Winners compete for big prizes in national schools debates

	The winning team from Crawford College in Pretoria with their educator, Mrs Reddy and Dr Beverley Damonse, Group Executive: Science Advancement of the National Research Foundation (NRF). Back row, from left: Zola Shokani, Dr Damonse, Thato Nyenbe and Kirra Evans. Front row: Boitumelo Senoamadi, Mrs Reddy (educator) and Kiara Soobrayan.

The third round of the SAASTA National Schools Debates Competition ended in fantastic style on Saturday, 4 August 2012 at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria.

Nine provincial teams battled it out over who would be named the national champions and win the grand prize of a four-day trip to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Ultimately it was the team from Crawford College in Pretoria who out-debated the others in the nanotechnology and space science topics. St Mary's DSG from KwaZulu-Natal was the runner up, with Northern Cape High School in third place.

Munamato Mabhegedhe, an adjudicator for the provincial competitions who attended the Finals had this to say, "It was an awesome experience to see high school learners debating about science issues at the highest level!"

By Melissa Govender, SAASTA