The English-Speaking Union of Malta's Debating Academy, held on 26 and 27 April at the ESU Malta's premises in Msida, has been won by a team from St Martin's College. The team, named 'The Martinis', was composed of Sondos Kablan, Alexia Cassar and Edward Attard Selvagi.

The 12 students who participated in the Debating Academy were all first-year Sixth Formers from St Edward's College and St Martin's.

The first day of the event comprised of interactive workshops, tutorials and trial debates. The participants had the opportunity to hone their skills in a Balloon Debate and a Parliamentary-Style Debate - which is the debating style chosen by the ESU to conduct its competitive debates.

Workshops were led by Pia Zammit, ESU Malta's Director of Education, and Philip Leone Ganado, an ESU Malta Board member.

The participants were trained how to rebut, how to raise questions in Points of Information and how to correctly format their arguments. The workshops were fun, interactive and frequently rowdy.

The final day saw the four teams compete head to head in a knock-out format until the winner was selected. Motions debating included: Migration, Democracy and Online Piracy.

Commenting on this year's edition, Ms Zammit said: "The students put their hearts and souls into the Debating Academy, bonding as a team, and learning quickly how to make the points that counted in their respective debates.

"The competition was tight but the Adjudicating Panel felt that The Martinis were worthy winners, so well done to the team for their excellent result and also to all participants for their effort."