Bringing real world issues to the debating table
View(s):There was a rush of adrenaline mixed with a sense of humble disbelief as the judges revealed their verdict. The young team of five representing Sri Lanka at the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC)had just gone head to head against the defending champions -Team England- in a preliminary round debate over ethnic enclaves and the gritty Sri Lankans had emerged victorious.
The young team who represented Sri Lanka at the World Schools Debating Championship in Singapore
“It was a great feeling, and for most part of the tournament people came to know us as the team that routed the defending champs,” says Devin Hewage (19). The team went on to win five of the eight preliminary rounds, but lost their chance to enter the octo-final stage by a hair’s breadth. “We had the same number of victories in the preliminary rounds as the other countries that made it to the final eight, but we came short in individual speaker’s points,” says Amrita Khandpur (16), adding that it was indeed a very close call. However, Eran Fernando (19) managed to clinch the 4th place amongst 250 debaters.
Eran, a past pupil of Colombo International School, is a veteran of sorts in the Sri Lankan debating sphere and will soon be off to university with this win being yet another feather in his cap. “As the only debater on the team who had been on Team Sri Lanka before my role was to offer my experiences from last year and to help the team become accustomed to debating at an international level rather than a national level,” he tells us, adding that it included making changes to methods research, argument and speaking.
The 2015 World Schools Debating Championship was held in Singapore and ended last month. Having had its genesis back in 1988 in Australia, the championship is a premier platform for youth to voice their views on global issues. Team Sri Lanka was selected from the national pool inaugurated by the Debater’s Council, back in October last year. The council has been active in creating a healthy environment for the debaters to enhance their skills, and a range of workshops were held in the run-up to the team selection. While the team was coached by Tamara Fernando, who was a member of the national team in 2011 and one of the Top 50 speakers in 2012.
Miriam Alphonsus
Sidath Samarasinghe
The competition consists of prepared motions along with impromptu debates, with the latter being the more challenging aspect for many teams, but not necessarily for Team Sri Lanka. “Some of the impromptu debates we delivered were right up there with the best in the world,” recalls Devin. It should come as no surprise as most of the team are born speakers; arguing on the spot was never going to be a problem.
“There’s been plenty of times that I’ve been asked to keep the volume down as a child,” laughs Amrita. Having schooled at Colombo International School, she grew up in an environment conducive to debating, but it was always something she had a natural knack for. Sidath Samarasinghe (17) on the other hand is the sole exception amongst the group’s natural adeptness at debating. “There really is no story of inspiration behind my debating career,” smiles Sidath. Almost impulsively joining the Royal College debating team at a later age, Sidath soon went on to find his foothold and armed himself with a very diplomatic style of debating.
For Miriam Alphonsus (16) from Methodist College her WSDC experience was as much about making new friendships as it was about the debating itself. “I’ve become friends with people I’d never have thought I would be friends with, but it’s been amazing so far.” Miriam believes that the biggest attribute she gained out of the competition was to critically think on the spot. “It gives you the ability to realistically solve problems, even in daily life.”
Devin Hewage. Pix by Amila Gamage
Amrita Khandpur
For Devin however, there’s a guilty pleasure in being snarky on the debating floor. “There’s really something about being mean that heats up a good debate,” he grins. Having had his foundations in the debating circles of St. Thomas’ College, Devin soon gained experience and skill from the Colombo Law Faculty debates, which he believes is the right place to foster the spirit of debating amongst the youth.
“The competition is naturally Western centralized. It so happens to be that way. But with proper training, resources and exposure, a lot of debater’s from around the island will have no difficulty in adapting to the WSDC style of debating,” says Devin, stressing on the need for national adjudicators to be well versed in the international format of judging and local competitions that promote the required style of debating.
For now, the team almost resounds in unison that taking part in the Law Faculty debates is the way forward for building a strong debating ethic. The team contested topics that ranged from whether defendants in criminal trials should be represented exclusively by public defenders, to the question if cities with significant immigrant populations should actively break up ethnic enclaves. The latter being the topic they proposed and won unanimously against Team England, while other victories came against teams China, Sweden, Taiwan and Macau.
The team faced only one setback during their run-up to WSDC, and this was when they faced difficulties in funding. “It would be great if the national team had sponsors. This would encourage more and more of the youth to be interested in the competition,” says Amrita. However, having managed to raise the funds against a race of time, the team went on to make a mark in the international debating sphere.
“We made a very positive impact as a team this year, missing the break by just one place. We beat the defending World Champions and definitely made some noise at the tournament,” says Eran. “Despite not breaking, we re-established Sri Lanka as a strong competitor in debating.”