Mangalore :
Around 60 teams participated in the Verbattle Junior Round at the zonal level selection of the Verbattle Junior as a part of Verbattle Debate Competition 2014 here on Friday out of which 22 teams have been shortlisted to go to the next level ‘Verbattle Junior-Skirmish’ which is to be held in Bangalore in the third week of August.
The participants belonged to the age group of 12-16 years studying in Std VIII to Std X. The 22 teams selected in the Mangalore zone included teams from Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Shimoga. The zonal level selection of Verbattle senior will take place on Saturday.
After a basic introduction to the rules and regulations of the Verbattle Junior round, Verbattle foundation Founder Deepak Thimaya announced the topics that were to be debated upon in the course of the event. Out of a list of 10 topic statements, some of the topics included – The current education system is not equipped to deal with intelligence, Politics has solutions to India’s problems and Schools are breeding grounds of negativity. The participant teams were given their final topics around 30 minutes before the debate session following which the teams underwent intense sessions of about an hour.
“Verbattle is a wonderful platform that improves one’s speaking skills. Initially I had problems in speaking fluently but participating in Verbattle Junior and reaching the semi-finals last year has given in me immense confidence in speaking and voicing out my opinions and hence I came back this year to participate and I am excited that our team got through to the next round and I’m also confident that our team will win,” said Suraj Kumar, one of the participants studying in Madhav Kripa High school.
The next round which is the Verbattle Junior -Skirmish will be held on August 19 in Bangalore. The semi-finals and finals for Verbattle Junior and Senior will be held on August 22, 2014. The final debates will be moderated by Deepak Thimaya and judged by some of the eminent personalities from the state.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangalore / Stanley Pinto, TNN / August 01st, 2014
