The Lope de Vega Theatre will host the first CICAE National Pre-University Debate League next weekend with more than 100 participants

On February 10th and 11th, the College will host the 1st National Pre-University Debate League, an event being held for the first time in the province and which will bring together more than 100 participating students from 11 schools From all over Spain, all of them members of the Association of Independent Schools CICAE. During those two days, a total of 20 teams will debate “for” or “against” a topic that is very topical in the wake of Brexit, the Catalan referendum or the peace agreement with the FARC:Should fundamental issues of a country be put to a referendum?

The 20 teams participating in this tournament will hold debates throughout the day on the 10th and the morning of the 11th. A total of 45 debates will take place, culminating in the final on Saturday at 12:30 PM, which will feature the teams that have advanced from all the qualifying rounds. The winning team will receive prizes sponsored by Energy System and will advance directly to the final, along with the other top-ranked teams. This final will be held at the Camilo José Cela University in Madrid next April, and two teams from Lope de Vega School have already qualified, having advanced from the previous semifinal held at the SEK Ciudad del Campo School in Madrid. On that occasion, the debate topic addressed "the refugee crisis and the response given by the European Union." The teams had to argue for and against this controversial and highly publicized issue.

The format of the 1st National Pre-University Debate League, organized by CICAE and the Camilo José Cela University, is in the English style, similar to that of the Oxford Unionwhere some young people met to debate current issues and argued with the intention of developing such highly valued skills.

In total, More than 350 students between the ages of 14 and 18, along with their teams, will participate and compete this year. with the goal of becoming national champions of the Pre-University Debate League.

This activity helps students develop communication and critical thinking skills, which are so necessary in our current society and are fostered at the school from an early age.

This is the third debate tournament in which our students have participated since its creation last year. Lope de Vega Debate and Public Speaking Club, which already has more than 60 students enrolled and whose first participations have been a complete success.