Qatar World Schools Team Chosen

The five debaters who will represent Qatar in World championships

From http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=208373&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

Five pupils to represent Qatar at world debating championships
Published: Thursday, 20 March, 2008, 02:41 AM Doha Time
Staff Reporter


FIVE high school students have been selected for the first-ever National Debating Team to represent Qatar at the World Schools Debating Championships in Washington DC in September.
They were chosen from 17 high school students who attended trials over the weekend at Education City.
The trials were organised by QatarDebate, the national debating organisation for the country, which is a member of Qatar Foundation.
The members of the National Schools Debating Team for Qatar include Meeran Naji from Qatar Academy, Talal Burshaid from Qatar Leadership Academy, Vartan Shadarevian and Tina Niaki from Doha College and Fatima Hijran from Al Bayan Independent School.
“The team will travel to the UK for intensive training over the summer before pitting themselves against the world’s best high school debaters in the US in September,” a QatarDebate official said.
Fatima Hijran, one of three female students selected for the team, said: “I did not expect to be chosen, especially since all of the 17 participants were very strong. I look forward to representing Qatar and telling people about this wonderful country. I have never travelled to the USA and am sure that it will be an unforgettable experience.”
The 17 students were selected to attend the trials after strong performances at the recent Qatar National Schools Debating Championships, also run by QatarDebate, in which more than 20 teams took part.
“Many of the students have only recently become involved in debating as a result of workshops run by QatarDebate since September 2007,” said the official.
QatarDebate programme Director Alex Just paid tribute to the students.
“We’re very excited about working with this group of talented young people. They have all achieved a phenomenal amount in a short space of time and we expect them to be fantastic ambassadors for Qatar in Washington,” he said.
The World Schools Debating Championships have been running for 20 years. National teams of three to five students under 19 come together each year from all six continents to debate social, moral and political issues. Until now, only two countries from the Middle East have ever sent teams to the championships – Kuwait and Israel.