Leaders of tomorrow, debaters today

Youngsters from the suburbs march to the stage and stand at the dais at the 6th All Karachi Speech Competition.

KARACHI: When youngsters from the suburbs of the city march to the stage and stand at the dais at the 6th All Karachi Speech Competition, chief organiser Syed Azfar Rizvi sees leaders in them.

The two-month long debating competition, organised by the Dhaka Group of Educational Institutes and Daira-e-Adab-o-Saqafat (International), was launched in the city on Monday. The competition aims to provide a platform to the students of schools, colleges and universities- both private and government - to speak on religion, politics and society.

In these two months, 36 different contests will be held in all 18 towns of the city in two categories: school level and intermediate and degree level.

A total of 5,000 students are expected to take part and three winners from both categories of each town will then participate in the final competition.

The competition holds immense importance in the lives of the students. Takbeer Secondary School headmaster Afzal Bhatti says that his students feel “honourable” when they participate, even if they lose.

“The participants feel superior to other children and become far more confident,” he believed. “They learn to compete, get a chance to share their ideas on a bigger platform and also learn from another person’s arguments,” he added.

The winners are chosen not just on the content of their speech but also on delivery, articulation, pronunciation, presentation and body language, said one of the judges, Sabir Nizami, who is a professor of Urdu. These, according to him, are the “ingredients of a charismatic personality” which will brew to make our “future leadership”.

Fazilat Syeda, who won first prize at the competition in Government Baldia Girls Secondary School, is already nervous for the final competition. “I want to prepare as hard as I can,” she said.

Another participant, Umair, joked that he wanted to deliver a speech because he likes to get his picture taken. But he agreed that the competition has its educational benefits.

“For my topic, I looked through newspapers, books and took help from my teachers and parents,” he said, insisting that the three-minutes of limelight were the reason why he participated.

For others, the lure of cash prizes is enough. “I wanted the prize even though I am not participating,” confessed Muhammad Hanif from Millat Primary and Secondary School, explaining that he did not take part because he cannot talk in front of people.

The reason why Hanif came to watch the debates was because he hoped to learn something from the participants so that he can try out next year and use the cash prize to buy a computer.

The winners in both categories will receive the same cash prize of Rs50,000 for the first position, Rs30,000 for second and Rs20,000 for third. Apart from these, seven prizes worth Rs10,000 will be given in each category.

Speaking in front of so many people is not an easy job and Sana, who participated in Korangi Town’s school category, forgot her entire speech as soon as she got on the stage. “Can I get a glass of water first,” was all she could ask, as she turned away from the dais and went back stage. “I got afraid,” she admitted as her teacher and classmates gathered around her.

Through this competition, Rizvi feels that our society needs “to motivate our students and support them when they fall”. He recalled the days when he was a student at the University of Karachi in the 1980s, when debaters used to have larger than life personalities and would attract huge crowds at every competition.

“That is where all the current leaders emerged from and that is my vision for the future leadership,” he said, adding that “it is happening already” since the number of participants is doubling every year.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2010.