Saudi girls conquer Inter-College Public Speaking Competition

This is the first time that the trophy is leaving the shores of the UAE since the competition turned regional in 2006, dominated ever since by UAE institutions. This is not the case this year as participation from colleges and universities from GCC states not only increased, their teams likewise came well prepared.

It was the first time a women's university in Saudi Arabia, opened its doors to the female students to go out of their country to compete in a regional event with students of other universities and colleges of the region. These girls, who came with great confidence, gave an excellent performance and took the other universities by surprise. They not only won the rolling trophy but scored the highest total in the history of this event. Moreover, the first and second runners- up were also students from institutions from GCC countries.

The close competition this year added value to the credibility and prestige of the event as truly a regional one. Within a span of three years, the event became more competitive, as students use stronger scientific basis, present sharper environmental insights, speak fluently in their chosen language of presentation and display pride in representing their respective colleges.

The event was successfully held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Chancellor of the UAE University and the Higher Colleges of Technologies. This patronage has won the confidence of academic institutions from the UAE and GCC countries to be part of this competition year after year.

The 2008 ICPSC had many firsts. This was the first time that a contestant who presented in Arabic won as runner up in one of the categories. This was also the first time that a tie was declared for the winners of a topic.

The event for the first time broke the trend of participation with the ratio of female speakers surpassing male contestants 3:2. This year 20 government colleges from UAE competed on an equal footing with the private colleges and the other universities from the region for the very first time.

Al Safi Club for Friends of the Environment and Union Properties, who has come on board for the first time this year, have partnered with EEG in this event to raise environmental awareness across the academic sector.

Over 50 teams composed of over 300 students joined this year's competition, the biggest ever in its 8 year history. There were more than 400 people at the venue setting a new record for this event.

The competition ran for two days. The first day saw contestants presenting on 'Our Seas - Our Future' and giving their views of 'Our World in a Hundred Years'. The second day the competition centered on 'Clean Energy - 21st Century Trend' and 'Living in a Plastic World'. The selection of topics was the product of research and extensive consultation done by EEG to highlight burning issues related to the environment.

This eco-contest was judged by a panel of distinguished experts and leaders in environmental and related fields from the public and private sectors from the region. The bi-lingual jury comprised of Dr. Mustafa Al Sayed, Bahrain, Dr. Abdullah Naseer, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Radhiya Al Hashimi, Dr. Abubakr Al Saggaf, Dr Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Noaimi and Mr Khaled Jama'n Al Sokhny from UAE.

The judges were especially impressed by the talents of the young students and the attending directors, deans, teachers and students were left visibly proud of their contestants.

All teams were presented certificates of appreciation. Customized engraved crystals were presented to the judges; trophies were awarded to the four topic winners and certificates to the runners up. The overall winner bagged the beautifully designed Rolling Trophy, which they will retain for a year. If any institution manages to bag the rolling trophy for three years, then it is presented to that institution as a permanent acquisition. Till date no institution has been two times lucky which speaks of the fact that the competition is getting bigger and better.

Congratulating the participating students for their superb performance and confident attitude, the EEG Chairperson once again lauded the dedication and efforts of all that contributed to the successful conclusion of the eighth cycle of the inter college public speaking competition.