KUCHING, Nov 2: Secondary and higher learning students in Sarawak are gearing up for the finals of the Premier’s English and Bahasa Melayu Debate Challenge 2023.
Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Sarawak (MEITD), Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn applauds this competition, highlighting its role in sharpening critical thinking skills and promoting intellectual discourse among young minds.
He added through the debate challenge, and hope to nurture students to not only be rational critics, but also to sharpen their critical skills, with these skills, it portrays their intellect in resounding issues.
“All debaters who participate will undergo a similar process of having their bank of motions encompassing global issues, state initiatives, however the actual motions during their debate won’t be given to them in advance, giving them a limited time to prepare their presentation.
“This will create a space for students to build their self-confidence to speak in front of an audience through public speaking, thus encouraging intellectual discourse among students in Sarawak,” said Sagah in the press conference of the Premier’s English and Bahasa Melayu Debate Challenge for Secondary Schools and Institutes of Higher Learning in Sarawak 2023 held at the Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) tower on Thursday.
He also noted that conducting the competition in both English and Bahasa Malaysia languages can contribute to raising proficiency standards in both languages during the discourse.
“English is important for Sarawak to master as we move forward as a nation. However, Bahasa Malaysia is still our national language and should be held in equal importance.
“By creating a platform for both languages in the challenge, we can promote students to embrace both the English and Bahasa Malaysia languages,” he added.
The debate challenge was organised in partnership with Universiti Teknologi Mara Cawangan Sarawak (UiTM) and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Sarawak, involving over 200 students with participation from over 40 Secondary schools and Institutions of Higher Learning in Sarawak.
Participants are divided to two categories, namely Category A for the Secondary School level and Category B for the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) and Form 6 students.
The Bahasa Malaysia edition will see it’s Quarterfinals and Semi finals held from November 6 to 7, 2023 in Kuching while, the Preliminary Rounds, Quarterfinal and Semi-finals for the English edition of the challenge were held in September at UiTM Samarahan campus.
Both finals will be held on the November 8, 2023 at Borneo Cultures Museum, Kuching. -TVS
