Primetime Limited, the organisers of the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) has responded to concerns raised by Prempeh College in a petition following their exit from the 2023 contest.
In a letter addressed to the NSMQ organisers, the coordinators of the Prempeh College NSMQ team and Old Boys expressed dissatisfaction with events leading to their exit.
They raised an objection about an answer they provided to a riddle in the semi-final race on Thursday, for which they were not awarded the marks.
The coordinators, among other things, said they have noticed that over time, the competition is taking on a computation that does not augur well for the future of the contest.
But Primetime has said it has upheld its decision not to award any marks to Prempeh College for the answer they provided.
In a lengthy letter to the school, the organisers stated that upon discussion with the resident Physics consultant, the quiz mistress did not err in her decision.
“The Quiz Mistress exercises discretion on whether an answer provided by a contestant is sufficiently responsive and would have accepted the answer given by the Prempeh College contestants if, in her professional opinion, the target key and the answer given by the contestants were synonymous.
“She did not in this case, opting instead to maintain the more precise original key. When the complaint came to the attention of the Physics consultant, full consideration was given to all the issues raised and the protesters, after receiving complete attention, were satisfied with the explanation and counterexample that were given by the consultant,” portions of the statement read.
Primetime further indicated the school’s letter came to them as a surprise given that they raised objections at the competition grounds.
This, the organisers stated was reviewed by the Physics consultant, who explained the concepts to the team and they accepted it.
“While we greatly appreciate Prempeh College’s keen interest and passion for the NSMQ, we draw the line at insinuations of blas and attempts to favour some schools. We place a premium on fairness to all participating schools, which is why we allow protests from schools, to ensure that there is fairness in the adjudication of contests.”
“Where a school’s protest is found to have merit, the error is rectified and the appropriate marks are awarded to them. Indeed, we are known to pause contests, so as to resolve a protest that has been made by a school,” the statement added.
Primetime Limited has asserted that it would be unfortunate for the integrity they have built over the years the contest has been active and the efforts, investments, and time all schools put in to go down the drain because of unsubstantiated accusations of bias.
Prempeh College clashed with Opoku Ware School and Pope John Senior High (SHS) in a semi-final contest on Thursday, seeking to book a place in the finale.
But their hopes were dashed after Opoku Ware secured a hard-fought victory, prevailing over their opponents by the slimmest of margins.
The Santasi boys finished with a triumphant 38 points, while Prempeh and Pope John achieved commendable scores of 36 points, respectively.
This was Opoku Ware’s first win over Prempeh College in years, with the latter dominating them in all previous clashes.
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Read the full letter below:
