Quizzing has always been high on the radar of HT School, given the holistic development it endows students with. This fun learning platform made a foray into the quizzing arena with ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz, which went on to create the world record for ‘Maximum Participation in an Online School Quiz’.
Strengthened by this success, HT School resolved to celebrate every red-letter day with a quiz. Thus Smartacus 2022, The Hindustan Times National Interschool Quiz was born, with its Selection Round kicking off on 15th August. The pan-India online quiz, which saw 45,127 registrations from students across India and six other countries—Israel, Bangladesh, the United States, Romania, Kuwait, and Canada —is all set to break many world records.
Thrilled by such a massive participation, Roopali Dhawan, Head, HT Education, says, “I am amazed at the enthusiasm and determination shown by the participants. Also, every single stakeholder, starting from principals to teachers and parents, came together to ensure that the event was a grand success. This is what motivates us to wear our thinking hats and create avenues that can holistically stimulate the New-age students.”
Registrations for Smartacus 2022 came from every Indian state and Union Territory. However, Delhi (15,523), Uttar Pradesh (10,889), and Maharashtra (3,535) witnessed maximum students registering for the record-breaking online interschool quiz.
Rishabh Vij, Product Manager, HT School, brims with enthusiasm as he talks about Smartacus 2022, “This quiz has exceeded all our expectations, thanks to the phenomenal response from students all over India. We are hoping to see an even more widespread participation in the upcoming quizzes of HT School, which will not only hone the quizzing skills of students but also boost their holistic development.”
The Selection Round of Smartacus 2022 was conducted asynchronously on Quizizz, a popular teacher-powered learning and engagement platform, which was also the technology partner for the event. The 60 questions that each participant had to answer in this hour-long session, were a mixed bag, comprising easy, medium, tough, fun and tricky ones. This is what made the Selection Round so interesting for the participants.
The zeal and fervour that reflected among the students who took part in the quiz were palpable and Team HT School felt it too. “I’m super delighted to witness the enthusiasm and interest of the participants of Smartacus 2022, the quiz which is about to break a host of world records soon,” shares Amit Gupta, Lead, Marketing and Growth, HT Media Labs.
The top 20 contestants from the Selection Round, announced on the Smartacus 2022 website, will win exciting prizes. Following the Selection Round, 16 top-performing schools from each zone (North, South, East and West) will be invited to take part in the Preliminary Round (which will follow a knockout format) based on the scores of their individual participants.
Here, the invited schools will compete in a team of five. Out of the 64 schools contending in the Preliminary round, four (one from each zone) will make it to the Semi-Finals. From there, only the top two schools will qualify for The Grand Finale and will fight for the coveted champion’s trophy and other exciting prizes worth more than INR 4 lakhs. All contestants will also be rewarded with digital certificates of participation. The final round will be followed by the Quizzer of the Year round in which 20 students from the 4 Semi-Finalist teams will compete for the ultimate quizzers award. The Preliminary, Semi-Final, Grand Finale and Quizzer of the Year sessions will be conducted on Zoom.
The roaring success of Smartacus 2022 has all the members of Team HT School beaming with joy and Tejas Ramaratnam, Lead, Video Content, is no exception. “I’m glad to have been part of this wonderful experience, and worked with this excellent team. The passion and ardour with which HT School conducted the quiz reflected in the overwhelming response it received,” he says.
HT School is committed to creating a strong quiz ecosystem for school students. So, alongside its mega quizzing events such as ClassAct 2022 and Smartacus 2022, HT School has also launched Quizverse. It’s a one-of-its-kind community that aims to take quizzing to the masses and allows students to savour the joy of learning and sharing knowledge.