E-Paper
Smartacus 2022 is all set to create history with 45,127 registrations from 7 countries
HT School celebrated ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with a record-breaking, nationwide quiz, Smartacus 2022, The Hindustan Times National Interschool Quiz. It kicked off with its much-awaited Selection Round between 2:00 PM (IST) and 3:00 PM (IST) on 15th August.
HT School celebrated ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with a record-breaking, nationwide quiz, Smartacus 2022, The Hindustan Times National Interschool Quiz. It kicked off with its much-awaited Selection Round between 2:00 PM (IST) and 3:00 PM (IST) on 15th August.
Smartacus 2022 witnessed an impressive 45,127 registrations from 7 countries. Though bulk of the registrations were from India, the quiz saw students from countries, such as Israel, Bangladesh, the USA, Romania, Kuwait and Canada, registering for the event. While Smartacus 2022 garnered registrations from every Indian state and Union Territory, the highest numbers came from Delhi (15,523), Uttar Pradesh (10,889) and Maharashtra (3,535). In terms of grade-wise demographics, this quiz which was open to students of Grades 5 to 12, saw maximum registrations from Grades 8 (6,976), 6 (6,939), and 7 (6,882).
“In a very special day for India, our school students have outdone themselves with a record-breaking turnout for the Selection Round of Smartacus 2022. I salute their enthusiasm for acquiring new knowledge,” says Dr. Navin Jayakumar, one of the quizmasters for Smartacus 2022, which is on the brink of breaking a host of world records.
Mr. Avinash Mudaliar, the quizmaster, hosting Smartacus 2022 along with Dr. Jayakumar, echoes a similar spirit. “We always wanted to celebrate 75 years of Indian independence in a very special manner, and what better way than to ring it in with a quiz for school students. This is how Smartacus 2022 was conceived. I am super delighted with the response Smartacus received from school students across geographies. We want to celebrate every red-letter day in Indian history with a quiz. Every kid is a seeker and quizzing takes them on a knowledge quest. The record-breaking Selection Round is just the start and the journey of Smartacus 2022 will continue for the next few months, culminating in ClassAct 2023, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz. This will ensure a strong foundation for our quiz ecosystem. What really matters is that the kids enjoy this journey of fun and knowledge, and not just focus on the destination,” he says.
The Selection Round of Smartacus 2022 was conducted asynchronously on the Quizizz platform. Quizizz, a popular teacher-powered learning and engagement platform, was the technology partner for the event. This round was adjudicated real-time by a reputed audit firm and multiple record organizations.
The quiz lasted for 60 minutes and challenged participants with 60 brain-tickling questions, in multiple-choice and type-in formats. The topics included history, geography, sports, language and literature, science, arts and entertainment, culture and lifestyle and general knowledge. The entire set of questions was a balanced mix of easy, medium, and tough ones, making the quiz a truly interesting experience.
The scoring on the Quizizz platform is completely automated, and students are ranked on the basis of accuracy and speed. The top 20 participants from the Selection Round, who will be announced on the Smartacus 2022 website on 17th August, will win cool prizes. After the Selection Round, 16 top-performing schools from each zone (North, South, East and West) will be invited to participate in the Preliminary round based on the scores of their individual participants. The invited schools will create a team of 5 to compete in the Preliminary round, which will follow a knockout format. Out of the 64 schools battling it out in the Preliminary round, four (one from each zone) will make it to the Semi-finals.
The Finale will see the top two schools vying for the champion’s trophy and exciting prizes. It will be followed by the Quizzer of the Year contest in which 20 students from the 4 Semi-finalist teams will compete for the most coveted award for quizzers. The Preliminary, Semi-Final, Grand Finale and Quizzer of the Year rounds will be conducted on Zoom.
Smartacus 2022 is every quizzer’s dream come true with ₹4 lakh+ worth prizes, an enviable trophy for the winning school and loads of publicity. All contestants will also be rewarded with digital certificates of participation.
With the purpose of putting India on the global quizzing map, HT School has launched Quizverse, India’s first quizzing community for school students. Quizverse is designed to be the pit stop for young quizzing wizards. “HT School doesn’t view quizzing as an intellectual activity. The aim is to take quizzing to the masses by decoding information and ensuring that it is available in an easily consumable format, so kids enjoy the learning process. This community will not only serve as a one-off platform for budding quizzers, but will also encourage them to seek, consume and share knowledge. We aspire to make Quizverse a community for the kids and by the kids, with guidance from the best minds in the quizzing arena,” signs off Mr. Mudaliar.
