Achievements abound in the Debating Association Finals, Youdebate Contest in Sydney & The UN Youth Conference

Firstly, well done to all our students for their achievements in the 2019 Debating Association of Victoria annual contest which led to one team getting through to the second round of finals, outmatching a thousand other contenders in the process! As a result of their successes as finalists or best speakers, eight students were chosen to attend the Youdebate contest in Sydney.

These students were: Muna Sheikh, Hanane Seid, Sumaia Khan and Roumaysa Sebbaha of Year 10 and Sana Oman, Zena Osman, Sidra Al-Masri and Safa Taqvi of Year 9. It was extremely surprising that our Year 10 DAV finalists lost to the Amity College Year 9 team, but to cast doubt on the Sydney adjudicators' decisions would be out of keeping with the spirit of the competition, which surely aims to reward the ablest students in a fair and meritocratic manner.

The 2019 topics for Rounds 1-3 were as follows:

Round 1: ‘ Artificial Intelligence causes more harm than good.’
Round 2: ‘ Parents should have the final say on whether their children are vaccinated.’
Round 3: ‘ The United Nations is no longer relevant in 2019.’

Although Sirius College Eastmeadows did not make the Sydney Youdebate finals this year, the round 3 topic certainly assisted Muna Sheikh, one of six of our students who competed in the UN Youth Conference, an experience which aims to simulate the international debating forum that is the human rights centred United Nations. Huge congratulations to Muna who crafted an excellent speech on the topic of how the UN can dissuade dictatorships from abusing the human rights of their own citizens. With her speech and well prepared responses to questions from a panel of International Policy experts, Muna has reached the national finals of the UN Youth Conference which will take place in Adelaide, in February next year. Well done to Muna and all our public speakers and debaters who have committed hundreds of extra-curricular hours to writing speeches, attending after school debates and practicing their craft in class. I'm sure that all this dedication will improve your confidence as communicators and writers which will stand you all in good stead for the rest of your lives!