National debate contest begins

JAKARTA: Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar opened on Thursday the English National School Debating Championship 2003, which will run until April 17 in Jakarta.

Students from 93 high schools from 18 provinces across the country are participating in the contest. They qualified after winning regional and provincial competitions.

The students will compete in groups of three, but, instead of choosing a winning team, a jury will select 10 individual students for training for the international English debate championship in Lima, Peru in August.

Of the selected students, only four will make the team for world finals.

Indonesia took part in the previous world debate championships in 2001 and 2002. -- JP