Grand Finale of Public Sector Debate Competition on July 10

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining (MOAFM) will compete in the final of the 2025 Public Sector Debate Competition.

Organised by the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU) in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, this year’s staging brought together 26 teams, with 19 returning entrants and seven first-timers.

Executive Director of TIU, Maria Thompson Walters, told JIS News that the goal of the competition is to bring minds from across the public sector together to discuss important topics.

“More importantly, I think it stimulates thoughts about different areas of the public sector. The debate regarding pensions is a very good example. There are some proposals that came out of that debate that are food for thought. So, it does stimulate discussion in the public sector, and it also can help in terms of how we are shaping the transformation of our public sector,” she said.

Captain for the MOT Team, Matthew Blake, told JIS News that advancing to the finals feels like a deserved reward for their showing throughout the competition as first-time entrants.

“It feels like our hard work that we’ve put in over the last couple of months has borne fruit and it’s our first time entering the competition, so it feels like a good reward for our effort. We played teams like teaching service that were in third place last year [and] Ministry of Justice who are the defending champions. So, I think that prepared us [and] we became more confident,” Mr. Blake said.

He further shared his excitement about the final match.

“I’m looking forward to facing the Ministry of Agriculture. They are a team that has experience. They would have entered the competition before and they have done well [so] it will be a good match-up and I’m excited to really put our best foot forward and to see what the result is,” he said.

Meanwhile, Captain for the MOAFM, Andrae Bogle, pointed out that the competition this year has been interesting, with moots across different subject areas.

“The moots cut across so many relevant areas, but the biggest thing is having all of us working together. It’s one of the most amazing parts of this experience so far. The whole competition puts you in that position to really work with your coworkers in a manner that you probably never would have before and you can see that sense of camaraderie around working towards a common goal [that] is genuinely beneficial to the public sector and to your very own ministry,” he said.

Mr. Bogle adds that preparations are under way for the finals.

“We would have started from the moment we got the moot. We have been meeting every day,” Mr. Bogle said.

The grand finals between MOT and MOAF will be held on Thursday, July 10 at 11:30 a.m. with the teams debating the moot “Be it resolved that addressing mental health challenges requires societal reform more than individual treatment”.

Ahead of the final match, the National Irrigation Commission will face the Judiciary of Jamaica in the third-place playoffs at 10:30 a.m. to debate the moot “Be it resolved that Jamaica has a moral duty to do more than its treaty obligations in addressing the Haitian migrant crisis”.

Both matches will be streamed live on the TIU YouTube channel.

Teams will be vying for a share of almost $5 million in cash and prizes.