Corinaldi Avenue and George Headley will contest the final of the Western Union Primary Schools Debating Competition this Tuesday.

It will be a battle of the two cities when Kingston-based George Headley Primary takes on Montego Bay-based Corinaldi Avenue Primary in the final of the Western Union Primary Schools Debate Competition.

They will be debating the moot: ‘Be it resolved that Jamaica is the best place in the Caribbean to live, work, raise families and do business,” in the match which will be aired on local television this Tuesday, June 13, on at 6:00 pm.

Along with the title of Western Union Primary Schools Debating champion, the winners will receive cash and trophies.

The finalists were chosen after two spellbinding semi-final encounters where the teams presented arguments for and against the moot, “Be it resolved that Jamaica’s crime problem is the result of poor parenting.”

In the first semi-final match against Ascot Primary, the George Headley team of Kaytanna Edwards, Kamian Leslie, and Nakita Gordon successfully defended the moot.

Edwards, George Headley’s strong first speaker said “children at a young age are like computers: garbage in, garbage out”, and that it is the parents’ job to ensure that children are properly guided.

The second semi-final between Corinaldi Avenue Primary and the Manchester-based McIntosh Memorial Primary was another keenly contested encounter. The young debate team of Kimberly Simms, Honessa Clayton, and Kory Chisholm defended the moot, arguing that parents were not doing their jobs properly and Jamaica was paying the price with a high crime rate.

“McIntosh was a really awesome team, but we are glad that we were able to win and now we are through to the finals where we will do our best,” said Simms, Corinaldi Avenue’s head girl and first speaker.

The other schools that participated in the competition were Naggo Head Primary, Clan Carthy Primary, Bridgeport Primary, St Richards Primary, Greater Portmore Primary, Windward Road Primary, Mandeville Primary, Johns Rollins Success Primary, May Pen Primary, Catherine Hall Primary, Green Pond Primary and Watsonton Primary.

The debate competition is one of the components of the Western Union I-PLEDGE (I Promise to Lend Encouragement to Develop Growth in Education) initiative, which seeks to promote and enhance literacy skills in the primary education system. The other activities are a reading week and an essay competition.