The quiz mistress of the popular National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ), who is also the Dean of the School of Engineering Sciences of the University of Ghana, Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, has given a reason why no girls’ school has been an NSMQ winner for the past years.
According to her, the underwhelming performance of girls’ schools is because they do not prioritise the contest compared to boys’ schools.
She mentioned this in an exclusive interview with Roselyn Felli on Prime Morning on Wednesday.
“What I’ve come to realise is that the girls’ schools do not take this competition as seriously as the boys’ schools are doing, because if they did, I would see them doing some of the things that the boys or mixed schools are doing,” Prof. Kaufmann indicated.
Additionally, she mentioned that consistently winning schools have a pipeline of students they groom to be contestants in the main competition.
This, she said, is due to how such schools have valued the quiz competition over the years.
“They start their selections even before they get to their final year, and they step up on stage. They have a team from the first year, the second year, and the final year, and all of these teams are watching to get themselves ready,” she added.
However, the majority of the girls’ schools, she believes, only select their final-year students to compete after their mock examination, which is usually late to make much impact.
Herself a product of a girls’ school, the quiz mistress expressed disappointment over their poor performance.
Prof. Elsie Kaufmann has served as the quiz mistress for the National Science and Math Quiz since 2006.
But interestingly, she does not have a memorable experience with the contest.
She said, “I usually don’t remember the details of a contest once I’m done with it.”
On the other hand, she enjoys very much her interactions with contestants from the various schools.