Constitution of NPEO

The Constitution of the National Polytechnic English Olympics (NPEO)

Article 1  

1. The NPEO Council is hereby established.  

Article 2  

1. There shall be a competition, which for the purposes of this constitution shall be named the NPEO. A round of the Competition shall be held once during each and every calendar year.
2. The competition covers debating competition named National Polytechnic English Debating Competition (NPEDC) and National Polytechnic Speech Competition (NPSC).
3. The NPSC consists of public speaking contest, newscasting, and dramatic speech as set out in the rules attached to this constitution.  

Article 3  

1. The purpose of the Competition shall be the promotion of debate and skills of public speaking, the free exchange of ideas and national contact and co-operation.
2. It should be noted that anything said by any participants during a competition round does not necessarily represent the participant's personal beliefs, those of his/her polytechnic or those of his/her region.

Article 4

The functions of the Council shall be as follows:

1. To amend the NPEO standing rules.
2. To decide appropriate sanctions against participants who break any of constitution or the standing rules of the NPEO in coordination with Bakorma.
3. To perform the consultative function to the host committee.

Article 5

The council consists of the following members:

1. The Board of Council.
2. The Chairperson of the Executive Organizing Committee.
3. Delegates, who shall be appointed in accordance with Article 6. 

Article 6  

1. Every participating Polytechnic shall be entitled to send a delegate to the meeting of the Council convened during the competition.
2. Every delegate shall provide the Chair of the Committee with notice of his/her appointment, a home telephone number and address, and an alternative contact number and address if home details do not relate to permanent residence.
3. A delegate may resign from only by appointing his/her successor in writing.  

Article 7  

1. Any member of the Council may appoint a deputy to attend meetings, speak, vote, and otherwise act, on his/her behalf.  

Article 8

The duties of the Chair Executive Organizing Committee include:

1. Ensuring that the Competition is properly organized;
2. Convening the meeting of the Council;
3. Convening such other meetings of the Council as are in his/her opinion necessary;
4. Giving notice to the other members of the Council of any meeting of the Council;
5. Ensuring that a briefing is held for all adjudicators and debaters before the first session of debate where the full tournament rules shall be explained and clarified;
6. Ensuring that complete and accurate results are published in a reasonable timescale after the end of the tournament.  

Article 9

1.      The authority of the Chair of the Executive Organizing Committee includes the power to do anything which is in his/her opinion necessary, conducive or incidental to the fulfillment of the duties set out in Article 8, revocable at his/her discretion.

 Article 10

1.      The quorum for meeting of the council shall be at least two-thirds of participating polytechincs. 

 Article 11

1.      All previous Constitutions, rules, resolutions, conventions and customs relating to the Council are hereby repealed, revoked and abrogated. 

Article 12

1.      This Constitution shall come into effect immediately upon its stipulation. 

Article 13

1.      Where any issue arises before the Chair of the Executive Organizing Committee that he/she expects will be found controversial by the members of the Council, he/she must notify the members of the Council by post or otherwise of the issue, and shall make no firm commitments regarding that issue before the opinions of the Council have been assessed and, if necessary voted upon.

Article 14

1.      This constitution is effective as of July 4, 2012.    

Article 15

The format of the NPEDC shall be as follows:  

1. Overview of the Format

a.       There shall be five preliminary rounds of debate, involving all teams eligible to debate in the Competitions.

b.      Seminars  on debating and adjudicating are mandatory.

c.       Following the five preliminary rounds, there shall be an elimination round consisting of the top 16 teams from the preliminary round.

2. The Preliminary Rounds

a.       All teams eligible to debate at the Competitions compete in the preliminary rounds

b.      Composite or "swing" teams must be added by the Tournament Director to under the following circumstances:

1)      If the number of teams eligible to debate in the preliminary rounds is equal to a number divisible by two, no composite teams are allowed; or

2)      If this is not the case, then composite teams may be added until the number of teams in the preliminary round is equal to a number divisible by two.

3)      If a team withdraws from competition before or during the preliminary rounds then they shall be removed from the draw and replaced with a composite team.

3. Selection of teams for the elimination rounds

a.       At the conclusion of the five preliminary rounds, teams are ranked in consecutive order (from highest to lowest) as follows:

1)      Total aggregate Victory Points accumulated by the team; and

2)      Total team score acculumated from speakers’points from three rounds.

b.      The highest 16 ranking teams will participate in the Main Competition elimination rounds, and shall be ranked from 1^st to 16^th.

c.       Teams shall compete in the elimination rounds subject to the qualification requirements of this Constitution.

4. The Main Competition elimination rounds

a.       At the conclusion of each of the Octo-Finals, Quarter Finals and Semi Finals, the adjudication panel shall select one winning team from each debate. The teams shall progress to the next elimination round.

b.      In the Final, the adjudication panel shall select the one winning team and the runner-up.

 

Article 16

The Format of the NPSC shall be as follows:

1.      Overview of the Format

a.       This competition is individual based, and not team based.

b.      There shall be preliminary rounds involving all participants.  

c.       Preliminary rounds in public speaking shall consist of Demonstration Speaking in round 1, Special Occasion Speaking in round 2, and Oratory Speaking in round 3.

d.      Preliminary rounds in newscasting shall consist of TV news casting in round 1 and Radio news casting in round 2

e.       Preliminary rounds in Dramatic Speech shall consist of storytelling in round 1 and solo acting in round 2.

f.       Following the preliminary rounds there shall be an elimination round/final round for each category involving 10 best public speakers from each category.

g.      Final round in public speaking shall be Public Address

h.      Final round in newscasting shall be TV news casting

i.        Final round in dramatic speech shall be Story telling

2.      The Preliminary Rounds

a.       All participants eligible in NPSC compete in preliminary rounds

b.      Once the participants miss one of the rounds, the participants become composite.

3.      Elimination Round

a.       Elimination round shall choose the best public speakers, the 1st to 4th runner ups in each category.