University English debate kicks off

JAKARTA (JP): Thirty-six teams from 22 universities will take part in a nationwide English debate competition, the second of its kind here.

The three-day event starting on Friday is called the Indonesian Varsities English Debate 1999 and is being organized by the Atma Jaya University on Jl. Sudirman in South Jakarta.

"The preliminary rounds of the competition will be held at the Atma Jaya University campus, while the final round and the closing ceremony will be at the Ministry of Education and Culture," the event's project officer, Carmelita Cajuman, said on Thursday.

The university's rector, Thomas Suyatno, is scheduled to open the competition.

Carmelita said the committee extended the scope of this year's event, sending invitations to universities outside the capital and from other provinces to participate in the annual event.

She said some universities decided to skip this year's competition due to clashes in their respective provinces.

"Acehnese students wrote that they could not join the competition, while their counterparts in East Timor have not responded to our invitation," the competition's technical committee officer, Avi Nababan, said.

Similar to the first competition, hosted by the University of Indonesia's English Debating Society last year, this year's debate will use the same Australian parliamentary debate format.

Each debate will have two opposing teams and each team will have three members. Team members will be given seven minutes each to deliver their opinions. (emf)