Co-organisers Sponsors

About the Competition

Language and Critical Thinking in Action


Latest update

The 40th Sing Tao Inter-School Debating Competition of English Section has been starting from 9 Nov, 2024.
The Student Standard will publish on-going reports with highlights of the debates throughout the competitions.
Please click here to view the report.

Besides, all schools and the public are encouraged to suggest motions on or before 31 March 2025,
and may have a chance to win the Best Motion Award.

Click here to view the tournament list.



Introduction
Sing Tao Inter-School Debating Competition is co-organised by Sing Tao Daily, The Standard and the Education Bureau, sponsored by Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) . This annual competition aims to provide all round training to improve students' language, debating, analytical and organisational skills, as well as enhancing their interest in social affairs and developing their critical thinking. Since 1984, the competition has fostered and nurtured groups of talents in school debate. The competition has become a renowned academic event among Hong Kong secondary schools.

Over the years, we received an overwhelming response from over hundreds of local and international schools. More than 10,000 students and teachers participated in each year. The competition will be held from November 2024 to May 2025 divided into English and Chinese Sections with 216 teams (64 teams for English Section and 152 teams for Chinese Section.) This year the seeding team system will be adopted again. The eight finalists of last year’s English section and sixteen finalists of last year's Chinese section can enter the competition automatically if application is submitted before the application deadline.

To encourage more participation, 'Most Outstanding Debater Award', 'Most Improved School Award' and 'Best Motion Award' will be presented again. Adjudicators briefing section will be included at the Briefing Seminar to facilitate the teachers’ adjudication and coaching.

To encourage the instant analyzing and debating skills, the 'Interrogative Debating' section will continue to run from the Preliminaries to the Quarter-Final. A 'Best Interrogative Debater' award will be presented to the student with the best outstanding performance in this session. For the 'Interrogative Debating' section, please visit Interrogative Debating Session & Award . For other award details, please visit Awards & Prizes.