2020 National Science and Maths Quiz in limbo

Second-cycle institutions across the country have hinted, they may be unable to participate in 2020 edition of the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) competition.

The prestigious competition which has been in existence for almost three decades could be in jeopardy due to inadequate funds to prepare contestants for the regional and national levels.

President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Alhaji Yakub A.B. Abubakar, stated in a letter dated February 6, 2020, which was addressed to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) that:

“We, therefore, wish to inform management that until adequate funds are made available, schools will not be in the position to participate in the NSMQ in any form”.

The letter explained that executives of CHASS had met in January 2020 to discuss the development and concluded that “it will be difficult for schools to organise the students for the NSMQ”.

Regional directors of education, regional CHASS chairpersons, all zonal CHASS chairpersons, and Primetime Ghana Limited, the organiser of the NSMQ, have also been copied in the letter.

The regional qualifiers for the 2020 edition of the quiz are underway. Three schools compete in each contest and each school is represented by two contestants with a third substitute.

The quiz mistress for the national level is Dr. Elsie Effah Kaufmann. Every contest is composed of five rounds.

The objective of the NSMQ is to promote the study of the sciences and mathematics, help students develop quick thinking as well as a probing and scientific mind about the everyday world around them.

It also fosters healthy academic rivalry among senior high schools.

Participants partake in science fairs and get the opportunity to visit science and engineering institutions. They also get to interact with scientists, engineers, and experts in the field to learn about the application of concepts in solving real-life challenges.

The competition has generated public interest in recent years with a huge following on social media as winners get to exhibit ‘bragging rights.’

Old student associations and other benevolent people contribute and dedicate special funds for the establishment and provision of facilities for the purpose of training science students for the competition.

Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School, (PRESEC-Legon) is the most successful school in the quiz so far, with five titles.

Together with the St. Peter’s Senior High School, PRESEC has been to the finals a record eight times.

Achimota School is the only unisex school to have won the competition so far. No all-girls school has ever won the competition. Only 11 schools out of the more than 900 senior high schools in Ghana have won the competition since its inception in 1993.

St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School is the only all-day school to ever clinch the title.

St. Augustine’s College are the defending champions after defeating Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC-Legon) and St. Peter’s Senior Secondary School in a tense final in 2019.