Quizzing was never as hot before. The KBC effect is telling. After the resounding success of the Big B's Kaun Banega Crorepati, the country will witness a novel concept of professional quiz certification for schoolchildren.

Slated to be the first of its kind in the country, Quiz Quotient (QQ) will test the quizzing aptitude of a student. QQ will serve as an independent measurement tool that can help the school identify quizzing talent. The idea has been conceptualised by quizmaster 'Pickbrain' Balasubramaniam and his team, Quiz Brain.

Before finalising the concept, Quiz Brain commissioned a research for students and parents across five cities in India -- Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Kolkata. The study revealed that quizzing had become popular like never before and there was a huge demand for participation in quiz shows.

"About 63 per cent of the students were unhappy with the quiz team selection process in their respective schools and 75 per cent of them felt schools normally selected quiz teams based only on academics. However, academics is not the only factor to become a good participant. There are other areas which need specialisation. We want to explode the myth that good academics will ensure high quiz quotient," Giri Balasubramaniam told this newspaper.

Parents are also, more than ever before, keen on sending their children to participate in quizzes. They felt quiz programmes help improve general awareness, build confidence and personality as "pure academics is no longer adequate", Giri explained.

The response substantiated the need for quiz certification. "Based on the findings, we decided to launch the idea of quiz certification, first in Bangalore and then the other four cities. We also plan to touch Mumbai or New Delhi where we have no presence so far," he said.

The quiz certification for schoolchildren would be divided into three categories -- Standard II to Standard X into sub-junior, junior and senior categories. These categories are recommendations based on the age of the individual and do not restrict an individual from testing his quizzing aptitude in a higher category.

Sub-junior category will have students till Standard IV, while junior and senior categories will have students from fourth to seventh and eighth to tenth standards respectively. The questions would be chosen from a vast spectrum of subjects beyond academics.

On the basis of the performance of the individual, the quotient would be calculated. All participants will receive certificates. While those who obtain a QQ of less than 40 would be given participation certificates, the rest would get certificates with their QQ mentioned. "Each student will be given a certificate. We don't want to discourage students from participating in quizzes," Giri said.

To encourage students, the certification fee has been kept at Rs 50 for sub-junior, Rs 70 for junior and Rs 90 for senior students. The fee includes research, compilation, evaluation, printing, implementation and certification of the students. Besides, the best individual performer in each category at each of the schools that adopt the certification would be given a one-time scholarship of Rs 500, Rs 750 and Rs 1,000 for sub-juniors, juniors and seniors respectively.

"We are targeting nearly 200 schools. So far, all the schools that we have approached have agreed to implement the concept", he added.