Afua Kobi Ampem Girls’ Senior High School has booked their place in the 2025 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) national competition after a commanding performance in the Ashanti Regional qualifiers, scoring an impressive 50 points to top their contest.
However, the event ended on a contentious note after Agona SDA Senior High School, who finished second with 38 points, protested the rejection of an answer they provided during the riddle round, costing them a potential qualification slot.
The controversy arose during the penultimate round of the contest, when Agona SDA attempted to solve a mathematics riddle. The clues, according to the school’s contestants, pointed to either an identity matrix or a unit matrix. However, the official NSMQ consultant ruled their answer incorrect, disqualifying it in favour of the identity matrix response.
Agona SDA maintains that their answer was mathematically sound. According to the team, both matrices share the properties referenced in the riddle, and the decision to disallow their answer unfairly affected their final score.
“Our answer was valid. The properties given in the riddle describe both an identity matrix and a unit matrix, and we believe this ruling denied us the opportunity to reach the nationals,” a spokesperson for Agona SDA said after the contest.
Had Agona SDA crossed the 40-point mark, they would have qualified as one of the highest-scoring runners-up for the national and zonal championships. The disallowed answer effectively cut off that route.
The other schools in the contest were Wesley High School, Bekwai, who placed third with 28 points, and St. Joseph Senior High Technical School, who finished fourth with 19 points.
Following the outcome, Agona SDA has announced plans to formally petition Primetime Limited, organisers of the NSMQ, over what they describe as an unfair decision.
Despite the controversy, Afua Kobi Ampem Girls’ SHS celebrated their victory, becoming the latest school to secure a place at the national championship.
The NSMQ remains one of Ghana’s most competitive academic contests, often sparking debates over rulings as schools compete for academic glory on the national stage.
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