Excited pupils from 50 Nelson Mandela Bay and Kouga schools contested round one of The Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz at the Tramways Building in Gqeberha on Saturday.
After intense competition in the two morning and afternoon sessions, including a blistering “quick-fire” and “sudden death” stage after each session, the teams were whittled down to 16.
These schools will contest the round of 16 and quarterfinals at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday May 11, with the semifinals and finals on May 18.
Both days’ competition will be live-streamed on the HeraldLIVE Facebook page.
Saturday’s first round featured just under 200 pupils, with quizmaster Gareth Burley posing about 600 questions covering local, national and international news, business, sport, politics and entertainment, with most of the questions drawn from The Herald.
The Herald editor Rochelle de Kock said having more teams than ever taking part was a sign schools were seeing value in the competition.
“It is important for the young learners to know what is happening in the region, country and world they live in,” she said.
“We could see which pupils and quiz mentors had put in the work in the preceding weeks, and which ones did not spend enough time scouring the papers.
“The next two weeks will get even tougher.
“We encourage the top 16 to pay attention to local, national and international news, and not only sport.
“We wish them well in the coming days at they prepare for Saturday’s showdown,” De Kock said.
With prizes totalling R270,000 at stake, teams of four pupils per school gave their all to make the next round.
Among those who prevailed was Paterson High, whose four 2022 and 2023 winners were at Saturday’s event to provide moral support to the new team.
Walmer High School and Victoria Park High also reached the round of 16.
Victoria Park’s Liam Case, 16, William Udemans, 14, and matrics Ethan Morkel and Joshua Affat, both 17, all took part in 2023, when they were the runners up.
“Today [Saturday] wasn’t our best performance, but we are through and that’s what matters,” Liam, the captain, said.
William said the quiz was a good cultural activity and provided a chance to promote their school.
Joshua summarised their “game plan” as follows: “We looked for important information such as names, places and acronyms, wrote these down and sent it to each other.
“We also split up the various quiz categories between the four of us.”
Ethan said they would look back at the type of questions asked in the first round and step up their preparation.
“We will be better prepared next [this] week,” he said.
Walmer High’s Ima Breakfast, 16, said the competition was nerve-racking but fun.
“The first round was easy, but the quick-fire round was very fast and we had to think on our feet,” she said.
Teammate Asiphile Sakelisi, 15, said anyone at school could register to enter for the quiz, and their school then chose what it considered the stronger team of four.
Blessing Nyatsanza, 16, said they intended to be ambassadors for their school, while Sinoxolo Ngumza, 15, said though Walmer High had no quiz club as such, they were working hard in the hope of winning.
Teams stand a chance to win R30,000 from co-title sponsor Isuzu Motors South Africa to be shared among the top three schools.
In addition, there are prizes from Astron Energy, Axxess, The Herald, Woodlands Dairy, Woolworths Beauty, Walmer Park Shopping Centre, Pickwick Books and Stationers, and Bargain Books.
The Herald and Isuzu are distributing copies of the paper to every participating school to help them prepare.
Isuzu Motors South Africa corporate communications manager Sharné Woods said the competition provided a platform for pupils to exercise critical life skills that would build resilience and prepare them for adulthood.
“What we love most about the Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz is that it has proven, year after year, that it does not matter where you come from or what your background is: what matters is your bold drive for excellence,” she told pupils.
She said it was encouraging to see the growth of the competition, with 50 schools participating in 2024 vs 40 in 2023.
Teams were matched up by random draw, with Strelitzia High School and Walmer High School achieving the highest scores of the day, at 14 points each.
Strelitzia later fell out against Muir College in their blistering quick-fire round.
The round of 16 teams are: Victoria Park High School, Morningside High School, Muir College, Riebeek College, Brandwag High School, Woolhope Secondary School, Uitenhage High School, KwaMagxaki High School, Collegiate Girls’ High School, Paterson High School, Nico Malan High School, Walmer High School, Sanctor High School, Lawson Brown High School, Hillside Technical High School and St Marks High School.
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