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GD&TĐ - Under the guidance of Hanoi Department of Education and Training, Hanoi Open - Vietnam Schools Debating Championship 2017 (HN-VSDC) will be organized the first time by The Olympia Schools and The Global Citizens (Singapore) from from 28 to 29 October 2017. HN-VSDC is the first debate tournament in Vietnam organized in World Schools Debating Championships ("WSDC") format with English as the main language.
Calling for registration since October 2017, the tournament has more than 17 teams registered and is still accepting registration from many provinces across the country. The tournament is specially designed for students from 14-19 years old.
The main goal of HN-VSDC is to introduce and develop the debate culture in Vietnam, with the hope to help Vietnamese students to think critically, write creatively and speak confidently with respect to opposing ideas. These are the most important skills that can contribute to the success of students in integrating in the 21st century.
To participate in HN-VSDC 2017, students must have Vietnamese nationality or currently studying in Vietnam.
Each registering team should have 3-5 members, whom are not required to come from the same school, institution or organization. As long as they share the same passion for debate, they can make a team to sign up for VSDC.
HN-VSDC 2017 will be carried out following the WSDC format. Each debate will have two teams, representing two opposing sides of the debate. Each student will have 8 minutes to persuade the judge to agree with their side. There will be two 4-minute reply speeches at the end of the debate.
The themes of WSDC vary from education to economics, societal issues to environmental issues. The main reason why WSDC is becoming more and more popular and considered as a top international education activity is that it requires students to have broad background knowledge and soft skills.
Coming to the tournament, students will have the chance to participate in debate courses taught by world’s top coaches such as Samuel Wittberger - coach of various Singapore schools, and Walter Yeo - Director of The Global Citizen, Singapore.
Teams will compete to become the Champion - the best team of HN-VSDC 2017. And top 20 students will be interviewed to join Team Vietnam Debate - representing Vietnam at the World Schools Debating Championships 2018 held in Croatia.
WSDC is considered as the “World Cup” of academic debate, held annually since 1988. WSDC is always considered as a standardized and the most prestigious tournament for schools debate around the world.
Debate is a very popular academic co-curricular activity in Western countries. In Vietnam, debate is also attracting more and more students through local and international competitions such as World Scholar’s Cup, World School Debating Championships …
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