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 | The Acting Head of Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific, H.E. Mr Alistair MacDonald presents the Europa Shield to members of the winning USP Team 1. Receiving the Shield is team captain, Jope Tarai. Other members include: Aashqeen Hasan, Jason Titifanue (far right) and Robinson Chand (back). |
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The University of the South Pacific was declared winner of the Europa Shield, repeating its feat from 2010 when it won the tournament for the first time.
The Europa Shield, which has been held for three consecutive years, is the much anticipated debate tournament of universities in Fiji.
In this year’s competition on 30 October, two teams each from the Fiji National University (FNU) and USP faced each other at the Multi-Purpose Theatre, Japan-Pacific ICT Centre located at the USP Laucala Campus in Suva.
In opening the debate tournament, the Acting British High Commissioner to Fiji, H.E. Mr Martin Fidler said that the debates would help deepen students’ understanding of issues facing Pacific Island societies and enhance their confidence in public speaking.
“Perhaps in this way, the Europa Shield tournament can contribute towards the development of the Pacific’s future leaders,” he added.
H.E. Mr Fidler said that the debate topics were really challenging and touched on issues very real to the Pacific.
The debate topics included:
· There should be a quota for youth in the parliament;
· Specific jobs need to be created for people with disabilities;
· Climate change is an act of God;
· Reserved seats for women in parliament are a way to overcome women’s political marginalization;
· Voting should be compulsory;
· There is no discipline without corporal punishment; and
· The media should shape public opinion.
USP’s Team 1 and Team 2 competed against each other in the final while both teams from FNU were outclassed in the lead up to the final.
After compelling arguments were presented from both the teams in the final, USP Team 1 was declared the winner.
The team captain of the winning team, Mr Jope Tarai, also received the Best Debater Award. He said that every member of his team worked hard for the debate.
"Winning the debate is a relief after all the hard work,” he added.
Mr Tarai expressed gratitude to the Almighty and the staff members of USP for their support towards the victory and also thanked the FNU teams for putting up a good challenge.
As the recipient of the best debater, Mr Tarai will attend the Asia-Pacific Model United Nations Conference as part of the UK delegation fully sponsored by the British High Commission. This conference will be held in July next year in Wellington.
At the conclusion of the event, the Acting Head of Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific, H.E. Mr Alistair MacDonald said that each of the debaters spoke with eloquence and intelligence.
He elaborated that in debates, people confront each other with ideas to convince and open minds to the ideas of the other.
H.E. Mr MacDonald thanked all the teams for participating and the judges as well as the sponsors.
The Europa debate is the innovation of the European Union Delegation Office in Suva with support from the French Embassy and the British High Commission.
Both debate teams from the University were congratulated for their outstanding performances by the Vice-Chancellor and President of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra.
He said that the University was very pleased with the hard work of its students in winning the Europa Shield, and thanked all those involved in contributing towards the success of the teams.
Professor Chandra said that the debate topics were well selected to bring out the best from the debaters.
The Vice-Chancellor said that such topics help young people express and generate fresh and innovative ideas on issues affecting the region, which he added, was quite an important part of studying at USP.
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