Smartacus 2022: A milestone quiz for Indian schools
The HT School ecosystem has created a whole new universe for students that is abuzz with communities, programmes and events, both online and on-ground. The latest offering in its bouquet of online events is Smartacus 2022, The Hindustan Times National Interschool Quiz. This pan-India virtual school quiz is all set for a grand launch on 15th August. The Selection round will take place on this day from 2 PM-3 PM as India celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on the occasion of 75 years of independence.
Students can register for Smartacus 2022 for free till 14th August. It will be hosted by two of the most renowned quizmasters of the country, Dr. Navin Jayakumar and Mr. Avinash Mudaliar. Both of them also hosted HT School’s first quizzing venture ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz which went on to create the world record for ‘Maximum Participation in an Online School Quiz’.
“In this day and age, students are highly motivated and agile as they are constantly seeking avenues and platforms to demonstrate their skills. Smartacus 2022 is the right step in this direction,” says Roopali Dhawan, Head, Education, HT Media. Thanks to the changing times, life skills matter more than rote skills currently in the education space. Hindustan Times has been catering to these evolving needs of students for over two decades now, taking learning out of the four walls of classrooms. Partnerships for Action in Education (PACE), an HT Media initiative, was launched way back in 1998 with this objective. Since then, PACE has come a long way and established a strong presence through HT Student Edition, a six-page daily publication that reaches 4 lakh students across 2000 schools.
Apart from this edition, where students can share their thoughts, experiences and opinions, PACE, with its strong network of over 10,000 schools across the country, hosts a plethora of on-ground programmes throughout the year for students, teachers, parents, educationists and other stakeholders. Some of the notable initiatives by HT PACE include Knowledge Promenade (walk the talk with thought leaders), Creative Strokes (art workshop), Shutterbug (photography workshop), HT Dialogues (a series of talks by policy makers, educationists, mental health experts and parents) and Annual Teachers’ Meet among others.
PACE is currently collaborating with schools from all corners of the country to foster the spirit of quizzing, making Smartacus 2022 the buzzword among school students. This pan-India online quizzing event is meant for Indian students of grades 5 to 12. Children from Indian schools overseas are also eligible to participate in the battle of brains. Smartacus 2022 will unfold across four zones of the country—North, South, East, and West—ensuring representation from all Indian states and Union Territories. The quiz will cover a wide range of subjects including history, geography, sports, language and literature, science, arts and entertainment, culture and lifestyle and general knowledge.
There will be five rounds in Smartacus 2022: Selection, Prelims, Semi-finals, Finals and the Quizzer of the Year. The Selection round will be individual, wherein students of grades 5 to 12 will compete asynchronously on the Quizizz Platform. It will consist of 60 questions, including multiple-choice and type-in formats.
After the Selection round, top 16 schools from each zone 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 competing schools, 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. The Finale 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 Quizzer of the Year contest will take place asynchronously on the Quizizz Platform.
HT School will reward winners at each stage of the quiz. They stand a chance to win ₹4 lakh+ worth prizes while the winning school will receive an enviable trophy. All contestants will also be rewarded with digital certificates of participation. HT School will be attempting another world record with Smartacus 2022, with multiple record books in attendance.