The Debaters’ Council was formally founded by members of the debating fraternity in Sri Lanka in August 2006. Its stated objective is to “nurture a culture of debate and discourse within Sri Lanka”. The Council was incorporated as a not-for-profit Company Limited by Guarantee in early 2009. It is presently the apex body for promoting and facilitating English Debating in the country.

One of the primary tasks of the Council is to select, train, and facilitate the participation of the National Debate Team at the World Schools Debating Championship. Team Sri Lanka’s performance at this prestigious competition has improved steadily over the years of its participation, culminating in the team emerging Runners-up at the recently concluded Online World Schools Debating Championship, 2020.

In addition to this, the Council regulates schools and university English debating tournaments in the country, and seeks to foster and promote debating throughout the island by increasing the number of competitions in the local circuit, facilitating coaches for school/university teams and judges for competitions, and conducting workshops and training programmes for debaters, teachers and coaches.