Saltus was one of only four schools to take part in the contest this year.

It is understood most of the Island's high schools were unable to field teams due to the impact of a teachers work-to-rule over the loss of extra-curricular activity pay.

Preparation for the quiz takes place after school and teachers, who recently had their honorarium reinstated, either could not or were refusing to coach the students at that time.

Questions in the final "current events'' category were all based on local news events reported by The Royal Gazette from September to present.

And Saltus' five-member team proved they did not miss an edition of the paper.

The private school beat out last year's winner Mount Saint Agnes by 15 points in a tense finish to the evening.

The MSA team came in second with 235 points, followed by Berkeley Institute with 225 points and Warwick Secondary with 160 points.

The contest was held at Hamilton Princess and sponsored by the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation.

The Minister the Hon. Pam Gordon was on hand to present sponsors' prizes and individual plaques to the winning team members.

The Saltus team of Miss Jennie Campbell, captain Mr. Najib Chentouf, Mr. Kevin Dallas, Mr. Alex Guerra, and Mr. Charles Rech received computers from Bermuda Computer Services, coins from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, free soft drinks from John Barritt's, and $1,000 worth of free advertising in The Royal Gazette plus five free newspapers daily for 40 weeks.

Prizes for the runner-up teams included computers from Belco and the Argus Group and vouchers from Meyer Travel.

Silver trophies were also presented to six students who scored perfect rounds -- four were from Saltus, one from Berkeley and one from MSA.

Ms Gordon said the evening went smoothly and was well attended by team members' parents and friends.

However, she hoped next year to invite more youngsters.

"One concern I have is that it is a youth event and I think more young people should be there,'' she said.