Registration is now open for the 2025 Public Sector Debate Competition!

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Facing Issues, Influencing Solutions

Registration Summary:

Registration for the 2025 Public Sector Debate Competition is now open…

Only 26 teams can be accommodated for the staging of the competition…

Registration for the competition will close on March 28, 2025…

More debates, more opportunities! Every team will compete in an extra round before the knock-out stage!

Registration details:

Criteria:

  • Public sector name
  • Public sector address
  • Name of team members
  • Name of team captain
  • Email address for all team members
  • Contact number for team captain
  • Gender
  • Date of registration
  • Approval by the Head of Entity or Designate 
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COMPETITION RULES

First Speaker – seven (7) minutes

Second Speaker – six (6) minutes

Third Speaker – six (6) minutes

      • The debate will commence with the presentation from the 1st speaker on the Proposition team, after which the 1st speaker on the Opposition team will present. There will then be a period of cross-examination where the opposition team gets to ask three (3) questions of the proposition team, each question is limited to ten (10) seconds with responses limited to thirty (30) seconds. The proposition team is thereafter given the privilege to ask three (3) questions of the opposition team with the aforementioned time restrictions also applying. The debate then moves to the 2nd speaker on the Proposition team, who is then followed by the 2nd speaker on the Opposition team. A 2nd period of cross-examination will then ensue, as previously described. There is then a one (1) minute break to allow debaters to organise their ideas before the reply speakers. After one minute has elapsed, the 3rd speaker on the Opposition team then speaks, followed by the 3rd speaker on the Proposition.
      • Points of Information are allowed between the first and last minutes of each of the speeches except the reply speeches, where none is allowed.
      • Motions will be released to each team at the same time, at least five (5) days before the scheduled match.
      • During registration, teams must submit a list of the five (5) members comprising their squad. On match days, any three (3) of the five (5) members registered may form the debate team. If there are any changes to the team composition since registration, teams must inform the organisers of these changes at least twenty-four (24) hours before their match. Abrupt changes to team structure on the day of the debate will not be allowed.

The competition will consist of preliminary rounds, Octo finals, quarter finals, semi-finals, and the grand finale (will be live-streamed).

Assessment of Debates

After all the speakers in the debate have concluded their speeches all the adjudicators will excuse themselves to a private room/space. The Chair Adjudicator will then lead the panel of adjudicators through a critical conversation about the match. All arguments presented will be comparatively assessed across both teams so as to ultimately decide which team won the debate. The individual speeches will be assessed under three categories:

  1. Matter: Matter is the content of the speech. Matter includes arguments, evidence presented to support those arguments, examples, and analysis. Matter includes substantive material, rebuttal, and points of information (POI). In debates in which points of information are used, both the content of the question and the content of the answer are considered matter. The chief elements of matter are logic and relevance. Speakers can earn a maximum of fifty (50) points for matter.
  1. Manner: This covers a debater’s speaker style, the way they present their case, if they include humour, and if they constantly make eye contact or read straight from their notes. Manner is an evaluation of confidence, and is measured by the use of the voice to communicate conviction in what is being said. Speakers can earn a maximum of 30 points for manner.
  1. Method: Method is the way the speech/debate is structured. This looks at the ordering of an individual’s debate. Method also includes the time that an individual’s debate goes for and how long a debater spends on each part of their debate; introduction, rebuttal, points  and summary, etc. Speakers can earn a maximum of 20 points for the method.
  1. Notes: Each team is required to submit a written version of their notes no later than half an hour before their match in softcopy format. The notes should include a minimum of one page’s worth of material for each of the first three speakers. Teams which fulfil this responsibility will be credited with an automatic five (5) points towards their total score. Teams that do not submit this written piece therefore forfeit this opportunity.

Each debater, therefore, is scored out of 100: Matter /50 + Manner /30 + Method /20. The team receives an additional five (5) points for the appropriate submission of Notes.

Each debater, therefore, is scored out of 100: Matter /50 + Manner /30 + Method /20. The team receives an additional five (5) points for the appropriate submission of Notes.

For each of the cross examination periods teams will be allotted a maximum score of ten points for the quality and relevance of the questions asked and thirty (30) points for the effectiveness and clarity of the responses given. Each team can be given a maximum of 300 points for their substantive speeches and a maximum of 80 points for their cross examinations. That is, one hundred (100) for each substantive speaker, forty (40) for each period of cross examination, and five (5) for the team’s notes. This means a debate team will receive an overall score out of three hundred and eighty five (385) points.

The Chair Adjudicator will provide a constructive and comparative explanation of how the adjudicators came to their decision. The Chair Adjudicator will then announce the team with the higher score out of three hundred and eighty five (385) points as the winner of the match.

The speaker scale above shall be used as a guide for adjudicators’ assessment of each speech and the ultimate assignment of a score to the speaker.

Register Here

ALL FIELDS ARE REQUIRED