Registration Open for the 4th Edition of HCL Jigsaw – India’s Premier Critical Reasoning Platform to Assess Problem-Solving Skills Among School Students

Delhi : HCL, a US $12.3 billion global conglomerate, today announced that registrations for the fourth edition of HCL Jigsaw – India’s premier critical reasoning platform are now open. The Pan-India program is aimed at building a community of India’s Top Young Problem Solvers by identifying and awarding winners through a multi-layered evaluation process. Focused on conceptual thinking and real-world problems and challenges, it assesses school students in grades 6 to 9 on key 21st-century skills including research, critical thinking, and communication, and helps them apply these to solve real-world challenges. Interested students or schools can register at www.hcljigsaw.com, by 31st July 2023 to participate in the competition. The total prize purse of more than 12 Lakhs will be awarded to winners including learning opportunities at HCL’s Innovation Labs and prizes worth Rs. 15,000 will be given to each finalist.

Reflecting on the initiative, Rajat Chandolia, Associate Vice President and Head – Brand HCL said, “At HCL, we believe in multiplying the potential of not just an individual but communities at large. Our educational system is tasked with preparing the next generation to succeed in life however it does not necessarily inculcate in them, the need to think critically and solve problems. Nurturing critical-thinking skills is essential to help young minds thrive in a rapidly evolving world, and that is exactly what Jigsaw aims to achieve. I was beyond thrilled at the positive response that the first three editions of Jigsaw received from 50,000 students across the country, and it gives me great pleasure to listen to all the ideas and solutions that these bright young minds of the country have to offer. I am excited to announce that Jigsaw will once again be hosting its fourth edition, I cannot wait to hear the solutions that will be proposed this time, and I look forward to many such events like this in the future”.

HCL Jigsaw assesses students on 10 significant parameters under three primary attributes that can be characterized as key components of the problem-solving process. These include: –

• Research Skills – this would assess students on how well they are able to define a problem, formulate an investigation / action plan and collect and organize information.
• Communication Process – understand student’s ability to structure information in a coherent manner and their understanding of information context and purpose.
• Thinking Critically – this attribute will allow us to assess the student’s ability to interpret the information accurately, synthesize information and draw conclusions, systems thinking and problem solving and evaluating claims and justification.

HCL Jigsaw is a virtual competition and will include three assessment stages/rounds:

• Qualifiers Round (Olympiad round) – A 40-Minute Pan-India Olympiad will be carried out from April 03, 2023, till July 31 2023
  • All students from this round will receive a personalized skill assessment report of their performance on each skill, giving them a roadmap for improvement and development areas on 7^th August, 2023
  • Top 20 percentile students of each grade from qualifiers round will be selected for the semifinals

• Semifinals (Collaboration and Project-Based Learning round) – A collaboration and project-based round would be held from August 18, 2023, till August 20 2023
  • Selected students will be split into teams of three and will compete in a project-based challenge revolving around an assigned theme
  • The top 5 groups per grade from this round will progress for the finale

• Finale (Group Jury Presentation round) – A jury presentation round will be held on August 26, 2023, and August 27 2023
  • Students will be given a real-world case scenario based on different themes and they will present their solutions to a panel of esteemed jury
  • A total of 60 students across all grades will compete in this stage with the top three students from each grade taking home the title of “India’s Top Young Problem Solver”

More than 50,000 students from 3000+ schools across 35 states and union territories participated in the first three editions of HCL Jigsaw. The winners of previous editions got the opportunity to visit HCL innovation labs like Mechanical and Medical labs in Chennai and the STRIDE and Tear Down labs in Bengaluru. During these visits, the students learned about a diverse range of topics, including concept introduction to design, the industrial design process, and career opportunities in design. Through interactive demonstrations and hands-on experience, the students gained valuable insights into emerging technologies such as Smart Helmet, AR/VR/XR, real-time logistic tracking, and IoT in manufacturing setups.