26 to participate in Lions Club South Secondary Schools Public Speaking Competition 2011

Twenty-six Secondary Schools, two more than last year, will participate this year in the 2011 preliminaries of the Lions Club South Secondary Schools Public Speaking Competition.{{more}}

The Zonal Preliminaries will run from today, Tuesday, October 4 to Friday, October 7, at various venues across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Public Speaking Competition which began in 1996, is part of the Club’s youth outreach programme and aims to foster healthy public debate among the nation’s youth. It also affords them an opportunity to improve and enhance their oratorical skills in a keenly contested environment.

According to Chairman of the Public Speaking Committee Lion Ronald Christopher, ‘the competition over the past fifteen years has taught students how to better communicate with other persons, which is a talent that will always be in demand”. Highlighting the benefits of Public Speaking, Lion Ronald opined: “It helps to polish and perfect your voice. It teaches you how to speak clearly so that others can understand your message. It also gives you confidence so that your voice will carry and so you can look straight into the eyes of those you speak with.”

Students in Zone One will meet today at the Peace Memorial Hall to debate the topic – “The role and influence of the church is diminishing in our society”.

On Wednesday, October 5, at the Bequia Community High, students in Zone Two will debate the topic – “The netbooks distributed in the school system are vital tools for effective teaching and learning”.

“The killing of Osama Bin Laden was a necessary evil” – is the topic to be debated by students in Zone Three on Thursday, October 6, at the North Union Learning Resource Centre.

The Zonal preliminaries will conclude on Friday, October 7, at the Barrouallie Learning Resource Centre, when students in Zone Four will debate the topic – “Too many natural disasters are aggravated by irresponsible actions of public and private agencies and individuals”.

The Zonal preliminaries will begin at 1:00 pm daily and the top six public speakers will be selected to go on to represent their schools in the final of the Competition, slated for Thursday, October 20, at the Methodist Church Hall, Kingstown.

The 2011 Lions Club South Public Speaking Competition is again being sponsored by LIME.