NUDC 2014: Biggest National Round to Take Place on Batam Island

Universitas Batam will host the final battles of the 2014 National Universities Debating Championship from August 19 to 24. This will be the biggest ever NUDC following the expansion from 96 teams to 112. This is due to the new education ministry policy that created two new regional offices, increasing the number to 14 from 12. Sticking to its geographical representation principles, the ministry still allows each regional office to send 8 teams each, regardless of skill level.

So, the expansion means a hike in quantity, not quality. The regional offices that were broken into smaller units all were among those that had the worst performing teams. There will be 8 teams from the remote West Papua/Papua region alone after they no longer need to compete with universities in Maluku. The same thing goes to Aceh province, which will have 8 teams, although it had difficulty to qualify more than one when it was still part of the northern Sumatra regional division. There will be a lot more teams with insufficient understanding about what a good competitive debate should be like. This will give extra pressure to adjudicators in reviewing debates with low clarity.  

While many of the participating teams are new, the main adjudication panel is not. Last year's chief adjudicator Boby Andika Ruitang from Universitas Indonesia returns to lead the judges along with three deputies who come from the three most successful state universities in debating. They are UI's Egalita Irfan, the best speaker of the 2012 Indonesia Varsities English Debate, Erwina Salsabila, the EFL champion of United Asian Debating Championship 2014 from Universitas Gadjah Mada, and Alris Alfharisi, the EFL Champion of UADC 2013 from Institut Teknologi Bandung. They will face the tough challenge to decide motions that can be understood and give added value to a pool of debaters who mainly may have limited insight into the most contemporary topics. They will also need to make sure all teams, including total greenhorns, get fair adjudication for their efforts.

The teams are as follows (alphabetical within their regions):

Region I (North Sumatra)
Akademi Sekretari Manajemen Cendana, Politeknik Ganesha, STBA Persahabtan Internasional Asia, STIE IT&B, STMIK Mikroskil, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara, Universitas Muhammadiyah Tapanuli Selatan, Universitas Sumatera Utara,   

Region II (South Sumatra, Lampung, Bengkulu, Bangka Belitung)
Politeknik Sriwijaya, STBA Teknokrat, STIE Musi Palembang, STKIP Muhammadiyah Pringsewu, Universitas Bengkulu, Universitas Bina Darma, Universitas Lampung, Universitas Sriwijaya,  

Region III (Greater Jakarta, Banten)
Institut Pertanian Bogor, Sekolah Tinggi Parawisata Trisakti, Universitas Bakrie, Universitas Bina Nusantara, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Kristen Indonesia, Universitas Paramadina, Universitas Pelita Harapan

Region IV (West Java)
Politeknik Negeri Bandung, Institut Teknologi Bandung, STKIP Siliwangi, Universitas Komputer Indonesia, Universitas Padjadjaran,  Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Universitas Telkom, Universitas Wiralodra 

Region V (Yogyakarta)
STBA LIA Yogyakarta, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Universitas Sanata Dharma

Region VI (Central Java)
Universitas Dian Nuswantoro, Universitas Diponegoro, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Universitas Katolik Soegijapranata, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Universitas Negeri Sebelas Maret, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Universitas PGRI Semarang 

Region VII (East Java)
Politeknik Negeri Malang, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Jember, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya, Universitas Negeri Malang, Universitas Surabaya 

Region VIII (Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara)
Politeknik Negeri Bali, STIBA Saraswati, STIKES Bali, Universitas Mahasaraswati, Universitas Mataram, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, Universitas Udayana, Universitas Warmadewa

Region IX (Sulawesi)
Politeknik Negeri Ujung Pandang, Universitas Hasanuddin, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, Universitas Muhammadiyah Pare-Pare, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, Universitas Negeri Makassar,  Universitas Sam Ratulangi

Region X (West Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, Riau Islands)
Politeknik Negeri Batam, Politeknik Negeri Bengkalis, Universitas Andalas, Universitas Batam, Universitas Jambi, Universitas Mahaputra Muhammad Yamin, Universitas Negeri Padang, Universitas Riau

Region XI (Kalimantan)
IKIP PGRI Pontianak, Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin, STKIP PGRI Banjarmasin, Universitas Balikpapan, Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, Universitas Mulawarman, Universitas Palangka Raya, Universitas Tanjungpura 

Region XII (Maluku, North Maluku)
STIKES Maluku Husada, STIKOM Ambon, STKIP Kie Raha Ternate, Universitas Iqra Buru, Universitas Khairun, Universitas Kristen Indonesia Maluku, Universitas Muhammadiyah Ternate, Universitas Pattimura

Region XIII (Aceh)
STKIP Bina Bangsa, STKIP Muhammadiyah Aceh Barat Daya, Universitas Abulyatama, Universitas Al Muslim, Universitas Jabal Ghafur, Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Universitas Ubudiyah

Region XIV (West Papua, Papua)
STKIP Muhammadiyah Sorong, Universitas Cenderawasih, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sorong, Universitas Musamus Merauke, Universitas Negeri Papua, Universitas Sains dan Teknologi Jayapura, Universitas Victory Sorong, Universitas Yapis Papua,  

The top teams in NUDC have always come from the same places. For the last three years, the title has been held by Jakarta-based Binus University. Non-Java teams have never reached the semifinal of NUDC. However, powerhouses are constrained by the regulation that a school can only send one team to NUDC. The fact is schools that have the chance to win still come from a very small circle, all of them are Java-based. Hence, for the top teams, real competition only starts at the top 16 stage.

The reality is still harsh for non-Java teams. Without better training and sustainable support for non-Java debaters, this divide has little likelihood to change. Simply sending debaters to competitions is not enough for non-Java institutions. The things good debaters do before a competition  -practicing, case-building, reading materials, watching debate videos- need to be done consistently by the non-Java debaters if they want to catch up. This does not mean a debater who comes from a remote place in Indonesia cannot excel on the national stage. In this year's NUDC, one of the debaters who have the chance to emerge as best speaker actually went to a high school in East Nusa Tenggara, one of the poorest provinces in the country. UI's Dennys Kapa is now part of the elite class of Indonesian debaters because he trained hard for years and had a supporting environment in his current university.