What is Debating Matters?

Debating Matters is a debating competition with a difference for high schools students. Competing schools will be vying for the top prize of an opportunity to debate with the UK Debating Matters champion school in London in July 2009.

Debating Matters is a very successful schools debate competition in the UK, pioneered by the Institute of Ideas, and supported by Pfizer (and that support continues in Debating Matters India as well). It aims to be less formal than the traditional debating competitions whilst being highly rigorous, with a strong emphasis on students researching their arguments well.

Please click here to know more about the Debating Matters competition in the UK

One of the ideas behind Debating Matters was to steer students away from engaging in clever word play. Rather, Debating Matters seeks to encourage students to engage with the specifics and complexities of issues that arise in the real world today. A unique aspect of the competition has been to involve high-calibre professionals from all walks of life – academics, journalists, business people, scientists and artists – in the judging of the competition.

The judges interrogate and engage in a debate with the speakers to judge how deeply they have gone into the topic. The emphasis is therefore also on interaction. Although debate will be in English, judging will be on content and not pronunciation, diction and style.

In a significant departure from the standard school debating format in India, in Debating Matters, each school team of 2 members will only prepare to debate one side of the motion, not one for and one against. Each school will be informed of which side of the motion its team will debate at every stage of the competition.

Who can participate in this programme?

The competition is open to students of class XI and XII. This is a change from last year’s competition.
However, please note that Class XII students must take express consent of their parents and school principal to take part. Once a school team is registered online, the team cannot be changed and no replacements are allowed. Please note that the dates of the national finals are very close to the board exams and Debating Matters debates entail a fair deal of preparation.

How will the students prepare for the debate topics?

We will provide teams with topic guides for the debate at each stage of the competition. Topic guides are written materials that cover every aspect of the debate in question. Articles for the motion are equally well covered as those against the motion. The topic guides will be mailed at least three weeks in advance to those schools who qualify at each level.

What is the timeline and structure of the competition?

Online Elimination Test (OET) 1 July – 6 September 2009
The Online Elimination Test (OET) is the first stage of Debating Matters India. School teams need to register themselves, note down the topic and download the Topic Guide and appear for the test once they are through with their preparation.
The registration process will generate one unique ID for each team and the team will have to use that ID to access the test. The ID is valid for one time only. Therefore, schools are advised to proceed to the test section only after they are confident about taking the test. We will not entertain requests of a repeat test should a school fail to abide this rule.
The time limit for OET is 1 hour (60 minutes).
After the Online Elimination Test, the scripts will be marked by a panel of British Council examiners. The examiners will not have access to any detail of the schools concerned, such as name of school or pupil’s names.

Regional Finals   27 November – 4 December 2009
Twelve schools from each region will move on to the Regional Finals. The competition will be a two-day event. The first day will feature the preliminary round of debates, and Day Two is for the semi finals and the final.
Both the winner and the runner-up from this stage will travel to New Delhi for Debating Matters National Finals.

National Finals   14 – 16 January 2010
Eight schools from all four regions will participate in the Debating Matters National Finals. The finals will be a three day affair, and on the first day the students take part in preparatory seminars led by expert panellists. The second day will feature the preliminary debates involving all eight teams. The third day of the competition will feature the semi finals and the grand finale debate.

How many participants per school/team?

Each school can register a minimum of four or maximum of six members as a debate team. Each school can register only ONE team. This team will represent their school at every stage of the competition. The school cannot change the existing team or replace existing members with new debaters. Each debate requires two members to debate for the same side of the motion.

Who will cover the travel expenses till the National Final?

The schools will have to cover the travel expenses at all stages of the competition, and to and from New Delhi for those qualifying for the national finals.

British Council will offer accommodation for up to six students and one accompanying teacher from the two schools who qualify for the National Final from each region.

Accommodation with breakfast, lunch and dinner (or a per diem in lieu) will be provided by the British Council. Where meals are provided as part of the official programme, any other meals taken outside of those arranged will be at the expense of the participants. Where a per diem is paid, it will be the responsibility of the participant to arrange for and settle the expenses for their meals.

Telephone calls, laundry and use of any other in-room facilities will not be covered by British Council.

How long each debate lasts?

Each debate lasts one hour and ten minutes. Each debate is structured thus:

0-5 minutes
Introduction by the Chairperson

5 – 20 minutes
Opening presentations

•For the motion –speaker 1 from Team A

•Against the motion – speaker 1 from Team B

•For the motion – speaker 2 from Team A

•Against the motion – speaker 2 from Team B

20 – 35 minutes
Judges questions

•Questions to team A ( for the motion)

•Questions to team B ( against the motion)

35 -45 minutes
Questions to the opposing team

•Questions from team A to team B

•Questions from team B to team A

45 – 60 minutes
Audience questions and final remarks

60 – 65 minutes
Feedback from the judges

65 – 70 minutes
Audience vote and judges decision