As the search for teachers in the restructured school system continues, Education Minister Jerome Dill and his shadow counterpart Jennifer Smith will join forces this week to hear whether students make the best teachers.

Whitney, whose students have taken part in the Debate Society's national competition, will host its first debating event, beginning today.

Eight teams of two students between the ages of 12 and 16 will debate the topic "This House believes that students make the best teachers''.

Whitney's coach Linda Parker yesterday told The Royal Gazette : "This is a lead up to get them familiar with the worlds.'' And while the students will not be representing Bermuda in the World Debate Championships to be held here next month, Mrs. Parker said Whitney's new assembly hall will be the site of one of the rounds of the world debates on February 3.

The school also hopes to hold its own debate annually.

"We've been doing debate as extra curricula over the past six years,'' Mrs.

Parker said. "We also won two out of our three (National Schools Debating Championship) debates at Stonginton in November. We beat Saltus and Warwick Secondary.'' She added that more students at the school were becoming interested in debating.

For example, Mrs. Parker said, all of the students participating in this week's debates had volunteered.

The students, who were coached by Mrs. Parker and assistants David Wilson and Cindy Jewel, will go through knockout rounds, beginning with the qualifying round today, semi-finals tomorrow and finals on Friday.

Deputy Premier Mr. Dill, Opposition Leader Ms Smith, and United Bermuda Party backbencher Tim Smith -- the former Youth Minister -- will judge the finals which are scheduled to begin at 1.05 p.m.

And when contacted yesterday, both Mr. Dill and Ms Smith -- who have judged national debates -- said they were looking forward to hearing the students.

"I've never judged Whitney students,'' Mr. Dill said. "But I'm looking forward to it.'' He noted that the level of debate in Bermuda was "really high''.

"I remember the Debating Society put on a debate at the Cathedral Hall when we had the team from Australia down here,'' Mr. Dill said. "That team was first class and yet that team was taken to the limits by local debaters.'' Concerning Bermuda hosting the world championships, Mr. Dill added: "It gives us the opportunity to put our best foot forward and to expose our young people to what's out there and to the standards they should be aspiring toward.

"Whenever you get the opportunity to expose Bermudians to outside standards, it is good because they know what is expected of them. And in some cases, such as local debaters, they do not have far to go.'' Ms Smith echoed similar sentiments.

"I'm very excited and enthusiastic about the increase of schools that have joined the Debate Society,'' she said. "It is a wonderful avenue for young people and allows them to debate both sides of a question.'' Such debating skills helped people to be more tolerant of others with differing opinions, she pointed out.

Ms Smith, who noted that she has supported high school debates since the late Victoria Cox of the Bermuda Junior Service League introduced it to Bermuda, said: "I have attended as much as I can since the beginning. And within the last year more of the public have become aware of debate.'' She pointed to the level of interest in the debate at the Progressive Labour Party's recent tribute ceremony to former leader Frederick Wade and American civil rights leader the later Dr. Martin Luther King.

"The more the public becomes aware of the debate, the more people are opening up to it,'' she noted.

Ms Smith said she was looking forward to seeing how local students fared in the world championships this year.

"We have talent here which is world class,'' she added. "I'm looking for the national debate team to inspire other young people to get involved in debating.'' Ms Smith also credited the Bermuda Junior Service League for introducing high school debates and the Debate Society, particularly veteran judge Elizabeth Virgo, for "carrying the ball''.

And she praised teachers and others for their support of local debate.

Bermuda-based reinsurance firm Johnson & Higgins, which is sponsoring the Whitney debates, will donate prizes to the winners of the competition on Friday afternoon.