International Training Program 2009 - Workshop for Adjudicators

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

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

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

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

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

Please click here

International Training Program - Public Training Schedule

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WSDC 2008 - Grand Final Video

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

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

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

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

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)