The war of words continues

BANGALORE: British Council will present the fourth year of the national schools’ debate p r o g r a m m e , Debating Matters India.D e b a t i n g Matters India is open to students of: Class XI and XII of Indian schools Pre-University colleges catering to Class XI and XII equivalents One can apply for the online elimination test and compete with schools from across the country to find a place in the regional finals.Over the last three years, more than 1,000 schools from across the country have participated in Debating Matters.Each school is encouraged to register a six-member debate team along with a debate coordinator teacher right from the online elimination stage. However, a school can register a minimum of four students as well. A school can register only one team.At the regional final level live debates will be held in eight cities — Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Guwahati and Kolkata. The venue partners for South India are Christ University , Bangalore and Indian Institute of Technology Madras , Chennai.The competition comprises the following stages:Online Elimination Test (OET)Online Elimination Test (OET) is the first stage of the competition that requires the school debate team to register online. After registering online, the team will download a topic guide from which they prepare for the OET. Upon the completion of the test, the team will have to submit their answer online which will be examined by British Council examiners.The teams will be selected on the basis of the answers they given at the OET. At the end of this process, the 12 shortlisted schools from each region will get a seeding based on their performance in the OET.To register and apply log on to www.britishcouncil.org.in/debatingmattersindia.OET is open only until August 25.Regional FinalsNew Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata: September 27 Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Bangalore: September 29 G u w a h a t i : F r i d a y September 30 Following the Online Elimination Test, 12 schools will be shortlisted from each region to participate at the next stage i.e. the Regional Finals. The winners at each regional final secure a place in the National Finals for which they will travel to New Delhi.National FinalsNew Delhi: November 17 to November 19 The National Finals is the final stage of the Debating Matters India competition.Eight schools from each Regional Finals will participate in the three-day residential National Finals held in New Delhi later in the year.