At the beginning of the year, the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) sent out a call to interested schools across the country to participate in the 2015 Schools Debates Competition. Due to the popularity of the competition, SAASTA requested schools to write and submit an essay on a given topic. Content specialists in the field of hydrogen fuel cell technology at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research adjudicated the essays and the top 10 performing schools per province were chosen to compete in the 2015 competition.
Essay Topic
Do you think hydrogen fuel can be a competitive alternative to other traditional fuels?
Schools that produced the best essay per province were awarded a cash prize of R6,000.00 to be used to purchase lab equipment, books or anything that will benefit the school.
SAASTA would like to congratulate the following schools for producing the best essays:
| Province | Name of School | Percentage |
| Gauteng | Crawford College Pretoria | 78 |
| Free State | Welkom High School | 69 |
| Limpopo | Sefoloko Secondary School | 76 |
| Eastern Cape | Umtata High School | 75 |
| Northern Cape | Kimberley Girls High School | 62 |
| Mpumalanga | Sidlamafa Secondary School | 76 |
| Mpumalanga | Khalipani Secondary School | 76 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | Verulam Secondary School | 69 |
| Western Cape | The Settlers High School | 75 |
| North West | Milner High | 63 |
Provincial workshops and tournaments
On 18 April 2015 SAASTA in partnership with Word Wise Media conducted workshops across the country with all the schools that were selected to compete in the competition. The aim of the workshops was to familiarise the learners, coaches and teachers with the debating style as well as to introduce the topic that was debated at provincial tournaments.
The provincial tournaments were held in May 2015. The teams debated fiercely in competition for an opportunity to be crowned as provincial winners so they could represent their respective provinces at the National Competition. Perhaps one of the most common phrases most speakers at the provincial tournaments made reference to when they took the stand to deliver their speeches was “load shedding”. This year’s topic was focused on the electricity crisis that South Africa faces.
Provincial Topic
South Africa is currently facing a large bottleneck in the supply of energy to its citizens. Can biotechnology add value to the required energy mix in order to ensure viable provision of electricity in the country?
The provincial winners are as follows:
| Province | Winners | 2nd Runner Up | Runner Up |
| Gauteng | Randfontein High School | Crawford College Pretoria | John Orr High School |
| Free State | St Michaels School For Girls | Welkom High School | Voortrekker Hoerskool |
| Limpopo | Taxila Sec School | Thengwe Sec School | Merensky High School |
| Eastern Cape | Claredon High School | Khanyisa High School | Hudson Park High School |
| Northern Cape | Kimberley Girl High School | Kimberley Boys High School | EmangMmogo High School |
| Mpumalanga | Mashishing Sec School | Lowveld High School | Highveld High School |
| KwaZulu-Natal | Wingen Heights Sec School | Port Shepstone High School | Empangeni High School |
| Western Cape | De Kuilen High School | The Settlers High School | Worcestor Gynasium |
| North West | Lebone High School | Hartbeespoort High School | Potchefstroom Girls High |
Congratulations to all provincial winners and all the best in the national competition. May the best team win. SAASTA also wants to take this opportunity to commend the educators for their exceptional work in opening the minds of today’s youth to the wonderful world of science. And finally, thank you to all the adjudicators who took time out of their busy schedules to participate in the provincial competitions. Without content specialists such as the adjudicators who are willing to give off their time, SAASTA events like these would not be possible.
National competition and resource
The topic for the national competition will be announced soon. All are advised to be on the lookout for the topic and additional resources.
The 2015 Schools Debate National Competition will take place on the 8 October 2015 in Sandton, Gauteng. For more information on the competition or if you would like to attend the final, please contact Lithakazi Lande, tel: 012 392 9352 or email lithakazi@saasta.ac.za.
