By Kirsty Russell

FIVE YOUNG Scottish debaters received the ultimate accolade after triumphing in the grand final of the World Schools Debating Championships.

The pupils, who were selected from across Scotland, beat Singapore in the final of the championships in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday morning.

The team, comprising Neil Dewar (Dundee High School) Netan Dogra (Grove Academy, Dundee) Joanna Farmer (Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen) Stuart Cullen and Calum Jones (both George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh), had a gruelling route to the final, having debated in eight preliminary rounds to determine their place in the knock-out stages, from where they proceeded to defeat the US, Hong Kong in the quarter-final and England in the semi-final.

Last night First Minister Alex Salmond said, “Congratulations to the Scottish Schools Debating Team on a fantastic victory. It shows that having a guid Scots tongue can lead to success on the world stage.

“It’s exciting to see young Scots raising the standard, and winning at the very highest level of international competition.

“Their talent is one of Scotland’s great strengths, and I hope that more young people will be inspired to make the most of their potential.”

The World Schools Debating Championships is the most prestigious debating tournament in the world for young people.

Each year up to 40 nations meet in a tournament that challenges both their abilities to research topics and to think on their feet.

The young Scots had to debate a diverse range of topics including holocaust denial, the extent to which governments should be able to limit scientific research, US military bases in Asia and, in the final, nuclear proliferation, with the motion that ‘This house would scrap the nuclear non- proliferation treaty’.

In the final, which was described by one of the co-chief adjudicators as “a great contest, and one of the best finals I’ve seen”, the Scots successfully defeated the motion, securing the win on “a close but clear decision”.

A Scottish team last reached the final in 2001, but the last Scottish win was recorded in 1999.

Neil said, “We did far better than we thought we would here—we’re absolutely delighted and we’ve had a brilliant time.”

The win is particularly notable for Grove pupil Netan Dogra, who earlier this year successfully debated in the House of Lords with Grove partner Kenny Nicoll, winning the International Mace in the House of Lords—a competition for the Scottish, English, Irish and Welsh national champions.

For Neil, Netan and Joanna, this win is a continuation of a debating career in which The Courier’s own Junior Schools Debating Competition has played a part.

Netan won the competition in 2004, Joanna reached the final in 2005, and Neil spoke in the competition in 2003.