Daily Star-Astech English debate contest begins

A five-day 'The Daily Star-Astech Group Inter-School English Debate Competition' began in the port city yesterday.

Professor Md Sikandar Khan, vice-chancellor of BGC Trust University, inaugurated the event as chief guest at the Public Administration Training Centre.

Nine schools are taking part in the competition organised by Drishty, a cultural and debate organisation.

Debate helps students to become good parliamentarian, politician as well as lawyer, said Professor Khan at the inaugural ceremony.

He underscored the need for learning forceful diction and correct pronunciation for better performance in debate competition.

Ali Ahmed, chairman of Astech Group and ex-president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nurul Alam, Chittagong bureau chief of The Daily Star, Safia Rahman, principal of Sunshine Grammar School, and Bulbul Hasan, president of Bangladesh Debate Federation, were present as special guests. Drishty President Hasina Ahmed Soma presided over the session.

Three sessions of debate were also held yesterday.

Oxbridge International School defeated Gems English Medium School in the first session. The motion for the debate was 'Our society is mainly responsible for the degradation of women's condition in Bangladesh'.

Zuhair Mehtab Ali Sourav of the winning team was adjudged as 'best speaker'.

Cider International School competed against Bay View School in the second session and won the contest. The motion for the debate was 'Newspaper is more effective than television as a media'.

The 'best speaker' was Nafiul Azim of the winning team.

Sunshine Grammar School beat Presidency International School in the last session of the debate. The motion was 'Social imbalance is the main cause of teenage crime'.

Audri Biswas of the winning team was selected as 'best speaker'.

Three more sessions of the competition will be held at Shilpakala Academy auditorium tomorrow.