Santo Domingo.- The Minister of Education, Luis Miguel De Camps, highlighted this Monday the impact of the National Debate Championship on the formation of critical citizens committed to democracy, considering that this initiative transcends the academic sphere and strengthens essential values for participation in public life.
During the opening of the V National Debate Championship, the official explained that the event brings together students from the different educational regions of the country who, for months, prepared to perfect their argumentation, analysis, and communication skills.
“Today we are holding the National Debate Championship for the entire national territory, as part of the Ministry of Education’s Student Leadership programs. These young people have gone through a preparation process to learn positions, train in debate techniques, build arguments, and listen to and understand different points of view,” he/she expressed.
De Camps maintained that the true value of the competition lies in the fact that it teaches students to live with the diversity of ideas and to generate proposals that contribute to society.
“We are not only talking about elements typical of a debate competition. We are talking about elements typical of a democratic society and a participatory society,” he emphasized.
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The minister described the championship as one of the Ministry of Education’s main strategies for building citizenship, by promoting critical thinking and responsible participation among young people.
“This activity is one of the most important for building citizenship, for forming a critical citizen, a participatory citizen, with the judgment not only to question and ask, but also, and above all, to contribute,” he stated.
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He added that fostering these competencies in the classroom contributes to the strengthening of Dominican democracy, by training young people capable of listening, engaging in dialogue, and building consensus in the face of society’s challenges.
The V National Debate Championship is organized by the Student Leadership Program of the Ministry of Education (MINERD) and brings together students from the 18 educational regions of the country, who compete after overcoming the regional phases and completing a specialized preparation process in debate and argumentation techniques.
The teams will debate over several rounds on topics of national and international interest, with the goal of developing leadership, communication, and critical analysis skills. The winners will represent the Dominican Republic at the World Schools Debate Championship, which will be hosted by Bulgaria next year.
