War of words: Eloquence saves the day at interuniversity debates

Battle of wit and expression sees youth prove their mettle in declamation.

ISLAMABAD:

An intense competition in sophistry reaped generous rewards for winners at the 16th All Pakistan Inter-University Debate Contest here on Tuesday.

With around 30 national public and private sector higher education institutions participating at the event, fiery speeches at the bilingual declamation contest had its audience on the edge of their seats. Although the winning margin was narrow, the first prize in the English and Urdu categories went to the Institute of Management Sciences (IMS), Peshawar and the Federal Urdu University, respectively.

In the English category, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi and the University of Balochistan, Quetta emerged as the first and second runners up respectively while in the Urdu category, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar and Government College University, Lahore stood second and third, respectively.

The first, second and third position holders were awarded cash prizes of Rs60,000, Rs50,000 and Rs40,000, respectively. The final round of the contest was held at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Secretariat.

The chief guest at the show, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan’s youth is the country’s real asset, as they always delivers whenever they are provided an opportunity. Need of the hour is to foster optimism on a societal level, as some forces are deliberately disseminating propaganda directed towards the youth, in specific.

“Although our country is facing a number of challenges, I assure you that we have the potential and resources to overcome these problems. To achieve these goals, the biggest asset we can capitalise on is the youth of Pakistan,” said Iqbal.

The government is committed to promoting education in the country, particularly at the higher level. Within four years, the percentage for education budget will be increased from two per cent to four per cent, Iqbal assured.

“We realise that it is essential to empower science and technology professionals. There is no denying the fact that real socio-economic development cannot be achieved until the country’s economic agenda and research agenda are linked to the needs of society,” stated Iqbal.

Efforts are afoot to bring the academia, industry and government on a single platform for this purpose, he added.

HEC Chairman Mukhtar Ahmed said the government has recently undertaken a number of initiatives to promote extra-curricular activities at university campuses.

The basic objective of this contest was to promote communication and critical thinking skills of students, while also enhancing their understanding of socio-economic and political issues and most importantly, to provide healthy outlets for their creative energies, added Ahmed.

The All Pakistan Inter-University Debate Contest starts out at the university level, wherein students from all departments and constituent colleges take part.

The second round is organised at a regional level in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and Islamabad (for universities from the federal unit, AJK, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan). Only the teams with the highest scores make it to the final rounds.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2014.