Debating The Big Issues

Pupils from Balwearie High School are preparing to battle it out at the birthplace of Robert Burns.

The Fife school is one of six which has made it through to the regional final of the Institute of Ideas Debating Matter Competition.

Issues such as should voting be made compulsory and should assisted suicide become legal will all come under the spotlight.

It's sponsored by Medical Research Council in the Scotland & Northern Ireland region and primary funder the Wellcome Trust.

Chris Waddle, Learning Manager at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, said: "Burns himself was an ardent debater. In November 1780, along with his brother Gilbert, he formed a debating society known as the Bachelors Club in the Ayrshire village of Tarbolton. We feel that hosting this prestigious event here at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum helps keep alive the tradition of lively debate among young people and we look forward  to a hugely enjoyable and stimulating day".

The six schools competing at the Regional Final will descend on the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum from Bearsden to Ballymoney; from Orkney to Balwearie having all won a Qualifying Round through virtue of their sharp minds and bright ideas in the autumn. As the schools move in to the Regional Finals the debates are tougher, the judges fiercer and the competition more challenging. However, one school will prove victorious and progress to represent the Scotland & Northern Ireland region at the National Final at the British Library in London. 

A unique feature of the Debating Matters Competition is the grilling that the debaters face first from a panel of expert judges, who question them on their arguments and challenge them to defend their research and thinking, and then from the audience. The judges will examine the students' ability to research a topic and respond to questioning when their ideas are put under intellectual pressure; with ultimately content ruling over style. This process allows the debaters to make an important contribution to public debates on contemporary and relevant topics. The judges also give the debaters feedback on their performance. 

Many eminent judges will engage with the students at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum coming from a plethora of professional backgrounds who are encouraged to take young people's opinions seriously. Judges on the day include: councillor for North Lanarkshire Council, David Fagan; MRC Senior Research Fellow, Donald J. Davidson; Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Glasgow, Jeanette Findlay; Learning Manager at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Chris Waddell; arts consultants, Chris Freemantle and Christine Hamilton; and education consultant, Susan Burr. 

Justine Brian, Director of The Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition, said in regards to the London North Regional Final: "It's a real privilege for us to be able to hold this Regional Final at the University of Bristol, as the debaters are taken out of their comfort zone by tackling these topics in one of the England's eminent Universities. The quality of debaters from the West & South Wales this year was again exceptionally high so I can’t wait to see how they handle the tough, but relevant, issues we have in store for them."

Chief Executive of Progress Champions of the competition UCAS, Mary Carnock Cook, said about Debating Matters: "This competition is great preparation for further academic study and for their professional lives".