The Namibian’s Critical Thinking Competition 2017

The atmosphere was energetic and exciting at the recent Critical Thinking Competition hosted by in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture and the Namibia Schools Debating Association (NSDA). And Rundu couldn’t have been prouder.

The Zambezi region squared up with debaters from the Omusati region – and the motion could not have gotten any better. ‘This house believes that is still telling it like it is’.

Although claws were bared and facts were presented, the event was fun, informative and everyone walked away with something to learn.

officially launched the Critical Thinking Competition 2017 on 31 May at the Namibia University of Science and Technology in Windhoek. The competition was formerly known as The Namibian Public Speaking and Debate Cup but was rebranded and held under the theme ‘turning the economic crisis around through critical thinking’.

With this in mind, debaters showed up at Rundu wearing shirts representing The Namibian and marched to the Kavango West Regional Council Hall on the Day of the African Child on 16 June to announce their arrival.

Teams from 13 regions showed up. The team from the Otjozondjupa region could not make it due to unforeseen circumstances.

During the opening, representatives of the sponsors showed up to wish the competitors luck.

Eugene Silishebo from the NSDA welcomed the pupils with a hearty thank you. “Hopefully we will learn something from this,” he said.

Sieggie Veii-Mujoro, ‘s general manager of finance and administration, paid homage to those who died on the day as well as a short tribute to political leader Andimba Toiva ya Toivo.

“Years ago, many children lost their lives. Hector Peterson died on this day and the movie ‘Sarafina’ is a reflection of what happened,” he told the audience. “It was also on this occasion that Toivo ya Toivo was sent to Robben Island where he said: ‘We will never be South Africans’. You are in a better situation, you can stand up in a free Namibia.”

It was also revealed that The Namibian contributed about N$250 000 to the competition this year.

Afterwards, debaters then stood their ground at the Noordgrens Secondary School, which hosted the preliminary rounds of the competition.

During the competition, motions included ‘this house will regulate social media’, ‘this house believes that seatbelt usage should not be compulsory’ and ‘parents should be held responsible for their school-going children’s disciplinary problems’.

The teams who qualified for the quarter-finals included Oshana A, Karas A, Omaheke B, Zambezi B, Omusati B, Oshana B, Ohangwena A and Khomas B. However, teams were eliminated and eventually Oshana, Zambezi, Khomas and Omusati emerged as the semifinalists. This debate took place at the Kavango East Regional Council.

During this competition, the motion ‘ban all the English requirements in all tertiary institutions’ was heavily debated.

Attending the Oshana vs. Zambezi debate, it was a rather fair competition as both points put across points that had the audience excited. “A person who has to study medicine is not admitted to university because they have to study English,” Kelly Simasiku from the Zambezi team (team opposition) argued, further elaborating that this wasn’t fair.

Leonard Neshuku from the Oshana region (who was team proposition), however, brought across the point that the ban was necessary. “There is an advantage: it encourages the effort by the students.”

Although the arguments were convincing, the Zambezi B team qualified for the finals, while in the next room, the Omusati debaters headed to the next round.

The public was welcome to attend a gala dinner which took place right before the finals. But before then, a few speeches officially ended off the event before the winners were crowned.

Rauravandu Hambira, spokesperson of the NSDA, acted as the officiate for the event and Martin Dickenson debate coach and Peace Corps volunteer quoted Maya Angelou: ‘I’ve learnt that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel’.

There’s always a winner and a loser. But don’t cry because it’s over. Smile, because it’s happened.”

Leticia Ndumbah, chief acting officer of professional development representing the directorate of the Kavango East, praised the debaters for their craft. “When people went to debate, I did netball. But debate started somewhere in 1795. But on my own, I concluded that the purpose of debate is to make the best argument, to prove your point right and to prove other people’s points wrong. You are the VIPs for this event. Feel at home.”

Anton Andelina, vice president of the NSDA, also shared some information about the organisation. “NSDA is here to stay and should move each and every day,” he said. “NSDA is a non-profit organisation. We rely on our sponsors,” he said, urging collaborators to assist the NSDA to train adjudicators and hopefully send more teams abroad as they had in the past, namely Qatar, Scotland and even Greece for the international debating competitions.

Representing the MVA Fund, Eliphas Rukambe expressed his concern at the current road crisis in Namibia. “The road crisis has reached an alarming rate. We are number one in the world. The risk of dying in a car accident is higher than dying of cancer. We need to use our roads with extra care. More needs to be done. Injuries caused should and can be prevented.” Interestingly enough, the MVA has set up a simulation field at the school, where pupils can learn about road signs and road rules.

George Shimaneni from B2Gold also felt proud to be a part of the event. “B2Gold is small, but we’re happy to be co-sponsors. We believe that we should invest in our children. We have an education centre and we invite all the students to come. This platform will be utilised to complement what is happening in debates.”

Thanking all the sponsors, Mujoro shared his pride at hosting such a huge event, sharing other projects such as The Namibian Newspaper Cup, one of the biggest soccer cups in the country, as well as the Let’s Read Project which assists schools with a bundle of newspapers for children to read.

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