ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz: An Odyssey
Quiz, as most of us would agree, has been one of the most popular forms of edutainment for school children through decades. ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz, which has been officially declared by the Asia Book of Records and the India Book of Records as the record holder for ‘Maximum Participation in an Online School Quiz’, saw massive participation of students from 32 countries across 5 continents in its preliminary round on 23rd January and concluded with a thumping success in the Grand Finale on 26th January. This tells us that quiz has been able to retain its own place in the minds of today’s youngsters despite tough competition from other forms of edutainment. With 19,625 students taking part in the Prelims, this record-breaking quiz was hosted in the Finale by two of the finest quizmasters of the country, Mr. Avinash Mudaliar and Dr. Navin Jayakumar.
What fascinates students about a quiz competition is the sheer fun and excitement of ‘arriving’ at the answer. Many of us have grown up watching quiz shows on good old television and loved taking part in our school and interschool contests simply because of the curiosity that they trigger, and the learning experience they come with.
My tryst with quiz started in the early 90s when I was in Grade VII. It was a quiz contest arranged by my school on its Foundation Day. Well, I couldn’t make it to the top 3 despite giving a tough competition to my friends. But what it taught me was something that has stayed with me forever. I learnt to do what Will Smith did in in The Pursuit of Happyness. This 2006 biographical American drama shows Chris Chris Gardner, a homeless salesman from America (played by Smith), saying this in a job interview: Um, I'm the type of person that if you ask me a question and I don't know the answer, I'm gonna tell you that I don't know. But I bet you what, I know how to find the answer and I will find the answer. Yes, that’s what my first quiz helped me imbibe: The capacity to use my wits to find my way to an answer.
Though my journey with quiz stopped after school days, the memory of those joy-filled moments do awaken the long-lost quizzer in me, even now. I am sure, this is the case with many of my teammates too. So, when planning this online quiz for school students at Hindustan Times School, we were all-too-thrilled, to say the least. But little did we know then that ClassAct 2022 will scale up to the magnitude that it has, with over 50,000 registrations for the prelims and two official records. “I have never seen a quiz of this large a turnout in my entire life. We have seen responses of players from countries like Guatemala and Ethiopia, countries which were only answers for us in quizzes. This is not a winner-takes-it-all quiz. We wanted to completely change that entire format and encourage more students to participate,” says Mr. Mudaliar.
In India, quizzing started becoming popular around the 70s and continued to grow over the next few decades with celebrated television quiz contests like the North Star Quiz, Quiz Time, India Quiz, BBC's Mastermind India and Kaun Banega Crorepati among others. Later on, with the advent of internet, virtual quizzes also started gaining ground, especially during the post-COVID era. “One of the wonderful things about online quizzing is that it has brought a lot more people to take part together in a quiz, which no offline quizzing could do. It’s amazing to see participants from different parts of the country all in one shot on a Zoom call,” says Dr. Jayakumar. Here is a bird’s eye view of our online school quiz that has created history.
TOPPERS' SPEAK
ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz, announced 80 quizzing champions: 40 overall winners and 40 champions from the Junior Category (Grades I-V). They are available on the official page of ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz. Here is a snapshot of the top 10 from each category.
For the winners, the quiz proved to be a truly unique experience. Speaking to HT School, Pranjali Mishra, the topper of the Grand Finale of ClassAct 2022, says, “This is the first time that I have participated in an international quiz.” This Grade VI student from Delhi Public School, NOIDA, thoroughly enjoyed it. “I found the question on baby shark to be fun during the Finale while the one about Taj Mahal was the most interesting one.”
Many participants found the Grand Finale to be more challenging than the Prelims. Sanjay Senthilnathan, who stood 2nd in the final, says, "The questions in the Grand Finale were tough. However, the manner in which they were presented by the quiz masters made all the difference for me. They kept us motivated throughout the contest. My biggest takeaway from ClassAct 2022 has been the fact that it has encouraged me to participate in more quizzes now.”
According to the Arush Aroh, who grabbed the 3rd spot in the Finale, ClassAct 2022 was set apart from others in the ilk by the way it was conducted. “The hints shared by the quizmasters were so helpful that even if participants knew 5% about the topic, they would be able to get to the answer. I gathered quite a few fruitful insights during the whole process,” he says.
The junior champions from the preliminary round also seem to be equally thrilled. Bhuvana Kumar Gopal, who was the topper in this category, says, “It was very encouraging and a great learning opportunity for me.” Echoing a similar spirit, Dhruva Meghashyam Shirodkar, the number 3 in the junior category, says, “It's actually my first solo quiz and I feel really good about my performance.”
THE FORMAT
ClassAct 2022 was a one-of-its kind opportunity for budding quizzers of Grades I to XII to put their general knowledge, resourcefulness and logical reasoning to test. This online quiz was divided into two rounds: Prelims and the Grand Finale. While the preliminary round was asynchronous and hosted on Quizizz, an online assessment platform, the final was live and conducted on both Zoom and Quizizz.
