The Ultimate University Quiz: Inaugural season kicks off this October

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 THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSITY QUIZ 2023 

Live reporting by Joseph Kizza
(Scroll down this page for earlier updates)
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 11:25 AM 

Season one officially launched!

The inaugural season of The Ultimate University Quiz is officially launched.

Here are the pictures and the departure at the conclusion of today's event:

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 11:21 AM 

'Platform for learning, understanding and growth'

"Let's join forces to build a fruitful partnership and an informative and entertaining Ultimate University Quiz," rallies the BOU chief.

"As we embark on this exciting  journey with The Ultimate University Quiz, let us remember that knowledge is the key that unlocks the doors of opportunity and transformation.

"I, therefore, encourage you all, whether you are a student, a teacher, a parent, a lecturer or simply someone who cares about the future of Uganda, to engage with this quiz actively by listening, by watching and trying it out in your sitting rooms or wherever you are.

"So to us, it is not just a competition. But it is a platform for learning, understanding and growth.

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 11:20 AM 

'Uganda's future'

Making further case for this university challenge, Atingi-Ego says:

"Next to agriculture, the youth offer the next-most crucial opportunity for powering Uganda's socio-economic transformation.

"The youth can play a vital role in eonomic development in Uganda. They make up the majority of the population and are the country's future. With the proper support and opportunities, the youth can help drive Uganda's economic transformation."
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 11:18 AM 

'Ethical and economic interests'

"The Vision Group's rich experience in traditional and digital media and the extensive national footprint offered very attractive synergies," says the BOU Deputy Governor.

He says the bank's participation in this competition aligns with its "commitment to environmental, social and governance sustainability [ESG], and our ESG framework seeks to utilize corporate social responsibility (CSR) to advance Uganda's environmental, ethical, philanthropic and economic interests among its stakeholders".

"We belief the quiz will contribute to ethical and economic dimensions of  the Bank of Uganda's corporate social responsibility endeavours," says Atingi-Ego.

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 11:15 AM 

'Central banking affects everyone'

Atingi-Ego quotes Jerome H. Powell, the chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, as saying: "Central banking affects everyone and should be understood by everyone."

He adds: "In this light, Bank of Uganda has simply made a strategic initiative to educate the public about the Bank of Uganda and its work over the past decades.

"We have undertaken related activities such as financial literacy programmes, resolving complaints about service delivery by supervised financial institutions, nationwide bank hall meetings, where we partnered with New Vision before, the Bank of Uganda Secondary Schools Challenge 2014, similar to this but for secondary schools, and workshops for promoting  strategic interventions, including the agricultural credit facility and the small business recovery fund.

"It was, therefore, a straightforward choice to collaborate with Vision Group when in March 2023 the Vision Group sought our collaboration in implementing The Ultimate University Quiz.

'It fits hands-in-glove with our strategic objective to enhance stakeholder confidence by engaging with the public," says Atingi-Ego.
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 11:13 AM 

Why BOU supports the contest

"The Bank of Uganda supports the quiz because it aligns to our goal of demystifying  central banking, financial services and economic policy," says BOU chief Atingi-Ego.

"It is consistent with the Bank of Uganda values of transparency and accountability, partly achieved through appropriate public communications.

"We believe the quiz offers an opportunity to promote public understanding of the Bank of Uganda, its role, mandate and contribution to Uganda's socio-economic transformation.

"With a better appreciation of central banking, financial services and economic policy, the public can appreciate, support and leverage on the Bank of Uganda's work," he says.

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 11:12 AM 

'It will be very interesting!'

Michael Atingi-Ego, the Deputy Governor of Bank of Uganda, thanks Vision Group for conceiving the idea of the university quiz and for inviting Bank of the Uganda for collaboration.

He says he is "delighted" to be a part of today's launch.

On the basis of what has transpired in the demo, Atingi-Ego says the real thing will be "very interesting" and urges everyone to follow along.

The competition will run from October 25 until December 8.

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 10:54 AM 

Demo time

And now is the time for a demonstration of what to expect this season.

Quiz Mistress Lydia Lakwonyero introduces the two universities to face off in this launch demo: Margherita Univesity vs Wagagai University.

Quick fire questions!

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 10:53 AM 

'Immediate green light'

Wanyama thanks Bank of Uganda for giving the university quiz idea an "immediate green light" when approached for partnership earlier this year.

"The bank and Vision Group have had a longstanding relationship but we hope that this is able to widen this scope of our relationship and the partnership between the two institutions," he says.

He also thanks Luzira-based Net Studios, who have signed up to join as the main production partner for the competition, and says when Vision Group met and engaged them on the idea, it received an immediate green light as well.

"Our teams will be reaching out to other prospective partners who want to join us on this particular very exciting journey and we hope that at the next briefing, we shall be able to unveil some other partners who would have joined us.

"Just for clarity, this show will be airing on all our Vision Group platforms and it will be running from October through to December," says the CEO.

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 10:52 AM 

What is up for grabs?

The participating universities will be battling for top honours, which will be galvanized by rewards.

