PRESEC must be offered permanent NSMQ final slot – Govt official
Eugene Arhin, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, following Presbyterian Boys Secondary School’s eighth-time win of the National Science and Maths Quiz, has called on the producer of the contest to give PRESEC a permanent slot in the NSMQ final.
He in a social media post sighted by AcademicWeek.com said “There should be a permanent place for PRESEC each year in the National Science and Maths Quiz finals. All other schools must compete for the 2 remaining spots.”
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In a related development, Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) has also called on the organizer of the Science and Mathematics quiz, Primetime Limited to acknowledge the basic schools of the competition finalists.
“Don’t you think we must begin to acknowledge the basic schools that produce NSMQ finalists? These fine brains couldn’t have been developed in just 2 years of SHS education,” Director of EduWatch, Kofi Asare said in a blog post.
Winning the quiz in 2022 and 2023, the All Boys Senior High School ended the final round 5 with 40 points against Achimota School’s 28 points as silver medalists and Opoku Ware School’s 23 points as bronze medalists.
PRESEC took the first step to secure the bragging rights as the most successful school in the National Science and Mathematics Quiz (NSMQ) right from round one, as they ended the 2023 grand finale round one with 18 points.
Two-time champions Opoku Ware School (OWASS) and Achimota School (MOTOWN) ended the first round of the national competition with 9 and 11 points respectively. Presec held on to the lead till the 5th round with 40 points.
The headmaster of Presbyterian Boys Secondary School (PRESEC), David Odjidja reacting to the win over Opoku Ware School and Achimota School said they take the National Science and Mathematics Quiz as a project each year.
In a discussion with Accra-based Citi 96.7 FM, the PRESEC head said “We take it as a project. Last year when we came with the 7th trophy, there were jubilations all over. But the next day, the boys started working towards this trophy.”
Explaining how contestants are selected for the Science and Maths quiz, Odjidja said contestants undergo intensive training for two years to prepare for the competition adding that the 2023 NSMQ finalists were selected in their first years.
“It was quite a terrible experience, especially when you are sitting right in the hall,” he said. “But the comfort was before the start of round 4, we had a great gap, and we were still counting our hopes on the final round.
Fortunately, we thank God Achimota School didn’t close the entire gap. We knew we could still trust God, but it wasn’t easy at all,” the headmaster of the eight-time winner of the NSMQ said in the interview monitored by Thistermcom.
NSMQ is an annual science and mathematics content-based national-level quiz competition for senior high schools in Ghana. It has been produced by Primetime Limited, an education-interest advertising and public relations agency.
The 30th Anniversary edition of the National Science & Maths Quiz commenced on October 6, 2023. As a highlight of the celebrations, this year’s NSMQ was hosted in two distinct regions: KNUST in Kumasi and the National Theatre in Accra.
This historic occurrence marks the first time the National Championship spans across two regions, with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as the venue for the Preliminary four stages and the grand finale at the National Theatre.