The Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz off to flying start

The general knowledge showdown for high school pupils from the Bay and Kouga municipal districts has begun, with the first round of The Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Gqeberha on Sunday.

An important part of the school calendar in previous years, the quiz has been revived in 2021, giving more than 100 pupils from almost 30 participating schools a chance to show off their mastery of general knowledge. 

“It was a tough first round, but some of the pupils really came through and knew the answers to some difficult questions,” The Herald’s editor, Rochelle de Kock, said. 

“It’s imperative that pupils read the whole paper every day to prepare for the coming rounds and gain a well-rounded perspective of local, national and international news. 

“Sport also forms a large part of the questions as it is an important part of the paper,” De Kock said.

“It was so exciting to be in a room with some of our bright, young future leaders of the city and to get that competitive spirit going. 

“Congratulations to our pupils who have made it through to the next round.”

With a prize package totalling more than R85,000, teams of four pupils from each school vied to make the cut for next weekend’s round of 16. 

Brandwag and Ncedo Senior Secondary were among the schools that survived the first round.

Ncedo grade 9 pupil Phelokazi Maxhawulana, 14, said the questions were not as difficult as expected, while her team members, Yonela Smile, 17, Sesethu Thanda, 14, and Ayathandwana Ziqula, 14, said they were determined to put in even more preparation for the next round. 

Brandwag’s team of grade 11s, Suzelle Nel and Heike Groenewald, both 16, and Richard Kunneke and Jana Potgieter, both 17, confessed that they had not read The Herald every day.

However, the team has a secret weapon in Richard, who excelled in a national online quiz called “Blitsbrein”.

Richard said: “I came 11th in the country in that general knowledge quiz last year and this year, in the first round, I came first in the Western and Eastern Cape, with the final round to be held at the end of August.”

Pupils from grades 8-12 have been preparing for The Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz since June, and stand a chance to win R25,000 to be shared among the top three schools, among other prizes. 

The Herald and co-naming sponsor Isuzu have been distributing copies of the newspaper to participating schools to help the teams prepare.

Questions are drawn from these papers, and cover local, national and international news, business, sport, politics and entertainment.

Quizmaster and entertainer Ian von Memerty said he especially enjoyed seeing team members interact. 

“Almost every group of four, whether they won or lost, consulted each other and worked together. 

“We play so much team sports in this country, but we forget that intellectually we also need to work together.

“The teams’ depth of knowledge in some categories surprised me, but where the learning was lowest was in international affairs — not a lot of them knew the who’s who in the world and what is happening globally,” Von Memerty said.

In keeping with Covid-19 precautions, the first round was split into a morning and an afternoon session as a crowd-control safety measure. 

Each team was permitted only one teacher, quiz mentor or parent to accompany it. 

Teams were matched up through a random draw and Alexander Road High School achieved the highest points tally of the day. 

“It was an exhilarating and fairly nerve-racking experience, but the team was overcome with joy to have done so well in the first round,” Alex’s mentoring teacher, Gerdie Smit, said.  

The 16 schools in the next round are: St James Senior Secondary School; DF Malherbe High; Sanctor High; Hillside Technical High; Brandwag High; Paterson High; Ncedo Senior Secondary; Cowan High; Nico Malan High; Cillie High; PE Montessori; Riebeek College Girls’ High; Victoria Park High; Alexander Road High; Pearson High and Westville Senior Secondary. 

The round of 16 and quarterfinals will be held on August 22, with the semifinals and finals on August 28.

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