adminPamela Shumba Chronicle Reporter
A team of debaters is off to India to represent the country in the World Universities Debating Championships in Chennai, southern India.
Student teachers Ronny Mukwena and Austin Harrison from Mutare Teachers’ College emerged the winners for the National Debating Championships that were held at Masvingo Teachers’ College in August.
They beat 26 other teams from 22 institutions of higher learning.
The two are accompanied by lecturer Emmaculate Mvundura, debates judge Zanele Ncube and Contemporary Affairs Foundation (CAF) executive director Innocent Batsani Ncube, who is the head of delegation.
The full stay of the team in India, from 26 December to 5 January was sponsored by CAF, a local non-governmental organisation that supports public speaking.
In an interview, Ncube said Mukwena and Harrison will battle it out with teams from reputable universities from across the world.
“The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has cleared the students to represent the country in the world competitions.
“We are happy that the Government highly regards and fully supports this programme. We have managed to consistently participate in the world championships in Botswana, Philippines and Germany among other countries,” said Ncube.
He added: “These competitions go a long way in giving exposure to our students from universities, colleges and polytechnics. Our participation in the programme also gives confidence to our students and improves the quality of products from our institutions of higher learning.”
Ncube said the competitions also give the country opportunities to showcase the country’s education system to the world.
“This is a place to showcase our education system and market our country. Mukwena and Harrison will be debating with over 1,000 other students from 72 countries across the world.
“Other universities taking part in the competitions include the Witwatersrand and Stellenbosch in South Africa, Cambridge and Oxford in the United Kingdom, and Australia’s University of Sydney among many others,” he said.
Online Reporter