kanchana Ranasinghe
Senith Abeyanayake (C)
Shechem Sumanthiran

while the team from Colombo International School was represented by

Eran Fernando (C)
Keshya Amarasinghe
Ramathi Bandaranayake

Royal College proposed the motion "THW give the people the power - via referendum - to pardon whistle-blowers". On a 6-1 split, the decision went in favour of the government, and Royal College became the winners of the Lilian Nixon Challenge Shield for the year 2013.

Shechem Sumanthiran of Royal College was adjudged the Most Outstanding Speaker of the competition.

The tournament's novice final was between Stafford International School and S. Thomas' College (C), and the latter emerged victors.

Congratulations to the winning team and to Ladies' College for a well organized and efficiently run tournament.

Apologies

The Debaters' Council extends its apologies for the dormancy of this blog over the last year. However, we are pleased to announce that the blog will now be updated as frequently as there are developments in the local circuit.

Please follow the blog for news and results of tournaments, and for other important announcements by the Debaters' Council.

Inter-International School Debating Competition

The above competition was organized once again by the Debating Society of Stafford International School, and the preliminary rounds were held on the 19th of October 2013. Six schools participated in the tournament, and faced off against each other in the first round. Lyceum Wattala, Lyceum Nugegoda and Wycherly International School won their respective debates and secured their berths in the semi-final, while Colombo International School took the last slot on account of having the highest speaker score among the losing teams.

The semi-finalist teams debated the motion "This house would force fast-food chains to display the calorie count of each item on their menu". Colombo International School and Lyceum Nugegoda won their debates against Wycherly International School and Lyceum Wattala respectively, and will thus face off in the Final, which is to take place in the weeks to come.

Team Sri Lanka at the World Schools Debating Championship 2012

WSDC 2012 was held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 17th to 27th January. Team Sri Lanka performed very well at the championship, winning 5 of the 8 preliminary debates. The team beat Zimbabwe, Mongolia, UAE, Germany and Botswana, while suffering close losses to defending champions Singapore and South Korea, and a split loss to tournament heavy-weights Israel. However, the team fell one judge short of breaking into the octo-finals. The team ranked 19th based on wins and losses, and 15th based on speaker points, out of the 48 teams that participated.

The championship was also a success in terms of individual performances. Meghal Perera, Sanjit Dias and Tamara Fernando were ranked 3rd, 5th and 8th respectively on the "English as a Second Language" speaker tab, and 38th, 41st and 50th respectively on the overall speaker tab. This is the first time team Sri Lanka has had more than one member in the top 50 speaker tab.

The tournament was won by Scotland, who beat Wales 8-1, opposing the motion "This house regrets South Africa's decision to use the Truth and Reconciliation Commission rather than prosecuting perpetrators of crimes committed under Apartheid". Teoh Ren Jie of Team Singapore was crowned Best Speaker for the second time.

Our heartiest congratulations go out to the team and its coach, Ms. Sandaruwani de Silva for doing the country proud.

National Team for World Schools Debating Championship 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DC Schools League - Semi Finals end in Stalemate

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

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

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

STC win Nixons

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wesley and STC match step for step, LC knocked out

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

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

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

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

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

Teams already relegated

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

Ladies' College face up hill task to enter final

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

Three way competition for entry into finals, CIS seem favorites

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

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