The Caribbean’s most prominent student debate competition is set to reach its dramatic climax this week, as two elite teams from Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica prepare to battle for the top title at the 2026 International Reparation Debate Competition. Organized by The University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Centre for Reparation Research, the grand final is scheduled to kick off at 10:00 AM local time on Wednesday, April 22, hosted at UWI’s Regional Headquarters based in Jamaica.
After weeks of grueling preliminary rounds that have whittled down a field of talented debaters from across the region, the final showdown will pit Our Lady of Fatima College, representing Trinidad & Tobago, against Jamaica’s own Clarendon College. This matchup carries extra narrative weight beyond the competition itself: the Trinidadian side is seeking to defend its championship title and secure back-to-back victories, while Clarendon College enters the final with a point to prove, hungry to upgrade its 2025 second-place finish with a win on home soil.
Since the competition launched its 2026 iteration on February 9, the event has steadily grown in visibility and traction across Caribbean educational circles. Designed specifically to give secondary school students a structured platform to dive into the complex, urgent conversations surrounding reparatory justice for historical harms, the competition does more than just crown a winning debating team.
For every participant, the competition has served as a hands-on development opportunity: students have sharpened their evidence-based research skills, refined their ability to think critically under pressure, and polished their public speaking techniques, all while engaging with layered historical and contemporary social issues that shape modern Caribbean life. It is this educational mission that organizers say sets the competition apart from standard inter-school debate tournaments.
Adding further prestige to this year’s final, veteran award-winning Jamaican journalist Dionne Jackson Miller will take on hosting duties for the deciding round. Her decades of experience covering regional social and political issues are expected to add both depth and dynamic energy to the event, guiding audiences through the teams’ arguments and contextualizing the stakes of the debate topic.
Organizers emphasize that the final is far more than just a competition to claim a trophy. For the young people involved, it is a rare chance to lead one of the Caribbean’s most pressing and ongoing public discussions, bringing fresh perspectives to a topic that carries profound social and historical significance for the entire region.
For audiences unable to attend the event in person, UWI will broadcast the entire grand final live via UWItv, accessible through both the network’s official website and its Facebook page. This open streaming access means debate fans, students, and anyone interested in reparatory justice can follow the contest in real time from anywhere across the Caribbean and across the globe.