As the 2018 World finale for the international literary
competition for children, under the aegis of Kids’ Lit Quiz (KLQ) kicked off on
Sunday, July 1 in Auckland, New Zealand the overall winners are expected to
emerge soon, reports ITRealms.
The winners of national finals of participating countries, ITRealms gathered have been announced
earlier in preparation to the grand finale during which all of them were
invited to compete for the crown.
ITRealms also
gathered that Nigeria and Thailand participation in the world stage will
commence in 2019, as they are among the new members of the global competition,
but Nigeria will be represented by the country’s coordinator, Mrs. Maluchi
Chukwuemeka.
The programme of event, ITRealms
reports include visits to important monumental sites in Auckland before the
final competition, which will be followed by a gala night.
The Kids’ Lit Quiz is an annual literature competition in
which teams of four students aged 10 to 13, work together to answer
wide-ranging literary questions, while the winning team from each region
competes in the National Final; the winner of the National Final is then
invited to the World Final held annually in July or August.
Mrs. Chukwuemeka said
the benefit of Kids’ Lit Quiz lies in the fact that it motivates and inspires
children to read a wide range of children’s literature for pleasure from the
classics to the contemporary, from nursery rhymes to comics, and from folk
tales to myths even as it offers children rewards they may not otherwise
experience in the classroom setting.
Since its inception in 1991, thousands of students have
participated each year throughout the world. Currently, quizzes are held in
Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa,
UK and USA.
Nigeria has just joined the international literary quiz,
which it is billed to host for the first time on February 2019.
The quiz which will,
initially, hold in Lagos, as a pilot scheme, is divided into two regions: Lagos Island and Lagos Mainland, which will
compete to determine the National Champion that will represent country in the
World Final. The competition will be
extended to other parts of the country later.
Already, some schools in Lagos have indicated their
interests to participate in the international event for children, which have
been slated for February 2019.
The teams of four students are asked to answer 100 questions
on children’s literature divided into 10 categories, which vary each year. Each
team is provided with a set of blank answer sheets and are asked to write the
name of their school at the top of each of the 10 sheets.
The quiz competition was created by Wayne Mills, a former
professor of education at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, who wears a
purple and black hat while hosting this literary quiz.
In 2008 Wayne Mills was given the Storylines Margaret Mahy
Medal and Lecture Award to recognise his achievement in establishing the Kids’
Lit Quiz.
He was made a Member
of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours in 2011 for
meritorious services to education, specifically children’s literature.
Uj. N. Dominic/GEE
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