Hyderabad: Students of various schools in Hyderabad showcased their general knowledge prowess at IGNITE 2011 -- a multi-city, inter-school quiz contest organised by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) here.

P. Susant and Ishtmeet Singh of Delhi Public School-Hyderabad lifted the trophy while Vasishta P. and Aakash P. of Gitanjali Senior School were the runners-up in the event held on Tuesday and attended by over 150 teams representing various schools.

Some of the questions by quizmaster Adittya Mobayi of Quizcraft were answered without much difficulty by the teams but some made the participants think hard.

The auditorium at the Birla Planetarium was full to capacity with students cheering their school teams with loud clapping and shouts.

Addressing the students, IGNOU regional director B. Rajagopal said the idea of such events is to ignite students' interest in higher education and make them aware of the Open and Distance Learning System.

"IGNOU has an active student enrolment of nearly four million now, thus contributing significantly towards the National Skills Mission in the Decade of Innovation," Rajagopal added.

A panel exhibition and a flash presentation were also organised to make the students aware of various programmes being offered by IGNOU.

Hyderabad was the ninth city where IGNITE 2011 was organised. Before this, the quiz contest was held in Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Jammu.

IGNITE 2011 will be held in some other cities before the grand finale of the winning teams in Delhi.

Starting with two courses and 4,000 students in 1985, IGNOU has evolved into one of the world's largest, most diverse and inclusive institution, offering over 450 programmes. IANS