The National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Philippine Statistical Association will hold the regional eliminations for this year's Philippine Statistics Quiz (PSQ) on November 21 and 22, 2000 all over the country. College freshmen students representing various colleges and universities, both public and private, from all the regions of the country, will compete in three rounds of questions and answers on statistical theories and problems. Winners from each of the regions, including NCR , CAR, ARMM and Caraga, will compete in the PSQ National Finals on December 5, 2000 at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in Manila.
The PSQ is now on its 9th year since it started in 1992. It aims to instill the value of statistics among students and to elicit awareness on its importance in all development planning and thereby generate support and public cooperation in government statistical activities. The annual competition is a brainchild of NSO Administrator Tomas Africa who is also the Chair of the PSQ 2000 National Steering Committee.
The PSQ has no budget of its own and relies largely on the financial assistance and cooperation of private companies and government institutions who share in the belief that developing keener interest in statistics will eventually translate into quality data for national development planning and policy making. Thus, due to budgetary constraints, the first PSQ was limited to participants from Metro Manila. With the entry of more sponsors and donors, it went national in 1993. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation and San Miguel Corporation were the main sponsors. The Land Bank of the Philippines, Social Security System, Development Bank of the Philippines and Government Service Insurance System also joined the league of sponsors and supporting agencies.
In 1994, the Commission on Higher Education began endorsing the PSQ. The BSP, Philippine Coconut Authority, University of the Philippines (UP), Philippine Airlines and commercial banks such as the Philippine National Bank, Philippine Commercial Industrial Bank and Asian Bank helped sponsor the year's contest along with the original supporters.
So far, supporters to PSQ 2000 include Pilipinas Teleserv Inc., APO Production Unit Inc., Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics-DOLE, BSP, Statistical Research and Training Center, LBC Corporation, UP Statistical Center Research Foundation Inc., Globe Telecom, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Finance and Planters Development Bank.