Opoku Ware beat
Prempeh and Pope Johns to go through to the grand finale with Presec
and Achimota School.
Prempeh
College, however, raised issues with the semifinal results, which kicked them
out of the competition and took to social media to challenge the results.
In dismissing
the petition, the management of Primetime, organisers of the National Science
and Maths Quiz defended the ruling of the Quiz Mistress and said Prempeh
College was not "cheated" as was claimed on social media.
In Prempeh's
petition dated October 19, 2023 and posted on social media, Prempeh College
called for a review, acceptance and an overturn of the results of the contest
in relation to an answer to a riddle question in the fifth round of the
#NSMQ2023 competition.
Prempeh
College ended the contest with 36 points below Opoku Ware's 38 points.
Response to Prempeh
College
In a press statement
responding to Prempeh College's protest of the results, the Managing
Director of Primetime, Nana Akua Mensa-Bonsu affirmed the ruling of the Quiz
Mistress in the said contest.
Results
According to the MD of PrimeTime, comments made by the Physics Consultant, Dr. Amos
Kuditcher, and the Quiz Mistress, Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, with respect
to the review of the answer to the riddle explained that the clues in the
riddle were intended to give a prompt and a specific response.
“The protest from
Prempeh College concerns a riddle for which clues were given that point to the
linear superposition principle. In interactions with the complainants on their
protest, no reference to exponential superposition was made.”
“Instead, a
nonlinear superposition relevant to intensity was given as a counter-example,
which seemed to satisfy the protesters. Indeed, there are situations where
electric fields participate in nonlinear processes in which combining two
fields produces a field that does not equal the sum of the fields, the
associated phenomena constituting a vibrant branch of Physics”.
These comments
led the management to affirm the ruling of the Quiz Mistress with no bias
whatsoever.
Conduct
The Managing
Director of Primetime further stated that they placed a premium on fairness to
all participating schools, to ensure that there is fairness in the adjudication
of contests.
Thus, she
encouraged Prempeh College to use the required procedures to address their
grievances, rather than resort to a smear campaign on social media.
“Sullying the
reputation of the competition is not an action one takes when one is truly
gracious in defeat; disagreeing, but accepting the outcome in good faith is
graciousness in defeat," she said.
“We
would like to reiterate that Primetime has no interest whatsoever, in which
school wins, or loses a contest, or, ultimately, the championship trophy. We
place a very high premium on the integrity of the program and so go to great
lengths, too numerous to recount here, to protect it”
Attached below is a copy of the response
from Primetime
October
21, 2023
COORDINATORS
OF THE NSMQ TEAM PREMPEH COLLEGE SOFOLINE, KUMASI
Dear
Coordinators,
RE:
PROTEST OF RESULTS OF NSMQ SEMI-FINALS BETWEEN PREMPEH COLLEGE. OPOKU WARE
SCHOOL AND POPE JOHN SHS
We
write in reference to your petition on the above subject dated October 19,
2023, in which you disputed the answer to a riddle in the fifth round of the
competition, and called for a review and acceptance of your contestant's
answer, as well as the overturn of the results of your contest in favour of
Prempeh College.
In
your petition, you cited many sources and claimed that the principle of
superposition is the same as the principle of linear superposition and so your
contestant's answer to the principle of superposition deserved full marks.
Below
are the comments of the Physics Consultant, Dr. Amos Kuditcher, and the Quiz
Mistress, Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, with respect to the answer to the
riddle:
The
protest from Prempeh College concerns a riddle for which clues were given that
point to the linear superposition principle. In interactions with the
complainants on their protest, no reference to exponential superposition was
made.
Instead,
a nonlinear superposition relevant to intensity was given as a counterexample,
which seemed to satisfy the protesters. Indeed, there are situations where
electric fields participate in nonlinear processes in which combining two
fields produces a field that does not equal the sum of the fields, the
associated phenomena constituting a vibrant branch of Physics.
The
clues in the riddle in question were intended to prompt the specific response
"(Principle
of) Linear Superposition" and enough was given. The claim that no clue
restricts the answer to linear superposition is not supported by clues 4 and 5.
Specifically,
the examples given in the last clue, namely, electric field and scalar
potential calculations as practiced by SHS students, point directly to linear
superposition. Electric circuits constitute a topic under electromagnetism, one
of the examples given in clue 3. However, nonlinear electric circuits and
devices are well-known, so it is not clear how a specific reference to electric
circuits would restrict the answer to linear superposition. The clarity sought
by the protesters in their letter is given on the last page of their document,
where the principle of linear superposition as a linear combination is
explained.
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 provided by the consultant.
The
Quiz Mistress's ruling is affirmed.
While
we greatly appreciate Prempeh College's keen interest and passion for the NSMQ,
we draw the line at insinuations of bias and attempts to favour some schools.
We place 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. In this instance, the Prempeh team's protest was reviewed by
the Physics consultant, who then explained the concepts to the team, which
the team accepted. Consequently, this turnaround and insinuation that a
deliberate injustice has been carried out against Prempeh College is rather
surprising.
The
ability to protest a question, answer, or mode of adjudication is not new. We would like Prempeh College to use the procedure described in the NSMQ Rules to address their grievances, rather than resort to a smear campaign on
social media.
Sullying
the reputation of the competition is not an action one takes when one is truly
gracious in defeat; disagreeing, but accepting the outcome in good faith is
graciousness in defeat.
We
would like to reiterate that Primetime has no interest whatsoever, in which
school wins, or loses a contest, or, ultimately, the championship trophy. We
place a very high premium on the integrity of the program and so go to great
lengths, too numerous to recount here, to protect it.
It
would be very unfortunate for anyone to dismiss the great effort and investment
of time and money that the contestants and trainers put into preparing their
teams to excel at this competition, by insinuating that Primetime is biased
towards some schools and manipulates contests in their favour. A five-time
champion knows, from experience, the challenges preparing for and triumphing
over all other participants present to the team and how much hard work goes on
behind the scenes and on stage, to produce excellent results at each edition of
the NSMQ.
We
appreciate the exciting and passionate contests you have given us at NSMQ 2023
and wish you the very best in future editions of the National Science &
Maths Quiz.
Best
regards.
Yours
sincerely,
NANA
AKUA A. MENSA-BONSU
MANAGING
DIRECTOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
— National Science & Maths Quiz (@NSMQGhana) October 23, 2023
Response to Prempeh College petition concerning unfair ruling in the NSMQ 2023 Semi-final contest that featured Prempeh College, Opoku Ware School and Pope John SHS. #NSMQ2023 #NSMQ30 #Primetime pic.twitter.com/efivIj4JtJ
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