(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in preparation for its second regional school quiz to mark the 35th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas will conduct a one-day workshop for quiz masters in Basseterre, St Kitts on 3 April, 2008.

The aim of the workshop is to build the capacity of quiz masters to conduct competitions in CARICOM Member States and Associate Members.

The quiz is aimed at increasing the knowledge of students on the Caribbean Community and the integration movement in areas such as the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ); ongoing work in Human and Social Development such as the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) against HIV/AIDS; the development of strategies to cope with climate change; CARICOM in the Information Society and CARICOM’s interface with the international community. Participants for the Quiz will be drawn from among middle grade students of secondary schools.

More than thirty quiz masters, representing thirteen Member States will participate in the workshop to be facilitated by notable public education and communication specialist, Dr. Rovin Deodat and members of the CARICOM Secretariat. The CARICOM Regional Quiz Competition is being organized in four stages: the preliminary rounds at the national level, the zonal rounds; the semi finals and the regional finals.

The play-offs for the national competitions are slated to commence in May in order to determine those students who will proceed to the zonal rounds. These competitions will be organized and conducted by relevant national agencies in tandem with the trained quiz masters.

At the zonal level, the Region will be divided into three geographic zones. Each grouping comprising approximately five countries will compete against each other on a round-robin basis over four days, between late May and early June.

The Semi-Final and Final Rounds of the Competition are scheduled to take place in late June 2008, in order for the winners to be presented at the 29th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in July 2008.