The screening process for the Prelims and the Finale was completely automated. The Quizizz platform auto-calculated the ranks based on the speed and accuracy of the students who attempted the quiz. On the basis of this ranking, 175 finalists were chosen and thereafter, the 80 champions.
The Grand Finale started from 3 PM on 26th January with a welcome speech and introduction of the quizmasters. In order to help budding quizzers hone their skill, Dr. Jayakumar explained the answers of the Prelims questions before the final round commenced at 4 PM. Immediately after the Grand Finale, 40 junior champions from the preliminary round were announced and the list of the top 40 finalists was out on 29th January.
PARTICIPATION: A SNAPSHOT FROM INDIA AND THE WORLD
As already mentioned, ClassAct 2022 saw record breaking participation in its preliminary round. There were registrations from as many as 50,611 students of Grades I to XII, from all over India and the world including 32 countries and 5 continents. The total count of students who participated in the Prelims was 19,625. The highest number of registrations was witnessed from grade V (4,998).
Students from more than 32 states registered for the event. While Delhi can boast of the highest number of registrations from students, two states that saw massive participation include Maharashtra and UP. Together, they account for 36,432 registrations, that is above 70 per cent of the total number. Total number of registered students from Delhi was 20,201 and the figures for Maharashtra and UP were 8153 and 8078 respectively. Other parts of the country with significant shares of registration include Haryana (3486), Punjab (2783), Jharkhand (1793), Tamil Nadu (1086), Rajasthan (742), Chandigarh (719) and Bihar (643).
Globally, the highest number of registrations for the Prelims was seen from United Arab Emirates, United States, Singapore, United Kingdom and Nepal. Canada, Indonesia, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Belgium were among the other countries from where significant registration numbers were witnessed.
Another feather in the cap of this landmark quiz contest was the fact that the Prelims saw more participation from women than men, a not-so-common scenario in India. Close to 60 per cent registrations were seen from girl students, while the percentage of boys was slightly above 40.
As far as the Grand Finale is concerned, the top 175 finalists were from 21 states. The highest participation was seen from Delhi (46), Maharashtra (36) and UP (23). Haryana and Tamil Nadu were among the other states with significant shares of participation. Also, maximum students who participated in the final round were from Grade IX (16%). High percentage of participation was also seen from Grade X (15.43%), Grade XI (12.57%), Grade XII (11.43%) and Grade VIII (11.43%).
EASIEST AND TOUGHEST QUESTIONS
The success of a quiz is measured by many factors. One of them is the workability of the questions. According to many of our toppers, the beauty of ClassAct 2022 was that the answers could be guessed with the hints provided by the quizmasters.
The Grand Finale comprised of 30 questions including multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and type-in ones. While some questions were a cakewalk, participants found some to be tricky. The most correctly answered question was:
This watch (a visual was shown) from a comic series gets attached to a boy named Benjamin Kirby Tennyson who cannot take it off. It allows him to transform into ten different alien species, each with its own unique abilities. The watch is also part of the design of the logo of the series. Which series?
The answer was Ben 10. Fifty three per cent participants answered it correctly.
On the other hand, the least correctly answered question was:
This window at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge celebrates which former student (a visual was shown)? Give the last name only.
The answer was John Venn. Only 13% participants could answer this correctly.
In the Prelims, there was a total of 50 questions. In this round also, participants found some questions easy while and some, a little difficult. The most correctly answered question was:
Which two colors of paint should you mix to get the color orange?
The answer was red and yellow. About 56.5% participants got it right.
The least correctly answered question, on the other hand, was:
This country’s flag contains its biggest export (arrow in flag and images on left), which shares its name with a trick in soccer, in which a player rolls the ball between an opponent's legs. Which country in the Americas?
The answer was Grenada. Only 5.6% students could answer it correctly.
PRIZES
It doesn't need to be reiterated that ClassAct 2022 was a uniquely thrilling experience for budding quizzers. What added more to the fun was that the winners stood a chance to win 1.5 lakh worth Amazon gift vouchers. The top 80 winners (40 from the Junior category in the Prelims and 40 toppers from the Finale) were awarded with these vouchers. Additionally, all participants received a participation certificate from Hindustan Times. Here are the details of the prizes:
Finale
1st prize: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 15,000
2nd prize: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 10,000
3rd prize: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 5,000
4th- 10th place: Amazon gift vouchers worth Rs. 2,500
11th-20th place: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 1,250
21st-40th place: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 1,000
Prelims (from the Junior Category)
1st prize: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 10,000
2nd prize: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 5,000
3rd prize: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 3,000
4th- 10th place: Amazon gift vouchers worth Rs. 2,000
11th-20th place: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 1,000
21st-40th place: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 500
The audience also stood a chance to participate in the quiz win exciting Amazon gift vouchers. From the audience round, which had 5 questions, 25 winners have been announced.
As I write this piece, the champions of ClassAct 2022 are basking in the glory of being part of the history that this quiz has created. The unmistakable zest and exuberance that they exuded during and after the contest was a sheer delight to watch. And I promise, there are many more milestones to break!