Chennai: A team from Chennai Public School-Anna Nagar emerged as winners of the Times NIE Inter-school Critical Thinking Quiz held at the Vels University campus in Pallavaram on Thursday.As many as 82 teams competed in the quiz, which, unlike a conventional quiz that rewards memorisation, tested students on logical reasoning, pattern recognition and quick decision-making under pressure. Participants prepared for the competition by following The Times of India’s Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme. A total of 800 students and 90 teachers participated.The winning team from Chennai Public School-Anna Nagar comprised Vighnesh Virat S, Akilan V, and Ateesh Balasamy V. The co-ordinator said that apart from the competition, the students gained confidence from the experience. “With more than 60 schools competing in the prelims, we were excited to enter the finals. The quiz was challenging in different ways, including questions on current affairs, general knowledge, and critical thinking,” she said.The PSBB Millennium School-Gerugambakkam team finished as the first runner-up and comprised Oviya Prasanna, Anirudh P, and Harish Prasanna, while the SAN Academy-Pallikaranai team finished as the second runner-up, comprising Sashwanth Prasannakumar, Chivukula Sripada Sai and Niyant Deepak.The competition was open to students of Classes 6 to 10, who participated in groups of three. Students preparing for the quiz were encouraged to read the Times NIE Student Edition from Monday to Friday and stay updated with major current affairs and important events. They were also asked to follow the ‘Hoot the Owl’ columns featuring reasoning and critical-thinking challenges and attempt the special ‘Weekender Challenges’ in NIE editions. The quiz was powered by Titan Zoop and Vels University as the venue sponsor.According to the organisers, all registered teams turned up for the event, which was conducted as an interactive and informative session. Students and teachers enjoyed the competition, they said.Vaijayanthi V, a teacher at SAN Academy, said, “Students thoroughly enjoyed the event. The anchor was very good, and the quiz master was interactive. We want more opportunities like this.”Quizmaster Naman Jain of Quiz Catalyst conducted the event, which featured four rounds, with the top six teams advancing to the Grand Finale.
