Monrovia – Youth for Change Incorporated has officially opened the Liberia National Debate Championship 2019 county meet as Liberia’s Youth & Sports Minister called on the organizers to include the competition in the county meet to attract more stakeholders into supporting the process.
Report by Asata Dukuly, [email protected], Contributor
Speaking at the opening program, the Minister of Youth & Sports Zeogar Wilson commended Alex Divine, CEO of Youth for Change (YoC) and team for the level of work.
Mr. Wilson said: “One of the things that I discussed with him was to for us to work together to make this a reality, and that is, to tag the debate into the National County Sports Meet.
“It will be a good thing to include the Liberia National Debate Championship into the National County Sports meet because according to him when it comes to the national county sport meet, all of the county officials and citizens are all involved.”
Mr. Wilson said if the county meet is added it will improve citizens and stakeholders exchange.
“We don’t just want to come and play soccer, basketball, and kickball but let’s tag it to an educational program as well and the debates fit in that role,” said the Minister.
The minister added that when he was approached by the YoC, he decided to assist despite the government’s challenges.
“From the government’s perspective, things are tough but what I can do is to assist in sending your communications around to some business and government agencies and I want to thank him and his team for a wonderful job thus far,” Wilson said.
He said Orange Liberia, which sponsors the debate, is also a partner to the Ministry in the National County Sports Meet so there will be no difficulty to emerge the two.
Siatta Clarke, Security Specialist/Advisor proxy for Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, urged the students to adopt the culture of reading.
She noted that the culture of reading faces a problem because most schools do not have a library and do not also give in time for compulsory reading.
She encouraged the young people to prepare themselves for the future noting that if they are not prepared, they will not secure a better future.
YoC CEO Alex F. Divine appreciated the sponsors including Orange Liberia, Ministry of Youth & Sports, Cummings Africa Foundation, the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA).
The competition began in 2016 when he said he was questioned on his intention as to whether he has interest in politics, but he stated that his plans were to expose the talents of brilliant students who are lacking the opportunity of intellectualism.
The national debate championship started as an effort to stop “Super Friday” where students engage in activities that are not academic, Devine said, adding that the debate is to enable them to enlighten their minds on national issues.
Support Independent Journalism
Your support helps FrontPage Africa continue delivering independent, credible, and impactful journalism. Every contribution strengthens our ability to investigate, inform, and hold power accountable while keeping quality journalism accessible to our readers.
Support our journalism or subscribe to receive the latest FrontPage Africa stories and updates.
