Christopher Erskine

Christopher "Chris" Erskine is the founder of the World Schools Debating Championships and the Chairperson of the World Schools Debating Council Executive Committee. He is also a former President of the Australian Debating Federation and the Australian Capital Territory Debating Union.

In 1998, Erskine was the Australian Debating Federation president, where others sought his opinion on important debates. For example, in response to the September 1998 debate between Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, Erskine replied to the Australian Associated Press in a detailed interview that the debate produced no clear winner, but "the debate could have restored people's trust in politicians and faith in the political process."

Erskine founded the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) in 1988, the year of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations. Members of the Australian Debating Federation were aware that the World Universities Debating Championship was to be hosted by the University of Sydney in January that year, but no similar event for high school students existed at the time. However the rapid growth of the university championships since its founding in 1981 showed the potential for international debating competitions. Erskine thus took on the task of organising the first world schools championships, and has since stayed actively involved in the competition, which has been held annually in different locations around the world since 1990, growing from a tournament involving six countries in 1988 to over 30 nations in recent years. Erskine has organised the championships in Australia twice (in 1988 and 1996), coached the Australian team at the championships until 1992, played a key role in drafting the rules and adjudication guidelines for the championships, and served as Chairperson of the championship appeals committee and the World Schools Debating Council Executive.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu