Like many other fields in which Pakistani students have excelled recently, a group of Pakistani students has made the nation proud in World Schools Debating Championships 2015 being held in Singapore these days. This annual competition is open for students between 14-19 years of age, this year Singapore is hosting debaters from 50 different counties. The Chief Adjudicators heading this session are Vernie Oliverio(from Singapore) and Tracey Lee (from Canada).
The Debating Society of Pakistan nominated five debaters to participate in the 2015 competition and it is a matter of pride that the Pakistan National Under19 Debating Team has reached the semi-finals of the Championships. The team consisting of Asad Zafar Haider (Aitchison College Lahore), Hamza Tariq (LGS Paragon), Hassan Qaiser (SICAS),TahaMasud (Westminister College), and Zainab Hamid (Karachi Grammar School) was coached by Sofyan Sultan, and has remained undefeated in the championship by winning all eight of their preliminary rounds against teams coming from Ireland, South Korea and Peru, among others.
The Pakistan National Debating Team unanimously won their Octo-final match against team Philippines on the motion “This house would require members of the clergy to report all crimes to the authorities, including those made in confession”. The team, was selected from among the participants of a grueling national camp, went on to defeat Greece 4-1 in the quarter-final, on the motion, “This house believes that affirmative action policies are counterproductive in reducing inequality”.
This is the first time since 2005 that Pakistan has reached the semi-finals of the World Schools Debating Championship, an event that Pakistan has been participating since 1991. Of the previous four participations, Pakistan reached the finals twice. Team Pakistan has also won the Best Team with English as a Second Language Award a record number of five times.The semi-final between Singapore and Pakistan will be held on 4 Aug 2015, and Team Pakistan is confident of defeating the Singaporeans in this.
The Pakistan National Debating looks forward to a nail biting Semi-final round and hope to see Team Pakistan reach the final round and make Pakistan proud.