Anyway,
back to the NSMQ. It was a milestone celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the quiz that we all love to watch and for some of us, had the
privilege of competing in as representatives of our various secondary
schools/high schools. Seeing it grow from its beginnings as “that Saturday @ 11am
program on GTV” which was like the proverbial marmite for Ghanaians to what it
is now, as a competition popular enough to compete with the World Cup for
social media presence and general attention in Ghana has been a great
experience for most hard-core followers of the NSMQ, albeit with the
non-participation of the Black Stars in the World Cup levelling the playing
field slightly. The drama started from the regional qualifiers in February, lots
of schools battling it out to get that golden ticket to Legon, especially with former
champions like Achimota School and big schools like St Francis Xavier, bruised from their
failure to qualify in 2017; and St Augustine’s College, St Peter’s School and
Opoku Ware School, with their early elimination from last year on their minds
and a determination to get that right this time round.
After all
was said and done all around the country, most of the usual suspects secured
their qualification to Legon. But there was the most high-profile casualty at
this early stage, with my alma mater Augusco failing to qualify for the
national competition and losing out to Swedru Senior High School. I must admit
that, as a former contestant that really hurt to see your school out of the
running for the trophy especially since all the other previous champions
qualified this year. However, for all the other NSMQ patrons, this elimination
provided enough fodder for trolling all the way to the national competition. It
was quite painful having to chin up and endure all the trolling knowing full
well that you have very little in terms of trolling material to fire back for
the moment. Nevertheless, I guess it was a nice way to build up excitement for
the main competition especially with the World Cup running simultaneously.
At the main
competition, it was all a remarkable sight even from a computer screen through
the power of Facebook Live and YouTube. Therefore, I can only imagine how
things were on the ground. Having the Science and Technology Fair and opening
it up to people to show their creativity was a nice touch. But back to the quiz
itself: It was so exciting seeing some of the so-called big schools falling by
the wayside right from the prelims and having to depend on the safety net of
high scores to go through (Owass, we are all looking at you!) right down to
relatively unfancied schools making their mark on the competition and proving
that they didn’t just come to Legon to add to the numbers but to show their
intellectual mettle. Well, at this point
allow me to dig deeper into some pointers I picked up from this year.
1. Long winded
answering systems: Yes, we all know it is a pressure cooker scenario having to
sit on stage and solve questions within a maximum time limit of 30 seconds.
Yes, we know that it takes a long time to process what to say for these high
school students. Yes, we know it is a tactic to buy some extra milliseconds for
answering. But it is still super annoying for us viewers to hear things like “Madam,
I’m having…,” adding unnecessary answers to questions asked and all those things.
Yes, we can understand the whole respect thing by prefacing answers with Madam,
but it gets very annoying after a while when contestants give winding answers
to questions, especially those involving calculations and requiring a single
answer. I do have some sympathy for them, of course, but I believe that
contestants can be trained to give their answers in a direct way, since that
breeds confidence too.
2. Questions
Quality: Last year, I remember there were a lot of complaints about the answers
given to some of the questions asked in the competition. But I was a bit reticent
to place any blame on the consultants since I know they are of great repute and
that it could have been some slight oversights on their part, as they are human
beings too. This year, I have been quite impressed with the general quality of
the questions used for the competition. Some of the questions involved things
that I never expected to see in a quiz competition for high school students,
but all this means that in order to prepare well for the NSMQ nothing is beyond
reading or knowing. Some of the questions were quite good to stump the
contestants with just the slightest loss of focus. The Problem of the Day in
the first semifinal is a good example of that. The Problem of the Day in the
final was also a good one, if not a bit left field and unexpected. Who would
think that detailing the process of solving a word problem could be a question
for a grand finale? We all do that from primary school, but we never sit down
and actually think of the process since it becomes second nature. Good job,
consultants!
3.
Confidence or Lack of? We all watch the NSMQ to get a feel of how adolescents
(mostly, since I bet there are people who may want to prove otherwise,
correctly or not!) do present themselves in front of a crowd and rolling cameras
and answer questions. There were times however, where it seemed the whole
situation overawed some of the contestants and as such, they became quite timid
in their delivery and lost some of their composure. I really felt bad for these
contestants as it robbed them of a chance to prove themselves sufficiently
after all the months of preparation and sleepless nights. It was something I
saw in some of the female contestants especially, and I will discuss that in a
subsequent section. I do believe that as part of the training, the teachers and
those in charge of the quiz students should try to recreate that scenario as closely
as possible which can mentally prepare the contestants for the real event. It
is like a penalty shootout in football; it is hard to recreate the exact
scenario of a penalty shootout but there are ways to practice it with some of
the important elements.
