Visa hurdles don’t stop young debaters from prepping for WSDC
View(s):By Mimi Alphonsus
Sri Lanka’s national debate team is due to head to Panama next week to participate in the 2025 World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) from July 22 to August 1. Sri Lanka has regularly done well at WSDC with teams making it to the quarter finals, semi finals and runners-up in the last five years.
But this year, for the very first time, the team comprising Akein Bandara, Dihen Uwdumalagala, Nimansa Jayasundera, Rudhesh Ram, Savith Wijesundara, and T. Tharaniharan as the reserve, may not make it to WSDC at all. Sri Lanka is one of 64 countries that is required to have a visa to enter Panama, but unfortunately so far, the visa has not been forthcoming. “A number of South Asian and African countries have faced a similar issue this time,” said Devin Hewage, Team Sri Lanka’s manager, “It has been very stressful.” The team is now looking at alternative visa pathways – including through Japan or South Korea with whom the government of Panama has visa sharing agreements – but this will add a significant financial burden.
Keeping the momentum going: Practice schedules are intense. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Nevertheless, the team has tried to keep their chins up. Selected in January, they have been practising for months. Practice schedules are intense with group practices, individual sessions, or mock debates scheduled for nearly every day of the week. Topics have a wide range and the team has found themselves researching monetary policy, diving into ocean bed regulations, and reading up on the intricacies of Vatican statehood.
As part of their preparations, the team participates in online international tournaments, and practice debates with other countries. They emerged semifinalists, quarter finalists and octo-finalists in three pre-WSDC tournaments and were the school champions at the Ateneo Pre United Asian Debate Championships.
The team has also organised practice rounds with England, India, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan. “We’ve managed to build strong relationships with other teams,” said Rudhesh. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to meet so many international teams.”
The practices take a lot of hard work and competition is intense, but they thrive on the adrenaline rush. Coaches, Kavindra Senaratne, Sharuka Wikramanayake and Sachin Tissera have been training the team for months and have high expectations. “We’ve unionised now,” joked Savith another team member, “we have more power to insist on breaks.”
The coaches, manager, and national team alumni have maintained a culture of “giving back” over a decade of Sri Lanka’s consistent participation at WSDC. Now in their twenties and thirties, this dedicated pool takes turns preparing future national teams, and indeed the debating circuit overall.
Meanwhile, debate continues to be a haven for free-thinking students around the country. “The debating circuit is a very accommodating space,” Rudhesh commented, “we have a diverse group of people in terms of personalities, identities and ways of thinking. It leads to a very accommodating culture.”
With international exposure and increased resources allocated, coach Kavindra hopes that access to debate can expand. “It is also really heartening to see the work done to increase access to debating in areas outside Colombo,” he said. “I hope this continues, because greater inclusion will only serve to strengthen the debating community.”
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