Organisers of the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) Primetime Productions have dismissed allegations of unfairness levelled against them by six-time champions Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School, Legon.
Presec-Legon lost this year’s final to Prempeh College.
But the contestants and alumni – popularly called Odade3 – petitioned the organisers for favouring Kumasi-based Prempeh College in the final held on Friday, November 26 at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
But in a strongly-worded statement issued on Wednesday, December 8, Primetime explained that the eventual winners were only given 15 extra seconds in Round Three because their screen got locked.
“The production team’s assessment of the situation indicated that the screen was locked through no fault of the team from Prempeh College.
“Thus, it was recommended that they be given 15 seconds to complete their work.”
The statement further noted that even at that point Prempeh College was way ahead of Presec-Legon and the other finalists Keta Senior High and Technical School.
“Indeed, Primetime has no interest in which team wins, or loses a particular contest, and the Championship for that matter.
“This is a standard we have maintained all through the production of the National Championship over the years on the campuses of PRESEC, Achimota School, University of Ghana and this year at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology.”
It assured all schools and the general public as a whole that it “remains resolute to fulfill our mandate of promoting science and mathematics education at the Senior High School level and will continue to do so with a high sense of professionalism and the highest sense of integrity”.
“We would like to call on the dissatisfied old students and others who have taken to social media channels to insult and vilify Primetime, the NSMQ brand and the Quiz Mistress, to put an immediate end to it.
“We would urge the team from PRESEC to learn to lose graciously and conduct themselves with honour, worthy of the only six-time champions of the National Science & Maths Quiz.”
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana