Zekhethelo Dladla, left, of Maritzburg College and Michael Brown, right,of Grace College, Hilton, will represent KZN in the IIE’s Varsity College National High Schools’ Quiz finals next weekend. Picture: Supplied
Durban - Can you imagine a Generation Z without devices? No cellphone, no television at home and without a Tik Tok account?
Yet a general knowledge star.
Meet Maritzburg College Grade 10 pupil Zekhethelo Dladla. He, along with his contemporary Michael Brown, from Grace College in Hilton, are regional winners of the IIE’s Varsity College National High Schools’ Quiz and will compete against others from Gauteng, Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town in the final round next weekend (October 14), in Gauteng.
“My father and I came to an agreement (about devices) because it’s a distraction from academics,” Zekhethelo, 16, told the Independent on Saturday.
He credits his love of reading, which he has carried over from his primary school days at St Charles Prep, also in the provincial capital.
“I am always in the library. It’s my main form of entertainment,” said Zekhethelo, who added that he also gleans general knowledge from his favourite subjects: geography, history and science.
He picks up news and current affairs mainly from the radio and enjoys plenty of discussion and debate with his schoolmates.
“We’ve all had good education and we are well informed.”
An avid cross-country runner, he says he may later pursue commerce studies but is open to options.
The questions in the quiz competition are run digitally by the Kahoot App and challenge participants across a variety of topics, from science to general knowledge, entertainment, geography and history, in half a minute.
Zekhethelo said he would he would not treat the final like an exam and get all stressed but rather “stay with what I am doing. Reading”.
He sees general knowledge as important.
“We all need to learn things. No matter how old you are or how experienced we are.”
Michael, also 16 and in Grade 10, agrees.
“Really, I think general knowledge is applicable to everything. In general communication, for job interviews,” he said.
“You never know when you need to recall something, apply it. Perhaps one day you could need it to do first aid.”
Exposure to the Guinness World Records while at Laddsworth Primary School, in Hilton, planted the seed of interest in general knowledge in his mind.
At senior school, history teacher Taryn Webster helped it grow. Along the way, Michael’s debating team made it to the quarter-finals of a national debating event last year.
Reading aside, he loves tinkering with computers and electronics.
“(I) hope to study some sort of IT. Maybe engineering, maybe something to do with history. I am yet to pinpoint it,” he said.
The Independent on Saturday
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