DOHA • The QatarDebate, the national debating organisation and a member of Qatar Foundation, is all set to represent the country in an international debating competition, according to officials. The debating organisation launched their new full time office at Education City premises, yesterday.
"QatarDebate was established in September 2007 with the aim of developing, supporting and raising the standard of open discussion and debate among students," said Alex Just, the Programme Director. "Qatar's first-ever National Debating Team, five high school students will participate in the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) in Washington DC in September. We will be leaving next week," he told The Peninsula.
WSDC is an annual English-language debating tournament for high school-level teams from different countries. In recent years, the championships have involved teams from around 35 nations each year. The championships were first held in 1988 in Australia. With this Qatar will become the second GCC country after Kuwait to enter the competition.
QatarDebate has trained 2,000 students from various schools in Qatar since its launch. "We have student here who can compete with students from Oxford or Cambridge debate clubs. With the opening of the new office, we will be able to extend our work to more educational institutes and cater more students."
The organisation is now contacting all the schools in Qatar and prompting them to take part in the programme. "We are booking schools for the workshops. The whole programme is free and follows the basic principles of Qatar Foundation; giving young people the skills needed to stand up in the modern working environment," he said.
"This project is one of the best programmes under the Qatar Foundation," said Dr Hayat Abdulla Maarafi, the Executive Director of QatarDebate. "It gives a venue for free speech. Moreover, the whole programme complements with what the education centres give, like the life skills. Our motto is 'debaters today, leaders tomorrow'".
The programme is conducted in three levels, beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The workshops are based on three main factors content, style and strategy. "The programme is not boring; it is a fun filled activity. The parents should encourage the students to do this programme," she said.
In March 2009, the organisation will conduct the second National Schools Debating Competition. "We are also trying to start regional events involving Kuwait, Jordan and other countries in the region. The first workshops for this academic year will start in September," said Alex Just.