Delhi NCR, India:  ​​HCL, a US $11.8 billion global conglomerate, today announced the winners of the third edition of HCL Jigsaw, India’s premier critical reasoning platform. Crowned as ‘India’s Top Young Problem Solvers’, the winners demonstrated exceptional problem-solving and critical-reasoning skills through their creative solutions to real-world problems presented before them. Over 37,000 students from 2185 private schools and 467 non-private schools situated across 850 cities of 28 states and seven Union Territories registered for the virtual competition. Unlike the previous editions, which saw participation majorly from Tier cities, in the third edition of HCL Jigsaw, 47% of students who registered were from tier 1 cities and 53% were from tier 2 & 3 cities.
 
Launched in April 2021 for students from Grades 6 to 9, HCL Jigsaw is a multi-stage platform designed to assess key 21^st-century skills. Winners were selected via a Pan-India Critical Reasoning Olympiad as part of the qualifier round (or round 1) held earlier this month, using an adaptive multiple-choice questions format. The semi-finale (or round 2) saw participants grouped into teams of three to solve a project-based challenge. This stage helped assess students on their creativity, collaborative skills, problem identification and solution design skills. The top five teams from each grade, comprising 60 finalists, were shortlisted to compete in the final stage, where they presented their plans to solve a real-world case scenario to an expert jury.
 
Congratulating the winners, Mr. Sundar Mahalingam, President of Strategy at HCL Corporation, said, “The world around us is evolving at a fast pace and therefore, the need for skills like problem-solving, critical thinking and communication becomes critical. Given this, HCL Jigsaw was introduced in 2021 to expose students to situations that require them to exercise their 21^st-century skills. This initiative is in line with HCL’s organizational philosophy of multiplying the potential of not just an individual but communities at large. I would like to thank the students, teachers and parents across the country for recognizing this platform and making it a success. Heartiest congratulations to the top problem solvers of the country.”
 
Finalists were assigned unique themes to test their problem-solving capabilities. The top team of three students from each grade (a total of 12 students) were declared the winners along with the two teams as runners-up of HCL Jigsaw Edition 3. The winners of the third edition of HCL Jigsaw are:
 
Grade 6 participants were assessed for designing a solution around the theme of ‘Incredible India 2022 & Beyond’. The participants focussed on developing a roadmap to tap newer geographies to enhance tourism in the country. The winning team is:

• Ira Bhalla, Mount Olympus, Gurugram
• Ishaan Pati, AECS Maaruti Magnolia Public School, Bengaluru
• Shauryo Jana Roy, Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad

 
Grade 7 participants were assessed for designing a solution around the theme of Sports as a way of life. The challenge was to identify ways to make sports an important part of everyone’s life. The winning team is:

• Mohd. Areeb, Stepping Stones High, School, Aurangabad
• Sri Lahari, Delhi Public School, Bengaluru
• Anika Jha, The Cambridge International School, Bengaluru

 
Grade 8 participants were assessed for designing a solution around the theme of Future of Mobility. The challenge was to come up with a solution to the lower adoption rate of electric vehicles in India. The winning team is:

• Poojya Pannerkumar, Delhi Public School, Bengaluru
• Prisha, Smt. Suniti Devi Singhania School, Thane
• Rohaan Karthik Pattem, Narayana High School, Hyderabad

 
Grade 9 assessed for designing a solution around the theme of developing a rating system for products/services that we buy or use. The winning team is:

• Ayush Utsav, St. Mark Senior Secondary School, Delhi
• Krishiv Garg, Yadavindra Public School, Patiala
• Srinidhi Soundararajan, Vidyaniketan Public School, Bengaluru

 
The photographs of all winners and finalists are in this https://we.tl/t-DrHHaTHfqC .