About 32 Gauteng schools are set to battle it out in the Sowetan SA Home Loans School Quiz, the publication's bid to promote a culture of reading. 

The school initiative was officially launched on Tuesday morning at the Arena Conference Centre in Parktown, Johannesburg, at an event attended by school principals, heads of departments and sponsors.

The quiz challenge will run from May 13 until May 27 and offers cash prizes worth R95,000. It is open to learners between grade 8 and grade 12.

The quiz will require young minds to read Sowetan newspaper that will be delivered to schools everyday until May 26. Each school will send four of its learners to compete in the challenge.

Sowetan editor Nwabisa Makunga said the aim of the challenge was to encourage a culture of reading among kids and inspire them to know about their surroundings. "This project is close to our hearts as the Sowetan brand as well as Arena Holdings, which is our mother company," Makunga said.

"This is part of our contribution to nurture young minds and to help young people with insight to better understand, engage and relate to the world around them. 

"Our mandate is not only to tell South African stories with impact, it is also to galvanise people around a common goal.

"This initiative is all about us doing something constructive. This initiative is for building a culture of reading among young people and encouraging reading with comprehension."

Charles More, principal of Naledi High School in Soweto, said: “I am excited about this initiative. It will assist in terms of bursaries and also give them [pupils] exposure. The quiz itself encourages the culture of reading which is dying among our students because of things like social media. They will read Sowetan for a certain period and that will improve their reading skills because they will spend a lot of time reading.”

SA Home Loans consultant Tshepo Khumalo said: “We are very excited to be part of this initiative. We look forward to many more years of being part of this initiative. As the old Sowetan’s mantra has been for years about building the nation, we are literally doing that as SA Home Loans.”

Brand and marketing manager at Affordable Housing and Retail Spaces (AHFCO) Nomfundo Mwelase said: “Since we are always asking ourselves how can we enhance lifestyles of people around us, we gave birth to AHFCO bursary opportunity. Every year we live up to our mantra. We celebrate a future success by awarding a worthy candidate an opportunity to live better and achieve their academic goals. This year we have partnered with Sowetan to make someone’s dream come true.”

There is a R50,000 cash prize for the winning school, R30,000 for the first runner-up and R15,000 for the second runner-up. There are also loads of additional prizes.