KARACHI: British High Commission of Pakistan organized the semifinal event of the 3th annual Great Debate Competition across Pakistan on the theme of the Commonwealth at Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET) in which 128 students participated. The Great Debate was an important part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations of UK-Pakistan relations.
After a competitive round of fixtures, Hafsa Tahir from Karachi University and Areeba Ahmed from Dow University of Health Sciences, were judged to be the winner and runner-up respectively. Student of Sir Syed University Saad Ahmed (Software Engineering Department) contended the debate till final round. The Great Debate is a national public-speaking competition for sixth-form students with an interest in history. Students had a maximum of five minutes to present their case and then field questions from the judges.
Speaking on the auspicious occasion, the Vice Chancellor of Sir Syed University, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Afzal Haq, said that the university encourages co-curricular activities to bring forward the hidden talent of youth. The Great Debate competition is a healthy activity which gives students across Pakistan a platform to participate in the knowledge based competitions, interact with other students from different universities and improve their skills in research, analytical thinking and public speaking to the audience, developing their confidence and self-esteem in addition to their skills of developing a historical argument.
The final round of the Great Debate competition will be conducted in Islamabad for the cash prize of Rs 4, 00,000.