S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia walked away with the first ever Synergy Genius Challenge Trophy of the Colombo leg of the Synergy Genius Inter-School Business Quiz, held last Saturday at Trans Asia hotel.
Five schools – S. Thomas' College, St. Joseph's College, Royal College, Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya and St. Bridget's Convent, participated at the event which saw some fierce competition between the three boys' schools. The Thomians emerged winners with 56 points, closely followed by the Josephians and Royalist with 53 and 52 points respectively.
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| The winners: S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia |
The winners were also awarded an AD Net Note Book from Debug computers and 100% scholarships from Synergy School of Marketing, while the runners up were awarded 50% scholarships.
A relatively new and rare concept, the Synergy Genius Inter-School Business Quiz – a business quiz for advanced level students studying in the Commerce stream – was organised by the Synergy School of Marketing which enters their 10th year as a professional education institute. The notion of the quiz being helping young professionals of the future identify career opportunities and gain understanding of the corporate world in which they would soon be part of.
It was a straight final. The students were tested on general knowledge, business knowledge, current affairs and sports in four rounds of questioning. There were 10 questions in each round and the participating teams were given 30 seconds to answer each question. Marks were read out at the end of the next round while the correct answers were also read out at the end of each round. The teams consisted of six members with one reserve member.
Heads bent, students were seen in tight discussion once the questions were read out by the quiz master, debating and discussing the correct answer.
Sathish Casi Chetty (19), member of the wining team, St. Thomas' College said, "Out of the six of us who participated, five of us were science students and one was from the commerce stream. So the business round was a bit challenging. However, we scored the highest points during that round," adding that it was a great team effort.
"We learn a lot, especially from the business round, because normally, we wouldn't pay too much attention to business issues. But here we learnt about the economy, the crisis in the US and a range of other business-related issues," he said.
He also said that it was unfortunate that only a few schools participated. "But we are happy we were up against some really good schools and we managed to beat them," he added.
Captain of St. Joseph's College, Sujan Warnakulasuriya (19), while congratulating the winners, said that he was happy that his team was able to give a good fight throughout the quiz.
"We were leading in all three rounds, apart from the business knowledge round. We need to work on those questions a bit more. It was a good experience for all of us. Although we are somewhat disappointed we couldn't win, we learnt a lot. This was the first time we participated in a business quiz such as this," he said, adding that the team is looking forward to similar events.
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| The runners-up: St. Joseph’s College |
Ms. Kaushalya Jayamanna, teacher-in-charge of the team from Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya regarded the quiz as a great learning experience for students. "The students loved it and they want to participate in more events such as this. In fact, they've proposed that we introduce a general knowledge period at school. We all thought the questions were of a good standard," she said.
The Chief Guest for the event was Mr. Eardley Perera, Founder and Past Chairman, of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka branch. Commending Synergy for initiating the programme, Mr. Perera said, "What is significant about this quiz is that it is a table quiz which requires a team effort which is a key learning point for students who would have to work in the corporate world in teams," adding what is important is the learning which could be taken home from the quiz.
Gimara Ranasinghe, Head of Marketing, Synergy School of Marketing said that such quizzes are vital for students as it helps them broaden their knowledge and helps them gain a better understanding of certain issues. The students who participated were between 16 and 18 years old. "Most of them were A/L students, or students who have just completed their A/Ls", she said.
"It was a keenly contested event. While the quiz master was reading out the questions, you could see the students concentrating and focusing. And then, you could hear their disappointment when the quiz master read the correct answers at the end of each round and they knew that they've got it wrong. There was a lot of enthusiasm and interest which is very welcoming for us," she said.
Gimara went on to say that the Synergy School of Marketing appreciates the effort taken by the students and teachers who participated at the event.
For anyone who missed the Synergy Genius Inter-School Business Quiz this year, there's certainly going to be more of this in the future.
"This time around, it was based on invitations. We invited these schools to participate. However, next time, we hope to open it up for other schools and have more competition," Gimara said, adding, "We would certainly continue this".
For those up there in Kandy, the Kandy leg of the Synergy Genius Inter-School Business Quiz will take place soon.
Ms. Mel Gunasekara officiated as the judge whilst Mr. Mohamed Adamaly -–Director of Synergy was the quiz master, assisted by Mr. Yasas Gunaratne, lecturer at Synergy.
The Associate Sponsors for the Synergy Genius Inter-School Business Quiz were Hatton National Bank, James Finlays and MAATFLORA. The Audio Visual Partner was Pan Audio, while Debug awarded a laptop to the winning school. The Print Media Sponsor for the event was The Sunday Times.
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