Oratorio: ‘There are students who deserve to be in the final’

A few days ago, 15 finalists were chosen for the 2023 National Oratorical Competition, an event that caused discontent in some provinces.

Province of Columbus showed his displeasure because there is no representative for this competition. In addition, other provinces and Internet users are also uncomfortable with this election.

Colón will not have a representative this year, due to the new system used to select the participants of the competition.

Students from the regions with the best results will participate in the new format, which allows more students from the same province to participate.

According to Dionisio Góndola, the coach a large number of students from Columbus, who have achieved success in this competition, this system is exclusive.

Panama America consulted Edgar Aderet, the general coordinator of the National Public Speaking Competition, who explained the selection process that has changed since 2019.

“From 2019, (the competition) is under a new platform where we are looking for the best speakers in the country, regardless of which province or region they are in,” Alderete said.

Students “come from the internal, spend it in their school, then go through the regional and from that regional – and that’s more than 400 students – we’re looking for the 50 best according to the weight of the number of schools that each region enrolls in education”, he explains.

“This ratification of the new weighing process is supported Meduca, More mobile and Štedionica“, in charge of the competition.

“Those 50 students come to Panama for the national selection, where we choose 15 independent speakers which school is it from, educational regions, because now they are divided into 16 educational regions, they are no longer by provinces… The competition retains 16 educational regions…”, he adds.

He emphasizes: “We know that in Panama we are very regional and everyone wants to see, as in previous years, their province in the competition, but we are not by province, we are by educational region.”

The coordinator repeats yes The competition started to change from 2019. “What we want is to look for the talent and intellect of the best speakers in the country, everyone competes equally, here no one discriminates against anyone, it is an inclusive project, because everyone participates equally, the student who reached the national pre-selection is considered here the best of the best, because imagine that in the competition we can’t have students who really don’t measure up, there are many students in Panama who really deserve to be in the finals of the competition.”

“If we go to one per province, you know how many students stay other provinces that also have he has that intellect, capacity and talent, that leadership, and that is what is required. Oratory is not just because he comes from the province, but requires the ability to be able to generate a discussion on a topic that suits him”, he points out.

“Many students did not answer the questions. they did a spontaneous performance and improvisation, and those who do not answer or grasp the question do not deserve to be in the grand final, because the intellect and critical thinking of each student is required, according to the research and according to what he studied.…pBut if he doesn’t fit in the answer, we can’t choose a student who doesn’t really deserve to be in the final.”

On the other hand, rumors circulated that the majority finalist schools are private, Alderete points out: “we don’t choose because it’s private, the best are chosen here, wherever they come from.”

“We understand that the tender In previous years, there was one per province, but they remained very good students, since it was one per province, now they have more opportunities to participate and more opportunities for education regions per province to also get involved…” echoes Alderete.