Government College University (GCU), Lahore and the Institute of Management Sciences (IMS), Peshawar won the 14th All Pakistan Inter-University Debate Contest for the Allama Iqbal Shield, in Urdu and English categories, respectively.
The final round of the contest was held at Higher Education Commission Secretariat in Islamabad on Thursday. Chairperson HEC, Dr Javaid R Laghari, was the chief guest on the occasion. GCU team comprised Saad-ul-Hassan and Adnan Farooq while Sheharyar Khan and Afzal Humayoun took part from IMS.
In individual debates, Afzal Humayoun and Sheharyar Khan from IMS and Roshan Amber Ali from University of Sargodha won first, second and third positions in the English category, respectively. While Saad-ul Hassan from GCU Lahore, Huda Hussain Bhurghari from University of Sindh and Uzair Khan from Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences clinched first, second and third positions, respectively.
The Contest was first organized at the university level wherein students from all departments and constituent colleges took part. The second round was organized at regional level in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and Islamabad (for Federal, AJK, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan universities). The top scoring teams, consisting of two students, and individual top scorers were selected in the second round to participate in the final round, both in English and Urdu categories. The winners of first, second and third positions were given cash prizes Rs.30,000, Rs.25,000 and Rs.20,000, respectively.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Laghari said that basic objective of the contest was to promote communication skills and critical thinking of the students, enhance their understanding of socio-economic and political issues as well as to divert their energies towards healthy activities and creative thinking.
The chairman said that communication aspect was an important component of education and the purpose of these debates was to identify best speakers among the youth. He said that the youth, comprising two third population of Pakistan, was the only beacon of hope for the country.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Executive Director, HEC, Dr Sohail Naqvi, emphasized that students played an important role in building the nation and taking it forward. He said that debating competitions helped students learn the art of communication. Describing HEC’s aims, Dr Naqvi said that it was the commission’s agenda to turn our higher learning institutions into a centre of excellence.
