Hugh Wooding students win debate competition

A team of second-year students from the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) debated their way to victory at the finals of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) of TT’s national debate competition. The finals were held at the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business on November 15. The students successfully argued for the motion that crypto assets are self-regulating and therefore do not require formal regulation against.

Seven teams from TT competed in a rigorous debate format which began on October 18. Each team had an opportunity for rebuttals and to question their opposition in a crossfire. All stages of the competition were timed. The HWLS team, in their first participation in this competition won their preliminary and semi-final round to qualify for the finals.

HWLS students Chevy Devonish from Guyana and Kyla Blackman from Trinidad led the debates while Fanella Francis also of Guyana was the team researcher. The victorious team was coached by Roger Ramgoolam, a course director at Hugh Wooding. Ramgoolam congratulated the team for their intensive preparation and said the victory was hard won. “The Hugh Wooding Law School is very proud of the sterling effort by Chevy, Fanella and Kyla. The competition was professionally organised. Teams were highly motivated and very competitive. We invested time and effort in research and we won because we were able to adapt in a high pressure and dynamic environment.”

The winners received several prizes from the SEC, including a challenge trophy to be returned to next year’s competition, a replica to be retained by their school, individual medals and $5,000 each to be invested in the Stock Exchange for a year.

The HWLS is located in St Augustine, Trinidad. Established in 1973, its graduates have gone on to hold leadership positions in law and government throughout the Caribbean. For more information visit www.hwls.edu.tt