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Best Speaker on the day was St Leonard’s Graeme Stoute.

St Leonard’s ousts HC in Productivity Council debates

11/6/2009

By Jacqueline Jones

Tuesday saw the semi-finals of the Productivity Council’s secondary schools debating competition get off to a running start, as students tried their best to win favour with the judges, as they presented their arguments.

Competing were St Leonard’s Boys for the proposition and Harrison College for the opposition, debating the topic, ‘Graduating from university does not make employees more productive’.

This moot was the standing topic for the semi-finals and will be changed for the finals on November 19. Judges on the day were Philip Jackman, Kyle Prescod, Danny Babb, Paul Forte and Chief Judge Lorna Barrow, all of whom have extensive knowledge and experience in the debating and public speaking arena.

As proposition, St Leonard’s got the ball rolling with leader Chay Poyotte, whose calm demeanour did not take away from the strong points he brought to the table. He said that while university students have theoretical training, many of them lack practical training and still find it necessary to do so.

He also said that while many artisans such as carpenters or masons may not have university degrees, it does not mean that they are in anyway less productive. This point was a strong focus of the proposition team.

Poyotte considered the opposition’s stance as “elitist” and much like past colonial society’s mentality. His seconder Graeme Stoute, further expanded on this line and added his own flair to the competition, one that made him instantly likeable. His buzz-word for the day was ‘character’, as he stressed that with all the degrees a person might have they “must have character” to be a truly rounded individual.

Continuing to point out that whatever job you were in, it was important that you did that job to the best of your ability, Stoute solidified a strong argument for the boys of St Leonard’s.

Summary rebuttal was delivered by the obviously confident Dohron Phillips, who had every right to be, as his points were concise and delivered well. He stated that one must have “character from the cradle, not from university.”

He asked if when a person needed something done at their house or business, “were (they) more concerned with a degree, or if they (the service provider) were able to give (them) what they wanted?”

As for the HC side, their arguments were also very well delivered, with the utmost confidence. Ikwo Morris, brought her dynamic delivery that was seen in the preliminaries, in her role as leader of the opposition.

She stated, “without proper time management, productivity decreases,” and pointed out that this was one of the things developed at university. Seconder Joseph Haynes gave a commendable delivery and added to the points of his leader, by giving a list of all the things acquired at university, that enhanced an employee’s productivity.

“Communication and teamwork, positive work ethic, perseverance, ambition,” he stated, all of which led to “increased productivity.”

This was what he called, “the final blow to (the opposition’s) foundation of fallacy.”

Rising debating star Kirt Goodridge, gave the exceptional delivery that has come to be expected of him. Letting his emotions run high as he delivered his points, Goodridge knew all the right moments to capture the judges and the audience, as he spoke.

“My colleagues have (already) given staggering evidence,” he said adding, “job specific training can only take you so far.”

It was interesting to note that both sides used information not only drawn from instances internationally, but those locally as well.

In the end, the winning team was St Leonard’s with 700 points, while HC walked away with 666 points. Best Speaker was Stoute, who won a portable hard-drive with this achievement.

As for the judges comments, Chief Judge Barrow gave their summary and said that the judges were not as happy with the summary rebuttals.

She also stressed that time management is of great importance as, “a good judge will stop listening,” she said, "when a debater has gone overtime."

Competing on Wednesday were Queen’s College and the Seven Day Adventist School, while Thursday saw St James Secondary and Coleridge and Parry, face off against each other for their chance at a finals spot. While there were three debates, just two schools will be entered in the final.

This leaves it up to all the students to do their very best, as winning a semi-final does not guarantee a final spot.

The two schools with the highest scores, will be the ones competing.

Results showing the final contestants, will be available in next week’s edition of HELLO!

Indices

as of close 9/15/2009


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