MACKENZIE High School emerged victorious for the third consecutive year in the Ministry of Education’s 30th Annual JOF Haynes Inter- Secondary Schools Debating Competition which took place at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) on Tuesday.

The finals saw Mackenzie High School the proposing team battling against the Anna Regina Multilateral School under the moot: A Technical/ Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Programme in secondary schools will significantly enhance Guyana’s economic growth.
Speaking at the finals, Assistant Chief Education Officer, Ms. Doodmattie Singh  noted that the competition was initiated by JOF Haynes himself, an outstanding  scholar who was  a school teacher, before moving on to become one of Guyana’s brilliant and eminent lawyers.
She said that he started this competition in order to encourage the development of debating and research skills among secondary school students. She added that this competition is designed to involve as many students as possible.
According to her, during the Easter term (January to April 2012) there were debates at the class level in schools, and the best team from the school got the opportunity to represent the school at the regional competition.
She further stated that during the period April- July 2012, the regional competitions were held in each education district and the winning schools got the honour of representing their education districts at the national level.
The national competition was launched on September 28, 2012 and formed a part of the education month celebrations. This launch saw Bygeval Secondary proposing and losing to Queen’s College, at the Mahaicony Secondary School, Region Five (Mahaica/ Berbice) under the moot “Parents are solely responsible for their children’s behaviour.”
Ms. Singh noted that t Mackenzie High School and the Anna Regina Multilateral School have both come a far way to be in the finals, adding that both teams are well seasoned. The members of the Mackenzie High School team were: Felicia Seon, Manouska Vyfhuis and Trishanna Layne while the members of the Anna Regina Multilateral School were: Zimeena Rasheed, Twedale Marks and Tia Daman.
Tasked with opposing the moot, the main argument put forth by the opposition was that while they agree that TVET Programme contributes to Guyana’s economic growth; by itself it cannot improve Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 50% or more, but rather it would take a combination of factors to see a significant improvement in our economy.
The Anna Regina Multilateral team posited that “significantly” means a 50% or more increase in Guyana’s GDP. The opposition noted that while the TVET programme in secondary schools provides the opportunity for skills to be formed, there’s a question as to whether or not these skills are adequate enough to ensure that secondary school children would be employed. They also questioned if Guyana has the scope to employ all of these persons.
The opposition maintained strongly that the TVET programme in secondary schools will not significantly enhance Guyana’s the economic growth.
Meanwhile, members of the opposing and winning team posited that the TVET programme in secondary schools would significantly enhance Guyana’s economic growth. One of the arguments put forth was that the 2006 united Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO) and united nations Educational Vocational education (UNEVOC) report said that approximately 80% of all occupations worldwide require skilled labour. The team also posited that increased production and innovation is the key to economic growth.
The chief judge of the debate, Ms. Lurrine Meertius said that it was a most absorbing debate, in which both teams demonstrated the necessary skills in debating.  She noted that there was evidence of much research, their presentations were most convincing, and the debate was of high quality.
She revealed that Anna Regina multilateral school gained 779 points while the Mackenzie High School secured the winning spot with 797 points. The best speaker of the debate was deemed to be the first speaker of the opposition, Zimeena Rasheed.
All of the participants of the finals received trophies and vouchers to the value of $20,000, and each school received a plaque. Also, the winning school, Mackenzie High, received a desktop computer compliments of Metro Office supplies.