Covent Garden Secondary clinches JOF Haynes debating trophy
Covent Garden Secondary School emerged champion of the 2017 JOF Hayes Inter-Secondary Schools debating competition yesterday.
A Ministry of Education press release said that it was a keenly contested final at the Theatre Guild Playhouse. The release said that the victorious team comprising Tenisha Evelyn, Aaliah Corlette and Amabel Campbell accumulated a score of 282 points, while the runners-up St. Ignatius Secondary racked up 279.3 points. The Region 9 school was represented by Ave Thony, Kerion Ramscindo, and Amisha Ramdin.
The less than three points that separated the two teams is an indication of the competitive nature of the debate between the two schools, the release said. The moot was “Crude oil is one of the main natural resources that can move Guyana from a developing to a developed country”. Covent Garden opposed the moot while St. Ignatius Secondary was the proposer.
Watched by former Guyana Elections Commission Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, Assistant Chief Education Officer (Nursery) Ingrid Trotman and other senior ministry officials and students the debaters gave skilful accounts of themselves.
The release said that it was the third year in succession that a Region Four school has won the JOF Haynes debating competition. In 2015 President’s College was champion and last year Annandale Secondary School emerged winners. The JOF Haynes debating competition is an annual Ministry of Education event.