Tharka : Debating extravaganza

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Tharka 2011 the all-island trilingual debating tournament is organized by the debating society of Royal College. Over 6,500 schools from all over the island will be given the opportunity to participate.

This is no doubt a gigantic task but the debating society of Royal College feel equal to the task.

An orientation program will be held on January 29. Debates in Sinhala, English and Tamil will be held on February 12 and 13. The grand final and the prestigious award ceremony will be held on February 14.

Royal College have 175 years of rich history serving the nation and the world in many ways. Royalists have done many innovative things. Tharka debating tournament is another innovative project. This year is themed on the tourism industry in order to give the debaters a comprehensive knowledge of the tourism industry of Sri Lanka.

"The children of 6500 schools have been invited. A very big number. There are only less than 10,000 schools in the country. Inviting 6,500 schools in a country is not a simple task. If all of them come it would be a gigantic task. But we know that all the schools are not participating. But still there will be a lot of schools participating in this event which is conducted in all three languages- Sinhala, English and Tamil," said Royal College Principal Upali Gunasekara.

"Just imagine finding judges for a tournament like this. Just imagine providing accommodation for boys and girls who come from very faraway schools in the country," stated Gunasekara.

"In the 175 years of Royal College, we are proud to say that the debators' council has been in existence and served our school for 75 of those glorious years. Tharka had humble beginnings, but with hard work and dedication, our fellow brothers who organized Tharka in the past have made it the most prestigious debating tournament in the island," said English Section Head Hemaka Perera. Tharka which was inaugurated in 2003 had a mere eight schools participating in the tournament at that time. After a lapse of two years Tharka has made a comeback with a budget of over Rs 2.1 million.

This event is organized with the support of the Education Ministry and the Economic Development Authority with the primary sponsor being the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.