Feature

Debate is a Passage for Youth Towards Excellence
NUB Hosts Inter-University and College Debating Championship-2009

Naznin Akhter

AN educated individual is an asset for a nation. He is concerned about his personal progress as well as the progress of society. Universities and other institutions of higher learning are engaged in preparing students to become educated citizens of a country. It does not merely focus on the acquisition of knowledge and skills, but also the development of a body of human resources that is professional, creative, imaginative, as well as morally and spiritually responsible towards society. Debate acts as a steppingstone in this process as it encourages creativity, as well as critical and analytical thinking. Northern University Bangladesh (NUB) realizes the importance of debate in its student's lives. That is why it has a vision to direct its students toward academic excellence, as well as extra curricular activities such as debates, games and sports, cultural functions, literary discussions and religious programs, all of which facilitate the creation of qualified citizens of a country. In order to advance this vision, Northern University Bangladesh Debating Society (NUBDS) organized a debate competition in conjunction with its 7th Founding Anniversary on the 18th 21st October 2009, with the collaboration of PC Club and Axiom World Wide Visa Processing.

The competition was organized in the Asian Debating Format. The championship began with the opening remark of the Dean of the Centre for General Education (GED), Professor. Mir Md. Akramuzzaman, who encouraged the students to participate in intellectual conversations, conferences and competitions like the competition. Top debaters and an adjudication panel from various private and public universities in Bangladesh comprised the event. We also had the adjudication evaluation for testing the competence of the adjudicators, who are an essential part of an intervarsity debating championship.

The Championship:
The championship was very distinctive in the sense that it had a unique style all its own. The majority of the events were held in General Education Centre (GED), where the students, regardless of their fields of study, spent the first two semesters studying English and other common subjects based on different faculties, with high emphases on moral education. The championship was organized as a knockout and there were 20 teams from both public and private universities, and colleges in Bangladesh. The participating colleges and universities were: Dhaka Residential Model College, Northern College Bangladesh, Notre Dame College, Bikalpa Model College, Eden Mohila College, University of Dhaka, Chittagong University, Rajshahi University, Khulna University,Jagannathgong University, Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasa, Southeast University, Asian University of Bangladesh, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Stamford University, Bangladesh Islamic University, United International University, Green University of Bangladesh, Eastern University, and Northern University Bangladesh.

On 18th October , all the participants from various colleges and universities arrived at GED in the morning and confirmed their registration. During the registration every participant received a packet containing articles in English and Bangla, explaining the rules and regulations of the debate, and complementary accessories. Around 11 am the debate started with a briefing of the debaters and adjudicators. Md. Lutfor Rahman, Assistant Professor of NUB and the moderator of the championship, conducted the briefing. We had two rounds of debate on that day. After the first two rounds, teams who did not advance onto the next round were given a token of participation. After every round, the debaters ranked the adjudicators in a feedback form, which facilitated the evaluation of the adjudicators.

After two rounds of battle-like debate, the top eight teams reached to the quarter final. Participating teams in the quarter final were University of Dhaka, Southeast University, Chittagong University, Rajshahi University, United International University, Stamford University, Asian University Bangladesh and University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

On October 20, four teams debated in the grand semifinal, where United International University faced Stamford University and University of Dhaka faced Southeast University. It was a very tough competition, where each team raced to outwit the other. It looked to me as if they were participating in an academic sport that required critical arguments and analytical thinking.

The grand final brought about an intense and nerve racking competition between University of Dhaka and the United International University. The debaters representing University of Dhaka were Asaduzzaman, Plabon Ganguly and Aninda Rahman, and representing United International University were Sanaul Haque Himel, Riyad Hossain Khan and Pasneer Alam. The venue of the Grand Final was the prestigious Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. The motion of the grand final was “Ei shangshad ekmukhi shikkha babostha ke shomorthon koray”. Members of both teams displayed immense enthusiasm and eagerness throughout the contest. All the guests and the participants were amazed by the thoughts and arguments presented by the debaters. In the end, University of Dhaka defeated the United International University by a considerable margin.

The Speaker of the House, Abdun Nur Tushar, and the Chief Guest, Vice Chancellor of NUB, Professor Dr. M. Shamsul Haque and Dean of General Education Centre, Professor Dr. Mir Akramuzzaman, congratulated both teams for reaching the final and presenting an exciting and interesting debate. According to the speaker of the house, NUB had taken a good initiative and he was optimistic that other universities will take their own initiatives to arrange similar competition in the future, as such competitions widen the horizon of knowledge.

After the debate, a prize awarding ceremony was held, where Nurul Islam Nahid, the honorable Minister in charge of Ministry of Education, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, presided as chief guest. In this event, the chief guest and other special guests distributed the trophies to the winners. The winning team and the runners up team each received a laptop and the best speaker of the final received a webcam in line with the government vision of building a digital Bangladesh.

(Teaching Assistant, General Education Centre, Northern University Bangladesh. )