4. How can
a Girls school win the NSMQ? We have come to this point once again, it has been
part of the major discussion points of Brilla; the sight of an all-female school
winning the competition. Believe me, this would definitely happen in future.
But we do need to identify what the main obstacles are with a female school
winning the NSMQ. For me, I think it boils down to two things: A general focus
on the WASSCE and failure to link the WASSCE and NSMQ preparation; and a
failure to adequately psyche up the contestants to face all the differing
scenarios in the competition. On the first point, it feels like most girls
schools focus more on making their students get the grades for WASSCE and
moving on to the university; but fail to realize that the NSMQ, especially in
this current format gives the girls that extra knowledge and know-how which can
be of benefit later on, not only in the university level. I’m sure those of us
who follow Brilla passionately, attended girls schools, or have friends in
these schools have heard tales of good students who are quiz material being
dissuaded from participating because they or their parents or some teachers
think the quiz is “useless and does not bring any benefit” and that they would
be better served concentrating solely on the WASSCE. To this part, I say that’s
a myopic view especially with the attention that the Quiz is drawing in at
least for the last 5-6 years. Can you imagine what we would have lost if we
didn’t have women like Wesley Girls’ Hermione in 2002, Holy Child’s Amarkie in
2007, Mfantsiman Girls’ Nancy and Gey Hey’s Belinda in 2008 to as recently as
Tamasco’s Zuweira in 2017, among others not participating in the NSMQ because
they or someone guiding them thought that the quiz was useless? How could we
have motivated other girls to participate and rub shoulders with their male
counterparts in the battle of brains?
To my second
point, the lack of psychological toughening. We all have heard something along
the lines of women being emotional, them being the weaker sex and lots of
balderdash referring to women. Yes, I would admit that men and women are
different in some aspects, but in a competition where they are being paired
together and competing against each other, the preparation generally has to be
the same for all of them regardless of gender. I may be a bit idealistic here, but
whatever is good for the goose is good for the gander. Maybe the process of
psyching the female contestants would be slightly different to that for male
contestants, but as Dr Kaufmann would say, the girls would need to be taught
not to fight battles that are unimportant, distract from their goal and just
waste brainpower. They also need to be psyched up not to be intimidated by the
crowd, not to settle for second best and that they have it in them to lift the
trophy. With the right mix of all of these, that goal should be attained sooner
than later, but it would involve a lot of work and a shift in mentality.
5. Mid-Contest
Substitutions: I must say, I am not a fan of having substitutions in the middle
of the contest, for any other reason apart from medical reasons. This is
because there is a whole process in preparing the contestants minds and getting
them into the groove for the contest. And although the backup contestant is also
part of the process, there is a slight difference knowing that you may not be
required for the contest and to be brought on at a moment’s notice can be a bit
disorienting for him or her. I remember what happened with Presec last year in
which I felt they lost something when they changed their team suddenly as they
advanced to the later rounds and subsequently lost. That feeling was no
different when I watch teams that used their substitutions such as Aburi Girls
and Mt. Carmel Girls, they did lose some cohesion as the new contestant needed
to get up to speed and in a time limited contest, is quite difficult to pull
off.
6. Legible
Handwriting for Problem of the Day: This is one thing that I definitely feel
has to be outlined due to the tight nature of contests, the fact that every
point counts and the overriding feeling that lots of schools lost points due to
poor handwriting. The number of times we saw Auntie Elsie walk up to the
contestants or call the contestants to her desk to decipher what they had
written was a bit too much. Cue all the “My First Copy Book” jokes and trolls.
In my own experience, it can be rectified with a bit more patience on the part
of contestants. I do not claim to have a good and beautiful handwriting, the
type that can make someone fall in love with you without seeing the person in
real life (Trust me, that is a thing!). Nevertheless, having sat on that stage
and written my school’s answers on the whiteboard, I feel I am perfectly placed
to give some advice on this aspect. For Round 3, no matter how good or bad your
handwriting is, you should always remember that you are not the one reading or
grading it, but a quiz mistress who is a senior lecturer, and most professors
hate deciphering illegible handwriting with a passion. So take the time to
write clearly and convey your ideas, for that can be the difference between
getting an 8 and getting a 3!
