Innovative ‘Brain Busters with SLIIT’ Quiz Programme Helps Children Explore Potential

July 19, 2018: Inspiring students to read, discover and develop an inquisitive mindset, ‘ Brain Busters with SLIIT’ was launched recently as a unique and innovative general knowledge quiz competition.

Primarily as a TV Quiz programme, the competition is conducted islandwide for school children from government, private and international schools. Students between the ages 15 to 20 are eligible to compete.

With an apparent deficiency of general knowledge among school students a growing concern, SLIIT aims to equip students with a genuine store of knowledge unlike the current norm emphasis on theoretical and academic knowledge.

The Quiz Programme conducted in Sinhala and English tests the students’ general knowledge in different fields such as Current Affairs, Science and Technology, Art and Literature, History and Culture and Geography.

“The main objective of SLIIT spearheading the SLIIT Brain Busters 2018 programme is to help our younger generation improve their potential and aspire towards a greater future. Great enthusiasm has been shown by both students and teachers for this innovative programme and we trust we can continue to promote the value of general knowledge,” noted Mr. Uditha Gamage, Director Development and Engineering Services, SLIIT.

Over 1000 school students were nominated by their schools and participated in the preliminary rounds which were held in regional test Centres Island wide, such as, Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, G a l l e, Mat a r a , Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Nuwara Eliya and Badulla.

SLIIT also conducted important educational workshops for schools along with the above tests to develop their knowledge on new technologies such as Internet of Things, Study Skills and Exams Success S e c re t s, Stress Management and Cyber Security. All students who participated including the teachers expressed appreciation for the workshops.

“We firmly believe that inculcating a wide base of general knowl- edge is vital to unlock the doors of learning. Especially when students have a good background knowledge they are able to make connections as they read and make correct inferences about things they don’t know. The more you know, the easier it is for you to understand and to learn new things and better able to think critically,” said Asangi Jayasinghe, Project Chair, SLIIT Brain Busters and Senior Manager Business Development, SLIIT.

Each school will be represented by the student who scored the highest marks and the best 27 schools will be selected for the semifinals. Once the participating schools are further whittled down, the three winning schools with the highest marks from the Semi Finals will enter the Grand Finale.

An attractive range of prizes await the winning teams and the schools they represent. At the Semi Finals all participants receive a cash bonanza equivalent to their score. Winners of each episode will receive a medal and certificate. For the Grand Finale, all participants will receive the cash equivalent to their score, a trophy and certificate, while the winning school will receive a cash prize. In addition, all participants of the preliminary rounds received a participatory certificate.