by Sachin Murdeshwar

Mumbai: HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s leading non-life insurer, announced Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kochi as the champions of HDFC ERGO Insurance Awareness Award Junior – Quiz 2019. Shivram S. and Jithin J. Joshi engaged in the battle of wits to bag the National title at the Grand Finale held in Mumbai. The winners were bestowed with the title of National Champions and rewarded prizes worth Rs. 1,50,000/-. Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Mumbai was declared as the first runner up and won prizes worth Rs. 1,00,000/- and Sanskar School, Jaipur was the second runner up who were rewarded with prizes worth Rs. 50,000/-. The other finalists were also awarded prizes worth Rs. 20,000/- each for their unwavering efforts. This is the first time that a school from Kochi has won the national championship title of the unique insurance awareness quiz. Students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kochi participated in the Grand Finale as a Wildcard entry.

The HDFC ERGO Insurance Awareness Award Junior – Quiz started in 2016 as a unique initiative to impart basic insurance knowledge amongst school students in a fun and engaging way. In doing so, HDFC ERGO seeks involvement of parents and the schools to help the students understand the concept of insurance and thereby preparing them for the uncertainties and risks of the future. Over the years, the Quiz has reached out to more and more students and schools, thereby involving and imparting the understanding of Insurance amongst large number of households across the country. This year, HDFC ERGO expanded the quiz geographically and reached out to 1,000 schools in 50 cities across the country. Being a knowledge-centric organization and with the primary objective to take Insurance Awareness to the next level, the Company’s representatives interacted with over 2,50,000 students this year, imparting education about Insurance and financial security. Townhalls were conducted in schools by HDFC ERGO and booklets having information on insurance, were distributed to prepare the kids for the Quiz. To further make the learning of Insurance interesting, a microsite – https://www.hdfcergo.com/einsurancepedia/ was created which engaged the kids and also helped them prepare for the Quiz in an enjoyable manner. 

The HDFC ERGO Insurance Awareness Award Junior – Quiz 2019 was conducted at three levels. The City Round saw participants from class 8^th and 9^th of leading schools across 50 cities, followed by the Zonal Rounds conducted among the City Champions in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. Winners of each of the Zonal Rounds paved their way to compete for the National title in the Grand Finale, held in Mumbai today. To build further excitement, Wild Card entries were introduced wherein four first runner-up teams from each of the Zonal Rounds entered a lucky draw. Through this lucky draw, two of the four teams directly qualified in the Grand Final as Wild Card entrants. These two teams were Kendriya Vidyalaya from Kochi and Sanskar School from Jaipur. 

Addressing the Grand Finale of the HDFC ERGO Insurance Awareness Award Junior Quiz, Mr. Ritesh Kumar, MD & CEO, HDFC ERGO General Insurance said, “We would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kochi for emerging as the first winners of the HDFC ERGO Insurance Awareness Award Junior – Quiz 2019 from Kochi. We at HDFC ERGO have always been cognizant of the low level of financial literacy in our country. In order to overcome this challenge, we designed the Quiz to build awareness and educate young minds about insurance in a unique and engaging manner. We sincerely thank the students, parents and schools for supporting and recognising the role of this initiative to develop insurance skill set amongst school students and prepare them to manage unforeseen risks of the future.”

 

The prestigious Quiz culminated with the Grand Finale where Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania High School from Mumbai, Maxfort School from Delhi, Sunshine Public School from Guwahati, Samsidh Mount Litera Zee School from Bengaluru, Kendriya Vidyalaya from Kochi and Sanskar School from Jaipur qualified as the finalists. 

 

Encouraged with the positive feedback and active participation seen from schools, students and parents, year on year, HDFC ERGO aims to expand the Quiz to more cities in the coming years