7.
Penalties and Belling System: Another thing that cost contestants points was
the haste with which they pressed the bell with speed race questions in the
middle of the question and getting the answer wrong, losing precious points.
Very few questions will go the way of that meme we all saw on social media in
the fallout of the Anas #12 video (What type of carbohydrate is……..Sucrose?! I
mean, that really has to be investigated!), and most of them had twists in
them. I remember there was a question that involved effective collisions and
activation energy, with all three schools ringing and answering the question
before they heard the part “Define Activation Energy”. Another part that caused
a lot of warnings and penalty points was the rush to press the bell in Round 1
for bonuses before Dr Kaufmann could give her judgement on the answer. I still
feel that the best way to solve this preventable situation is to implement a light
activated bell lockout system, where a light comes up in front of the quiz
mistress in the plain view of all the contestants when she has finished with a
speed race question or has determined a question to be up for a bonus before
the contestants press their bells. I hope my humble suggestion is worth
considering.
8.
Introductory Interviews: It is a good thing by Auntie Elsie to come up and
interact with the contestants before the quiz begins. I remember she used to do
the same with us during my time, but a bit of a private conversation trying to
get us to relax and loosen up. Fast forward to present day, with the social
media behemoth the quiz has become these days, the interviews have become more
public and something that people often look forward to since it helps set the tone
for the contest. But most of the interviews were a bit wooden and one-way, but
you can’t blame the contestants since they are focused on the contest and are
not used to being put on the spot. The interview I really liked was the one
from the St Francis Xavier contestants before their contest with Prempeh
College, because it was so ebullient and a refreshing change from what we had
seen so far or since. Probably there should be some training for the quiz
contestants to get them to loosen up, but not too much to distract from the
main thing of focusing on the contest.
9. Social
Media and the Review Show: We have talked a lot about social media and I don’t
need to repeat myself or emphasize the effect it has had on the competition in
terms of stirring interest. I am more interested in talking about the new
addition, which is the NSMQ Review Show. It was a great opportunity for people
to come on and analyze the various contests as the competition progressed. Most
of the analysis was spot on and it did give an insight into the quiz
competition for those who for one reason or another could not follow the
contests. One thing that many people have suggested and I think can be
incorporated more into the review show is giving the various statistics and
head-to-head records of the schools participating in various contests. This
would give some more spice to the whole competition and to the individual
contests. It would also be a great feature for the various stats nerds to do
some more scientific analysis, which could aid how teams prepare for the
competition.
10. Prizes:
At the end of the grand finale, there is nothing better than to see your
efforts rewarded with a lot of prizes and goodies. Just hearing the prizes on
offer made me send a post to various colleagues and lament our participating in
the NSMQ far too early! Hearing the amounts involved though made me raise a
question, would these adolescents receive advice on how to use that money
wisely? There has to be someone in their ear guiding them into investing the
money for their future, putting them into treasury bonds and other great
investments and let their money work for them. After all, they earned it
through hard work. Why don’t they try to earn more money from their hard work through
smart work?
On this
note, I conclude my insights on this year’s NSMQ. It has been a fun experience
following it, my favourite part being the picture of the police officer
stationed just to protect Auntie Elsie’s paper bag (#OperationProtectHandbag
#OnceBittenTwiceShy). To Persco, I offer my congratulations for winning for the
third time. It was a struggle, but you did overcome it to win. I know lots of
people would make noise about it, even in my own family but it’s just for a
year so we would let it slide. To WASS, you were the team of the competition for
me as well as many other patrons. You have shown that having the time to form a
good team and to prepare well can take you far, and shown us that your
performance last year was no fluke. To Adisco, commiserations are in order. You
have shown great consistency in reaching four consecutive finals, which is no
mean feat. Although you have only won it once in that run, that consistency is
nothing to be sneered at but to be appreciated. To all the other schools that
participated, you all did your best and we are all appreciative of your
efforts. Participating in such a competition is not easy, but you did show what
you are made of and I wish you all the best in the future. My only hope is that
Augusco will come next year and silence all the trolls that have been on their
backs up to this point! So till next time, work hard and play hard!
