(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater, Georgetown) St Vincent and the Grenadines will be hosting the first Zonal Round of the (Caribbean Community) CARICOM Regional Quiz Competition scheduled for 12-13 June 2008 at the Anglican Pastoral Centre, New Montrose, while Trinidad and Tobago will be hosting the second, on 17-18 June at the National Library in Port-of-Spain.
St Vincent and the Grenadines who will be fielding a team of Rose-Ann Richardson, Gregory Deane, Serah Jackson, Leach McNicholls (Reserve) are expected to earn a place in the Semi-Finals by beating two other teams – Barbados and Saint Lucia – in their group in a round-robin styled competition on Thursday, 12 June.
Sponsored in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the CARICOM Regional Quiz Competition, which has been organized in four stages – the preliminary rounds at the national level; the zonal rounds; the semi finals and the regional finals – is being conducted to mark the 35th Anniversary of the Signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
It is aimed at increasing the knowledge of students about the Caribbean Community and the integration movement in areas such as the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ); ongoing work in Human and Social Development such as the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) against HIV/AIDS; the development of strategies to cope with climate change; CARICOM in the Information Society and CARICOM’s interface with the international community. Participants for the Quiz will be drawn from among middle grade students of secondary schools.
With twelve Member States participating in this year’s quiz, the first Zonal Round will see six teams – Barbados, Guyana, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines – squaring off in a round-robin styled competition of which only two teams will advance to the Semi-Finals.
In the second Zonal Round, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago will play off to determine which two teams in that Zone will make it to the Semi- finals. Only four teams from both zonal rounds will advance to the Semi-finals.
The play-offs for the national competitions were conducted in May in order to determine those students who would proceed to the zonal rounds. Those competitions were organized and conducted by relevant national agencies in tandem with quiz masters who were trained by the CARICOM Secretariat.
The Semi-Final and Final Rounds of the Competition are scheduled to take place in late June 2008, in order for the winners to be presented at the Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in July 2008. The Winners and Runners-up in this year’s Quiz are in for a treat of prizes and trophies donated by a number of Guyana based organizations including: ANSA MCAL, Citizen’s Bank Guyana Inc, Hand-in Hand Mutual Fire and Life Insurance Company, Frandec Travel Service, Giftland Office Max, Guyana and Trinidad Mutual Fire and Life Insurance company, Laparkan Holdings Limited, Medi-care Pharmacy, Le Meridien Pegasus, Neal and Massy Group, Scotia Bank, Topaz Jewellers.
The first Regional Quiz Competition took place in 2004, and climaxed the activities of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Then, Guyana, on its own turf, defeated St. Kitts and Nevis to gain the coveted top position in the competition and its captain Nicolette Boatswain, a student of Bishop’s High School earned the title of Best Team Player in the Competition.
