PAU wins debate title

By Kevin Pamba, The National

THE inaugural national youth debate on HIV yesterday involving students from the six national universities turned out to be an excellent exhibition of intellect there is at the campuses.
Pacific Adventist University defeated Divine Word University in the final to take out the inaugural prime minister’s Lahara scholarship price.
The scholarship will allow the wining team to spend their end of year working vacation with the National AIDS Council secretariat.
The debate, hosted by DWU, was dubbed as the first-ever intellectual discourse of its kind among students from the University of PNG, PNG University of Technology, University of Goroka, University of National Resources and Environment, Pacific Adventist University and DWU.
The exceptional delivery of some of the speakers in a packed auditorium of students from the host campus and other educational institutions in Madang and invited dignitaries had observers feeling assured in the intellectuals that were being moulded at the PNG universities.
For the older ones in the audience, the debate brought back memories of those great intellectual exchanges among the bright minds at the UPNG and Unitech campuses during the formative years of the nation in the 1970s and 1980s.
Dignitaries who attended felt satisfied and commended the initiative of the National AIDS Council (NAC) chairman Sir Peter Barter and called for more intellectual discussions among students and youth to advise future policies.
The dignitaries included Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane and his wife Lady Kaludia, Minister for Community Development Dame Carol Kidu, Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet, National Youth Commissioner Johnson Hebe, acting secretary for Health Paison Dakulala and David MacLauchlan, the UN country representative.
Sir Peter said the debate was a deliberate effort to include the future leaders to take ownership of issues affecting their country and be involved in decision-making and policy formulation.
Sir Peter declared that yesterday’s debate was the first of many that would follow every year and thanked all the sponsors for supporting it.
Director of the National AIDS Council secretariat Wep Kanawi said the five-year national HIV /AIDS strategy was on hold to include suggestions that come out of the debate.