NEPAL IN DEBATING
Pradeep Ghimire, 22, is a young debater who recently co-founded Debate Network Nepal (DNN), a registered profit-not-distributing company that aims to broaden the spirit of debating in Nepal. Through the company, they have hosted a number of debate trainings and tournaments. "We recently organized our sixth batch of Tarkashala, which is a residential, debate adjudication training program. We held similar sessions for politicians of Bibeksheel Nepali as well. We hosted two major debate tournaments, namely Mahakumba and Mahasangram. We also extended our trainings to Pokhara and opened a DNN Pokhara Chapter there. Owing to the number of trainings and tournaments, our debaters are getting sharper and the debating spirit is flying," he says.
Twenty-year-old Saurav Bhatta, co-founder of Debate Yatra, another body which works by campaigning and training on debating, claims that Nepal is moving forward in this sector at a good rate and that the future seems bright. Debate Yatra too has organized many tournaments and trainings. "In January this year, we organized All Kathmandu Debating Championship jointly with Interact District Council, which I would consider to be one of the biggest debate tournaments organized in Nepal," he says.
"As we can see, there has been an increase in number of trainings and tournaments which has birthed energetic debaters willing to lead debate clubs at their respective schools and colleges. Hence, Nepal may not be the excelling yet but we are doing pretty well," adds Saurav.
HOW ARE WE COMPARED TO INTERNATIONAL DEBATERS?
Saurav recently went to Singapore for World School Debating Championship (WSDC) 2015, a high school level world debate competition, as the coach. The official Nepali team facilitated by Debate Yatra, ranked 40th out of 53.
"It may not seem that great but we leaped to the 40th position from 51st out of 53, which was the overall ranking from past tournaments, so we were quite happy nonetheless. Progress in preparation methods and much practice back home led us here," Saurav says.
"It is important to note that schools in other countries embed debating in their curriculum from the secondary level. Here, students get exposed to debating quite late, or never," observes Pradeep, who also attended the WSDC 2015 as a judge, while also noting that Nepal has quite "vibrantly progressed" in this sector during a short time.
"Right now, we also do not have enough competitive tournaments. Many people who debate in a given tournament might be sitting in the judging panel in the second one, since there aren't many people who have expertise in this field. It causes the tournament to be less competitive. We also got into debating quite late. Those unstructured baad bibaad pratiyogita at school, where we were neither taught how to structure our argument nor format our speech, do not count," Ojaswee adds.
HOW DO DEBATES CHANGE PEOPLE?
"While I was hosting Debate Boot Camp last July, one of the participants said that just a week back, he had decided to commit suicide but now found happiness in his life. That might be a little too intense. But many times, we notice the change in persons with our own eyes and we get beautiful feedback regarding how debating has helped them become better thinkers. Such comments are what keep motivating us to work for this," shares Saurav.
Ojaswee expresses how debating about diverse topics have helped her become smarter: "After indulging in debates, not just have I become a better speaker but the horizon of my understanding has expanded to a whole new level. Since we debate in all sorts of topics, from nuclear proliferation to health issues, I get to learn a lot of things."
For Pradeep, debating has never been just about one thing. "It's a learning experience which has so much to offer. It enables one to be empowered."
CAN ANYONE BE A DEBATER?
Certainly one can! DNN organizes Weekly Debate Friendlies (WDF), a friendly debate competition, every week, the updates of which are provided in its Facebook page (facebook.com/DebateNepal). It also organizes Chakrabyuha fortnightly, which is a Nepali debate session. Anyone is free to join as an audience or as a debater.
Debate Yatra too organizes weekly debate sessions under the name of 'Debate Jam,' the updates of which are in Debate Yatra's Facebook page (facebook.com/DebateYatra). Once again, anyone is free to join whether as an audience or as a debater.
If a school or a group is interested in learning debate, they are free to contact any of these organizations, who will be happy to facilitate training sessions.
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