The University of the Punjab (PU) in the category of Urdu and the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) in the category of English won Allama Iqbal Shield in the 15th All Pakistan Inter-University Debate Contest held in Islamabad.
The final round of the contest was held in the secretariat of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Wednesday with HEC Chairperson Dr. Javaid R Laghari in the chair. About 30 participants representing both public and private universities took part in the competition. In the first round, competition was held among the students of each university. The top scorers were then moved to the final round of the competition. Those stood first, second and third positions were awarded a cash prize of Rs 30,000, Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 20,000 respectively in Urdu and English categories.
Laghari said the HEC had undertaken several initiatives to promote extracurricular activities in universities. “Our objective is to promote communication skills and critical thinking among students,” he added.