Bengkulu school wins English debate contest

Bengkulu school wins English debate contest

JAKARTA (JP): State-run SMUN 2 Bengkulu won the national
senior high school English debate contest defending the notion
that sex education must be made a compulsory subject at high
schools.

The three-person team from a town which is still recovering
from the devastating earthquake in June beat SMUN 34 Jakarta in
the final on Wednesday night held at the Convention Hall of the
University of Indonesia campus in nearby Depok.

M. Donny Eryastha, Yunika Sari and Meldi Siregar eloquently
argued for making sex education, still widely regarded taboo in
conservative Indonesia, compulsory at senior high schools.

They said the high rate of teen pregnancy and unwanted births
could be prevented if young people were given education on the
subject.

Their opponents argued that society was just not ready for a
radical departure from the current practices, but they failed to
make their points convincing before the jury.

Altogether, 19 privately and government-run senior high
schools from 10 provinces, including Aceh, took part in the
three-day contest organized by the University of Indonesia's
English Debating Society.

The team from Aceh made it to Jakarta after a struggle because
of the near breakdown in the transportation system there.

The jury picked Donny, Ina Dayamanti of the SMU Taruma Negara
in Magelang (Central Java) and Marlisa Supeno of SMUN 1 Makassar
(South Sulawesi) to represent Indonesia at an international
English debating contest in Johannesburg, South Africa, in
January, the organizers said.