Vietnam hosts World Schools Debating Championship for first time

Vietnam is the fourth country in Southeast Asia to host the WSDC. It is also the first nation to host the tournament in person after the COVID-19 pandemic with the largest number of attendees so far.

This year’s event which is scheduled to last through to July 27 is being jointly organised by the Vietnam Academy of Debating and Public (VADP) and VinUniversity (VinUni), a private and not-for-profit university established by VinGroup. Participating teams are competing in eight group stages covering a wide variety of topics. The best teams will advance to the knockout stages, including pre-quarterfinals, quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals.

The World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) is an annual English-language debating tournament for high school-level teams. It was first held in 1988 in Australia with the aim of encouraging and advancing the education of young people in communication skills through conducting debating events.

Debates held during WSDC use a special format, with each debate comprising of a total of eight speeches delivered by two three-member teams, the Proposition and the Opposition. Each speaker delivers an eight-minute speech; then both teams deliver a "reply speech" lasting four minutes, with the last point being reserved for the Proposition.

Between the end of the first and the beginning of the last minute of an eight-minute speech, the opposing party may offer "points of information". The speaker may refuse these, but should take at least one or two points during the course of his or her speech.

Serbia is set to host the championship next year.