2017 National Schools Debates

SJ Van Der Merwe Secondary School : 2017 national debates competition winners

National Schools Debates Competition 2017

The SAASTA National Schools Debates competition took place on the 6 October 2017 at the National Research Foundation Auditorium. The auditorium was filled with so much excitement as 9 teams of young hopefuls took to stage to present their arguments on the investment of nanomedicine in South Africa.  On the day the panel of adjudicators, including nanoscientists and debating experts, judged the Limpopo provincial champions, the team from SJ Van Der Merwe Technical High School, to be the most well-rounded debaters, presenting well-balanced content and persuasive arguments, and they were awarded the title of the 2017 SAASTA National Schools Debates champions.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is awarding the team and their educator an all-expenses paid science tour to the East Coast of the USA. The tour will include, amongst others, a site visit to the Greenbank Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia; guided tours of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre and Smithsonian Museums, including the Air and Space Museum, in Washington, DC; and an internship at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

SAASTA congratulates the winning teams:

PROVINCE	SCHOOL	POSITION
Limpopo	SJ Van Der Merwe Secondary School	National winners
KwaZulu Natal	Port Shepstone High School	Second place
Norther Cape	Kimberley Girls High School	Third place

Provincial winners:

PROVINCE	SCHOOL
Mpumalanga	Mashishing High School
Western Cape	Protea Heights High School
Free State	Iketsetseng Comprehensive Secondary School
North West	Potchefstroom High School for Girls
Eastern Cape	Ntabenkonyane High School
Gauteng	Rand Tutorial College