SI News Admin
Regardless of lack of support and platforms, students attending in Liberia find it exciting to seize the opportunity and form part of academic extracurricular curriculum programs home and abroad, and their performances confirm that Liberia has a bright future. And one of the most common practiced academic extracurricular activities in Liberia is academic debate that introduces participants to public speaking, research, self confidence, critical thinking, and etc. Academic debate competitions have brought competition among schools with every institution battling for supremacy. Among institutions of higher learning, the Light Debate Team of the United Methodist University has shown to be a side to reckon with over the last five years with nearly ten local debate championship titles in her cabinet, and international representations of Liberia at the PAN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIP (PAUDC) held in Botswana 2021 and the Kumasi Debate Open Championship in Ghana in June 2022.
Following an impressive performance in Ghana, the United Methodist University debate team has received two separate invitations to represent Liberia at the PAN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIP in Nairobi, Kenya – expected to run from 8th December to 15th December, 2022 and the famous WORLD UNIVERSITIES DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIP in Madrid, Spain. But resources mobilization could possibly hamper Liberia’s participation, as the team is yet raise funds needed to ensure presence at both gatherings. The team Lead Presenter and Captain, Clifton Glee revealed that the team needs PAUDC $8,350.00 to go to Kenya, and $15,440.00 for the trip to Madrid, Spain.
Nearly twenty (20) years since the end of the brutal unrest in Liberia that saw the collapsed of nearly every sector including education, we are yet to witness full recovery of any major sector— key among them is the educational sector which contributes hugely to nation building and development; as no nation builds beyond the thinking of its people. Stakeholders within the sector considered several factors responsible for the snail pace response in many reforms aimed at shifting our educational system from “mess” to best. And one of the reasons is said to be less attention given to extra-curricula activities as it is a means of reinforcing lessons learned in the classroom and giving students opportunity to their academic skills in a real world context.
And to break the barrier and connect with the rest of the world, few youths and students have considered to rigorously and intentionally engage academic extracurricular activities over the last decade. This reform has since saw the emergence of some of the country’s best sport players, leaders, public speakers, writers, and et cetera. However, lack of support to academic extracurricular and students participation programs remains a major problem that is believed to be hindering the growth of several young people in Liberia as there exists just few or no platforms.
