Berhampur, Sept. 13: A quiz contest held in the city today tested the general knowledge of its participants and enhanced their curiosity to learn new things.

Aditya Kumar Panda and Paritosh Mahapatro of De Paul School in Berhampur won the 12th Mother Teresa Quiz contest, in which six schools had fought for the title. The first and the second runners-up are St. Joseph’s High School, Bhubaneswar, and St. Mary’s Convent School, Birmitrapur, respectively.

Quizmaster Siddharth Basu conducted the competition, organised by the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Association of Odisha ICSE Schools. This year, 95 schools from the state and Chhattisgarh took part in the regional round. Six teams were short-listed based on a written test.

Sarvesh Shrivastava, managing director of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (South Asia), said: “The quiz was based on the general knowledge (GK) series Know for Sure (for Class I to VIII), authored by Siddharth Basu. The series focused on learning through discovery.”

“We strongly believe that such contests help enhance the student’s curiosity and interest to learn new things,” said Basu.

About 110 schools from across the state and Chhattisgarh are members of the Association of Odisha ICSE Schools. The association conducts various activities such as essay writing, poem writing, drawing, debate, quiz, athletics and games for the students. Besides, it conducts a written test on general knowledge every year.

Giving tips to students, Basu said: “Keep tabs on incidents happening around. One should ask questions. There is nothing foolish about it. Question everything but learn the correct things. That is the key to learning.” He said information derived through the Internet could be misleading. “So, how do you find the correct thing? Have access to reliable sources.”

Aditya said: “Our half-yearly examination is scheduled from September 17. Nevertheless, we prepared well for this quiz competition.”

Another member of the winning team Paritosh said: “We are happy to have made our school proud.”

De Paul principal Father Saju Antony said: “Many students are good in studies, but can’t interact with other people. De Paul School organises Quizana every year to hone speaking skills and general knowledge of our students.”