Old Mutual launches 2018 quiz

OLD Mutual Group chief operating officer Isaiah Mashinya on Tuesday said the Old Mutual Schools Quiz tournament was not about competition, but empowering young people with Afro-centric knowledge.

Speaking during the official launch of the 2018 edition of the competition at a hotel in the capital, Mashinya said Afro-centric studies had empowered the youth.

"We, as Old Mutual, observed and noted that this quiz programme was a great implorer in empowering the youth (students) by its Afro-centric study and we decided to rebrand and be active full throttle to the initiative," he said.

"This competition should not be about who emerges first or second this year or which school ends up with the number of trophies or victories in future but acquiring vibrant African knowledge."

Mashinya said youth engagement was crucial for national development and inculcating important values.

"The role of the youth should be contemplated upon building a nation, we must also agree to systematically make them part of learning experience that supports youth development and responsibility," he said.

The programme was extended to primary schools for the first time last year.

Since the early 1980s, the quiz program had been at the centre of Old Mutual's efforts to be a responsible citizen in the community, Mashinya said, adding that this year, they were celebrating the fifth year of their partnership with the Book of African Records.

Book of African Records founder and editor-in-chief Kwame Muzawazi said the quiz was important as it promoted pan African knowledge dissemination.
"Old Mutual quiz is an answer to home-generated knowledge and orientation because it caters for the whole of Africa," he said.

Over the last three years, the quiz has been held alongside workshops of the programme, On the Money, and over 20 000 students across the country have participated during the district and provincial competitions.