Madam Sheila Naa Boamah, Pre-Tertiary Education Technical Advisor, Ministry of Education, has called on stakeholders to intervene in addressing bottlenecks to the participation of girls’ and less known schools in the National Science and Maths Quiz (NMSQ).
She said if girls had the same support and preparation that boys had during the competition, it would pique their interests, participation and encourage their progression.
Madam Boamah made the call at the launch of the NMSQ 2022, organised by Primetime Limited in Accra.
The Quiz was initiated in 1994 to promote the study of Science and Mathematics at the second-cycle level of education.
Madam Boamah said the increase of girls’ participation in the competition would also provide an opportunity for a balanced and healthy contest.
“Last year, we were all excited about Ms Fransica Lamini, who challenged herself to join the competition, because she was different from seeing males on the stage. ”
She said there had been ongoing efforts by the Government to re-engineer the education system to get more people into the Sciences than the Humanities.
She said the NMSQ was a significant event of educational value on the calendar, which had consistently offered rich learning platforms for many students nationwide, and expected to promote student’s interests in Science and Mathematics education in the Senior High Schools.
Ms Patty Eason, Director of Schools and Instructions, Ghana Education Service, said Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) placed emphasis on future careers and helped students to develop variety of skills set, including digital literacy.
She said the global potential in STEM was high and contributed to the growth of the Information Technology, health industry and among many others, making life easier.
Ms Eason assured of Government’s commitment to ensuring that STEM became the main driver for national development.
Nana Akua Ankomah-Asare, Managing Director , Primetime Limited, called on the citizenry to encourage and appreciate the efforts of the contestants, especially when their performance was not as strong as expected, to motivate them to do better.
‘‘ It is tough to be on the stage and answer the calibre of questions they are asked,’’ she stated.
Madam Ankomah-Asare announced that Primetime would sponsor the Best Female Contestant Award with GHC 5,000.
The Managing Director commended Professor William A. Asomaning, the Consultant for the competition, who recently retired after 28 years.
She also commended teachers for preparing the students.
The National Championship is scheduled to be held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi from 10th to 26th October 2022.
A total of 135 schools will be competing in the National Championship, out of which, nine have been invited to join by virtue of losing at the Regional Qualifiers with scores of 40 points and above.
The Preliminary Stage of the competition begins on October 10.
Defending champions, Prempeh College and 26 other seeded will later join the competition at the One-eighth Stage, after the qualifying schools from the Preliminary Stage have been determined.
The One-eighth Stage to the Grand Finale is scheduled from October 15.
