National Television, Rupavahini Corporation in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Unilever Sri Lanka will launch a groundbreaking national quiz competition that will both test and enhance the multiple intelligences of school children and revive the appeal of reality educational programmes among viewers.

The quiz programme will be based on renowned American psychologist and Professor of Cognition and Education, Howard Earl Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence which argues that intelligent behavior does not arise from a single general ability but numerous different ways of thinking and learning. Therefore, children learn, remember, perform and understand in different ways.

“As the custodian of the future generation’s knowledge base, we are happy to be associated with an educational quiz program which will steer our younger generation towards participating and viewing knowledge based entertainment,” Education Minister, Bandula Gunawardena said.

Every child is born with an inherent ability. Research has identified nine intelligences in children and Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence offers a clear and detailed explanation of this. “According Gardner’s theory, children get to know the world through seven distinct intelligences or learning styles which include visual, bodily, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, language and logical mathematical analysis which challenges the present day language heavy modes of instruction and assessment. However, the levels of intelligence in children vary. A serious drawback in the present system of education is the lack of learning activities that could enhance these intelligences among children. Therefore, these learner needs have been identified and strategies to meet these requirements are being activated in the present educational reforms. We believe that the Rin Bright Star quiz programme will enhance the multiple intelligences of children and stimulate a change in attitudes among parents and the society at

large,” the Deputy Minister of Education and Youth Affairs and the Monitoring MP of the Skills Development Ministry, Mohan Lal Grero said.

“The national channel Rupavahini, has over the years since its inception in the 1980s, played host to innumerable children’s programs including singing, dancing contests and quiz competitions. Introducing a program to test and capture the multiple intelligence of the school child is another first for our channel,” Mr. Wimal Rubasinghe, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation said.

Rin, a popular brand of Unilever Sri Lanka will extend its sponsorship for this monumental initiative. Rin has always been associated with the quality of ‘smartness’ and ‘brilliance’ in school children. Impeccable white clothes talk wonders about one’s personality and instill confidence to face the challenges of the day. Therefore, the brand is in perfect harmony with the concept of the quiz competition ‘Rin Bright Star’ as it embarks on a journey to acknowledge and reward brilliance in the field of education.

The competition titled ‘Rin Bright Star’ is designed to span over a period of four months and will target school kids aged between 11-15 years from all the provinces. The entry point to the show will be through a selection phase where applicants will sit an aptitude test held at a centralized location.

Selected competitors will go through quizzes structured at quarter, semi, and final rounds with the winner entitled to a cash prize of Rs. 1,000,000.00 of which Rs. 300,000.00 will be diverted to the respective school.

“Unilever believes in the philosophy of “doing well by doing good”. And Rin believes that it is our responsibility towards the nation’s children, who are the next generation of leaders and good citizens in Sri Lanka and across the world. It is with this objective that we are sponsoring this first-of-a-kind program to enhance the knowledge levels of school children in Sri Lanka,” Siddharth Banerjee, Marketing Director – Home and Personal Care, Unilever Sri Lanka, said.