Apeejay Mahavir Marg wins Korea-India Friendship Quiz Competition 2022

Apeejay School Mahavir Marg has been declared the winner at the 7^th Korea-India Friendship Quiz Competition 2022 by the Korean Culture Centre India, Embassy of the Republic of Korea. The award comes as a recognition of the enthusiasm of several students from the school who participated in the competition.

The competition was held at multiple levels, starting from the school level to state, national and international levels. The online MCQ quiz was themed on Korean culture.   

Among these participants was Anandita Anand, from class 10, who was introduced to Korean culture about two years ago. “I got to know about the Korea-India Friendship Quiz Competition from my class teacher. We were given some documents to know more about Korea, which helped me gain a lot of knowledge. I have been participating in various competitions related to it. I topped the quiz competition from school.” 

Anandita likes K-pop music and is also learning the Korean language. “I can speak a little bit of Korean, but I look forward to being able to speak it fluently.”

The students from Apeejay Mahavir Marg participated in the quiz competition individually. Meanwhile, the school has been conducting an India-Korea cultural exchange programme for some years now. Class 12 student Misha Puri says the first programme took place when she was in class 7. “Prior to the pandemic, the students from our school and those from Korea would meet each other in person by travelling to one another’s countries. Since the pandemic, we have been meeting online,” she says.

In the cultural exchange meetings, helmed by Apeejay, the students interact with their counterparts in Korean schools. “In the meetings, we exchange insights into our respective cultures and discuss the similarities between them. I recently showed them my kathak performance; another student shared her bhangra dance video. As I interacted with students from Korea, my interest in their culture grew, and eventually in K-pop. I am in awe of the respect Koreans show (they bow) every time they greet someone. I even started following their fashion. Recently, I started following popular Korean boy band BTS.

“So far, we have interacted with about four-five Korean schools,” Misha, who reached up to the national level of the competition, adds. Talking about Apeejay’s role, she says, “The school has been very supportive. Our teacher Pooja ma’am, who is involved in the programme, always motivates us to showcase our culture and heritage as much as possible and also learn from Koreans in the process.”

Paramveer Singh, class 12, who also participated in the quiz competition was intrigued by Korean food and architecture, which motivated him to enroll in the quiz. “As far as the cultural exchange meetings are concerned, we usually have two sessions with each Korean school. I am grateful to our school for giving us this form of exposure.”

The accolade won by Apeejay Mahavir Marg comes as a significant milestone in its strong cultural partnership with Korean schools, fostering greater involvement of students.  

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My heartiest congratulations to the students on winning the 7th Korea-India Friendship Quiz Competition, 2022, conducted by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea! Our School shares strong ties with a few Korean Schools and runs a successful Students Cultural Exchange Programme with them. The enthusiasm of our students in these Programmes is evident in the large number of students who participate in student-exchange related activities. The Korea-India Quiz conducted by the Embassy of Korea is one such activity.

My compliments to all participants!

– Girish Kumar, principal, Apeejay Mahavir Marg