Pupils put thinking caps on for The Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz

The Herald

19-05-2025

The fifth annual The Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz got off to an exhilarating start with more than 50 Nelson Mandela Bay and Kouga schools contesting the first day of the competition at The Venue at Walmer Park Shopping Centre in Gqeberha on Saturday.
After an intense elimination phase and round of 32 in the morning and afternoon, with several joker rounds and sudden death deciders thrown in, the teams were whittled down to 16.
The remaining schools will contest the round of 16, followed by the quarterfinals, at Walmer Park on Saturday May 24, with the semifinals and finals on May 31.
Both days' competition will be live-streamed on the HeraldLIVE Facebook page.
Saturday's first round featured more than 200 pupils from 52 schools, with quizmaster Gareth Burley posing 620 questions covering local, national and international news, business, sport, politics and entertainment, with all of the questions drawn from The Herald.
The Herald editor Rochelle de Kock said the first day was tough for many of the schools.
'It was obvious to see which schools had put in the time to peruse the newspapers and which ones had not.
'Some schools which did well in previous years showed their hunger to win, which was encouraging.
'Heading into the top 16, we hope the teams will pay more attention to those sections that had tripped them up. They've all had a taste of what to expect, so I think we will see more of a competition between opposing teams on Saturday.'
With prizes totalling R290,000 at stake, teams of four pupils per school gave it their all, with t he day's highest tally of 10 points going to Paterson High, past winners in 2022 and 2023.
Pearson High School and Vulumzi Senior Secondary were also among the schools which advanced to the round of 16 .
Pearson's team are grade 11s Luke Boswell, Casey Pautz, Meg Wentzel and Zeenat Cerfontein, all 16 and members of their school's A team for quiz.
'The first round was challenging for us as we lost by one point against Gelvandale High, but we managed to sneak through via a joker round and were able to win our next round of the day against Khwezi Lomzo [Comprehensive School],' Casey said.
Zeenat said: 'It's important to take part in events like [The Herald Isuzu Schools Quiz] because it gets your school's name out there and brings a lot of opportunities to pupils.'
Luke said: 'The best way to prepare is to go through every single newspaper.'
Meg said they had divided the paper into sections, with each member responsible for a different section.
Vulumzi Senior Secondary's all-new 2025 team are grade 11s Othandwayo Mapalala, 17, and Zimvozethu Rulumana, Esona Kramer and Linamandla Jamela, all 16.