The Straits Times-Ministry of Education National Current Affairs Quiz, or The Big Quiz, is back for its seventh edition.

For the first time, instead of a travelling game show, this year's quiz will go online, allowing some 26,000 junior college students to take part in the current affairs contest over three rounds.

Questions in the online quizzes will be based on themes and topics in a 12-part primer series that will broach contemporary issues ranging from fighting fake news to the implications of big data and analytics on lives and jobs here.

The primer pieces will run in the Opinion section on Mondays from today until Aug 6,except for a break during the mid-year school holidays.

Though the "live" quiz rounds of previous editions were hugely popular with students and teachers alike, some educators, like Mr Fong Chun Kin, level head of general paper at Anglo-Chinese Junior College, are anticipating the benefits that the new quiz format will bring.

Said Mr Fong: "We look forward to the easy access to the Big Quiz for the entire student population. This would encourage greater participation and, more importantly, deepen students' interest in current affairs.

"With the Big Quiz being made available online for all pre-university students, they will have the fantastic opportunity to assess their grasp of current affairs and benefit from the knowledge gained."

All junior college students can also access a digital subscription of The Straits Times from now until Sept 2 via their schools.

The event is jointly organised by The Straits Times and the Ministry of Education.

Mrs Kelvyna Chan, divisional director of curriculum planning and development (division 2) at the Ministry of Education, said: "In this digital age, we are inundated by different sources of information, not all of which are true or well-intentioned.

"Through the ST-MOE programme, we hope to develop our young people to become more discerning readers and thinkers while keeping abreast of national, regional and global issues and developments."

Singapore Press Holdings Foundation is the Big Quiz's presenting sponsor.

Echoing the need for young readers to stay informed and become astute consumers of information, Ms Ginney Lim, general manager of SPH Foundation, said that through its continued sponsorship, the foundation hopes to promote an understanding of global and local issues among students in Singapore and help them discern between real and fake news.