Mont Fleuri secondary wins Commonwealth quiz competition |19 April 2023
Winning team Mont Fleuri with their prizes
Mont Fleuri is the winner of the Commonwealth quiz competition organised for secondary schools after going head to head with La Digue in the final.
After trailing La Digue in the first and second rounds with the scores at 2-5 and 2-6 respectively, Mont Fleuri scored 12 points against 2 for La Digue in the third and final round, giving them a total of 16 points to win the title, with La Digue finishing on 13.
Top scorer in the finals, Rico Esparon from Mont Fleuri who scored a total of 12 points for his team, said he was very proud of himself and his two colleagues – Jean-Jules Eulentin and Doriane Bristol.
“It was actually really exciting as at first we were losing by a huge margin but with a mental talk to myself I was able to focus more and I did my utmost best and so did my team and we managed to come on top in the end,” he said proudly.
The final and semi-finals last Thursday at the National Theatre followed the preliminary rounds and quarter finals of the competition on April 5, where eleven (11) teams had taken part, each with four students, including a reserve.
The quiz, organised by the PE and ECA unit of the Ministry of Education, was based on the Commonwealth as an effort to increase the students’ knowledge about the association, which comprises 56 independent and equal countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. Seychelles has been a member of the Commonwealth since 1976, following its independence from Britain.
During the finals, the students were asked questions related to different aspects within the Commonwealth such as history, sports and geography.
The education officer in charge of organising the quiz, Fernand Gamatis, said that he was very satisfied with the way things went.
“After not holding this event for so long, I noticed that it went quite well and the students were well prepared. And I say this because in the semi-finals there was a draw, where we had to hold another buzzer round to break the tie. This shows that students have really done their research,” said Mr Gamatis.
He also announced that they were planning to hold the quiz annually with the inclusion of the primary school pupils.
Present at the quiz was the principal secretary for Education Services, Merna Eulentin; Indian high commissioner to Seychelles, Kartik Pande; representative of the British high commission, and management and staff of the Ministry of Education.
The activity also included a gift and certificate presentation to the primary pupils who had participated in a poem competition under the theme Commonwealth.
PS Eulentin did the honours of presenting the prizes to the winners.
Diane Larame
Photos: Joena Meme