There will be three top prizes, based on the universities' final standing (points-based system).

▪️ The university with the highest points at the end of the season will get support in the form of equipment worth sh25 million. The team representing the winning university will each get sh1 million in cash, plus laptops.

▪️ The second-placed university will get equipment support worth sh20 million. The team representing this university will each get sh500,000 in cash, plus laptops. 

▪️ The second and third runners-up earn the universities sh10 million each worth of equipment plus the teams representing the universities will each get sh200,000 in cash plus smartphones.

▪️ All other participants will receive sh200,000.
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 10:50 AM 

Relevance of the areas of focus

"These questions are going to be designed to encourage the students to read widely and beyond their academic fields," says CEO Wanyama.

"Why we find this also important is that for many job seekers today, you will notice that one of the first hurdles that is laid in your path when you are looking for work is usually an aptitude test, whether in public service or private service.

"And we know that many people fall at that stage. We are hoping that these kinds of exercises can build the capacity of the young people so that when they encounter challenges like these, they are able to overcome them."
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 10:49 AM 

Areas of focus

Some of the areas of focus for the university quiz will be;

▪️  Banking
▪️ Economics
▪️ Agriculture
▪️ Contemporary or current affairs
▪️ World geography
▪️ Global history
▪️ Science
▪️ Sports
▪️ Arts
▪️ Commerce
▪️ World trade
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 10:47 AM 

Driving students into research

"I said that the target is the university, but we know that this is the kind of show that is going to engage more than just the universities," says Wanyama.

"A lot of people in the public domain who are interested in knowledge, in the different [areas] that we shall be quizzing the students will find this a very exciting show to follow — researchers, academia, people in the world of economics, family members."

Wanyama adds that it is going to be a high-end academic activity testing the knowledge of the students. "It is going to drive them into research to be able to read and learn."

"We also hope that Vision Group and the partners like Bank of Uganda and Next Studios, which is our initial production partner, and the others that will be able to come on board, this will be able to give you good visibility and contribute towards their CSR (corporate social responsibility) presence.

"But importantly, this should be a platform where students are able to gain knowledge and seek opportunities to excel beyond just academics."
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 10:47 AM 

Teams of four

This first season will feature 16 universities, says Don Wanyama.

"Each of the participating universities is going to hold an internal quiz, where they will be able to arrange or assemble their teams, a kind of sieving process."

Each university will have four team members and a coach.

"Once the teams are assembled, we shall meet at a central place in Kampala, which we shall be availing, where the challenge will start," explains the Vision Group CEO.

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 10:43 AM 

'Knowledge-driven show'

Don Wanyama says this university competition "was developed largely to engage university students with an exicting TV show, but like I will mention later, it really goes beyond universities".

"The spirit of the Ultimate University University Challenge is that this is a knowledge-based show. One that tests the brain power and should be able to fill the gap of what we have seen in the market," he says.

"We have seen a lot of content, as the young people call it, which many times tends to be fairly flimsy but does not really engage young people in a very serious manner.

"So, we are hoping that this show will be able to drive critical thought, research and that the universities are going to be able to be involved in a big way in searching for knowledge."
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 10:42 AM 

'Exciting contest'

Vision Group CEO Don Wanyama talks about what promises to be an exciting pilot season of The Ultimate University Quiz.

He says Vision Group prides itself in innovation and therefore this competition is a "reflection of this innovation that we keep working on".

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 10:25 AM 

📸  BOU Deputy Governor arrives

Michael Atingi-Ego, the Deputy Governor of Bank of Uganda, has arrived at Vision Group for the launch.

He is welcomed by Editor-in-Chief Barbara Kaija.

Kaija then leads the high-profile guest to the CEO's office.

The BOU Deputy Governor meets and greets CEO Don Wanyama.

And then they all walk out to the launch venue.

It is a sweltering Tuesday late morning.

Anthems....

EIC Kaija leads the prayer.

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 10:25 AM 

💬  'Brain-cracking questions'

"We shall do the brain-cracking questions," says David Mukholi (pictured below standing on the right), Vision Group's Managing Editor.

"What we want to see is which university has the best-brained students and those that read widely."

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 10:15 AM 

The stage is ready

All is set for today's launch of the inaugural The Ultimate University Quiz — a competition that will, for a start, feature over a dozen universities from around Uganda.

Vision Group Editor-in-Chief Barbara Kaija (below right) is seen interacting with a guest, with the launch only minutes away.

The launch venue at Vision Group's head office in Kampala is all set.

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 10:00 AM 

Ready for The Ultimate University Quiz?

Hello and good morning to you reading this.

Welcome to our live text commentary of today's launch of the first season of the inaugural The Ultimate University Quiz at the head office of Uganda's leading multimedia company Vision Group in the capital, Kampala.

Vision Group has partnered with Bank of Uganda to organize a university quiz challenge, where 16 universities around Uganda will participate in the competition that will be televised on Vision Group TV channels over a period of about three months, starting in October.

Catch today's launch live on Urban TV and Bukedde TV.

Vision Group staff members are all sat and ready for the launch.