After a nail-biting final where teams from five schools battled it out, Dhaka Residential Model College has emerged as the champion of the Dhaka Tribune Inter School Quiz Competition-2019.
The winning team bagged 170 points in the grand finale of the competition, held at the Krishibid Institute Bangladesh (KIB) Complex in Farmgate, Dhaka on Saturday.
YWCA Higher Secondary Girls’ School finished as runner-up with 150 points, while Government Laboratory High School bagged 130 points to finish third.
Mastermind School secured 80 points to rank fourth, and Engineering University School and College took fifth place with 50 points.
Earlier, the initial round and semi-finals of the quiz competition were held at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) Campus-B in Dhanmondi on Friday.
A total of 40 renowned schools from the capital participated in the competition, organized in a knockout format with three rounds: an initial round, semi-final, and final.
In the initial round, all 40 schools participated in 20 head-to-head sessions. The 20 winning teams proceeded to the semi-finals, where they competed in five sessions with four teams each. The winner of each session of the semi-finals proceeded to Saturday’s finals.
A tightly fought final
The final was split into five segments: history, geography, Bangladesh, general knowledge and current affairs. Each segment consisted of twenty questions, with ten points for each question.
YWCA Higher Secondary Girls’ School took the lead after the opening segment with 30 points, while Dhaka Residential Model College secured 20 points.
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Both Government Laboratory High School, and Engineering University School and College failed to open their account, while Mastermind School was penalized 10 points for a wrong answer.
After the second segment, Dhaka Residential Model College had improved significantly and posted 90 points, while YWCA Higher Secondary Girls’ School scored 50 points. Mastermind School’s score rose to 40 in the segment, with Government Laboratory High School, and Engineering University School and College scoring 20 points apiece.
The event is being moderated by Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan | Rajib Dhar/ Dhaka Tribune
A nerve-wracking third segment ended with the top two teams even on 110 points. Mastermind School and Government Laboratory High School lost 30 and 10 points, respectively, for wrong answers, while Engineering University School and College’s scores were unchanged.
Dhaka Residential Model College and YWCA Higher Secondary Girls’ School continued their neck and neck battle with both on 150 points after the fourth segment, while Government Laboratory High School’s score stood at 60, Mastermind School at 40, and Engineering University School and College at 20.
In the fifth and decisive segment, YWCA Higher Secondary Girls’ School lost their momentum and could not score further. On the other hand, Dhaka Residential Model College pushed its score up to 170 to clinch the title. Government Laboratory High School dominated the segment, scoring 70 points in it alone to take their total to 130 points and secure third.
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The prizes
The winning team was awarded a trophy and Tk2 lakh; Tk1 lakh for the participating students, and Tk1 lakh for their school. The runner-up received a crest and Tk1 lakh, also distributed evenly between participating students and their school. All participants were given certificates of participation, while finalists also received medals.
Chief guest of the event ULAB Vice Chancellor Prof HM Jahirul Haque, moderator of the final Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan, and the newspaper’s Executive Editor Reaz Ahmad handed out the prizes.
The competition was powered by Meena Bazar, knowledge partner ULAB, and media partners Channel 24, The Daily Kaler Kantho, and Radio Today 89.6 FM.
Students from different city schools, their teachers and parents were present and enjoyed the final round of the quiz competition thoroughly.
Words of inspiration
Expressing his satisfaction with the competition, Zafar Sobhan said it will help create a new horizon in the country’s academic arena.
“We feel the event will help explore academic experience and excellence through the gathering of knowledge,” he said.
Recalling that such competitions were a common occurrence in his early life, the Dhaka Tribune editor lamented that they were not held as frequently as sports competitions in the present day.
“We want to create an atmosphere of academic attainment, in the way football and cricket tournaments do for sport,” he said, expressing hope that more schools would take part in subsequent editions of the quiz competition.
The competition may be expanded to schools outside Dhaka, while college and university-level competitions may also be organized, he added.
Praising the performance of all the participants, Zafar Sobhan said: “It feels great to see that Bangladesh’s future is in good hands.”
