Background Information
Debating starts at the level of individual universities. A
club has to be formed and run, usually by a student union. Universities then
generally compete in various tournaments and after that teams are chosen to
represent their universities. DCLE promotes this process in three ways:
1. The
speakers have something to work towards.
AS mentioned above, almost all students studying for a
degree under the University of London Int’l Programmes have to develop debating
and public speaking skills in order to receive their final award; they do not
only participate but have to provide evidence of these skills at some point. The
in-house mechanism always helps them in that they see how well they fare
against each other. Making the process wider and more inclusive means that they
can now contend with the best that the country can offer. This is in
conjunction with the fact that these tournaments are always a great deal of fun
and inspire students to persevere and hone their skills to the best of their
abilities. DDC finds and rewards the brightest learners we have.
2. Resources.
DDC has the benefit of the intellectual resource that DCLE
has to offer. The faculty members are very enthusiastic in assisting the
students in their debating and mooting competitions and activities. They also
receive trainings in oral presentation skills, debating skills, etc. Primary
funding of the formation of DDC and the in-house tournaments are generally
provided by DCLE itself.
3. Speakers
who participate in our event carry the feeling of satisfaction and achievement
with which they can build on later in their professional lives.
OUR AIM
In keeping with the ideology of Jeremy Bentham and John
Austin, who dreamed of a “People’s University” – the University of London,
where everyone gets access to education irrespective of class, gender, creed
and thought, we at DDC also feel that debating skills should not only be a
facility for a limited class but everyone who is a university student should
have the opportunity to prove their skills.
Debating at a university level thus plays a crucial role in
the development of personal and professional skills of the student who will
probably be the leaders of their generation.
DCLE Debate Championship 2014
Each University has been invited to send a team of 3
speakers to the tournament. 4 of these teams can be made up of Bangla language
speakers in semi-final and 2 will prepare for final and the other 4 teams must
be made up of English language speakers and 2 will prepare for final also. The
tournament will be held from 18 – 21 JUNE 2014.
One of the most important features of this tournament is
that we believe in equal opportunity for all in terms of gender and ethnicity.
The ONLY qualifying factor is – skill. Debating has traditionally been an elite
activity, but this has changed in Bangladesh, for the better. We aim to make
debating as accessible, widespread and diverse as possible.
One of our main goals is to have funding available to cover
the costs of the adjudicators' participation at the tournament. Adjudication is
incredibly important. We aspire to make sure the tournament is judged fairly
and that speakers can learn from their judges in every debate. As mentioned
before, if professionals are expected to spend their own money to provide a service
to the tournament, there will not be the highest caliber of judging. We aim to
fix this by making Nationals a free tournament where the adjudicators will
receive an honorarium for their time and effort.
EXPECTED OUTCOME
We hope to achieve the following at DCLE Debate Championship
·
Set the precedent of hosting affordable, high
quality tournaments
·
Allow for more university to be represented
(through lower costs, higher accessibility, online training and DDC
cooperation)
·
Higher quality of judging
·
Host a successful tournament in terms of
efficiency of organization
·
Create an engaging and educational environment
for the top debaters in Bangladesh.
·
Maintain lasting relationships with sponsors to
ensure the continuity of the event
·
Allow for the selection of trial lists for the
Bangladesh team
·
Allow for the selection of development speakers
for the Academy
·
Create structures, protocols and guides for
future DCLE Debate champion ' organizing committees