Anlo Senior High School and Kumasi High School staged a walkout during their 2026 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) 1/8th-stage contest against St. Augustine’s College following a prolonged disagreement over the handling of a disputed Biology question.
The contest was eventually brought to an end without the fifth and final round being completed, with St. Augustine’s College declared the winner based on the scores at the end of Round Four.
The controversy originated from Round One, Question Five in Biology, which was St. Augustine’s College’s major question.
The Quiz Mistress asked the contestants to mention the protective covering of the brain. St. Augustine’s College answered “dura mater,” but the answer was rejected and the question passed to Anlo SHS as a bonus.
Anlo SHS answered “meninges”, which was accepted, earning the school a bonus mark.
St. Augustine’s protests Round One ruling
At the end of Round One, St. Augustine’s College challenged the decision, arguing that the dura mater is one of the layers of the meninges and that its answer should therefore have been accepted.
The Quiz Mistress initially rejected the protest. She explained that the protective covering of the brain consists of the dura mater, arachnoid mater and pia mater, which are collectively known as the meninges.
On that basis, she maintained that St. Augustine’s College had provided only one component of the expected answer, while Anlo SHS had given the complete answer.
The competition subsequently continued through Rounds Two and Three.
However, after Round Three, St. Augustine’s College again raised the same Round One question for reconsideration.
During the ensuing deliberations, a member of the production team made a phone call and subsequently handed the phone to the Quiz Mistress, who remained on the call for several minutes.
Following the consultation, the Quiz Mistress announced that St. Augustine’s College would be awarded a partial score of two marks, citing generosity and magnanimity in reconsidering its answer.
Anlo SHS challenges decision
The decision prompted an immediate protest from Anlo SHS.
The school argued that under the rules governing the competition, a protest concerning a question should be raised within the round in which the question occurred.
Anlo SHS maintained that St. Augustine’s College had already challenged the Biology question at the end of Round One and had its protest rejected, and should therefore not have been allowed to reopen the same matter after Round Three.
Anlo SHS also requested similar consideration for an answer it had provided during the Problem of the Day. According to the school, the answer had been considered correct but was not awarded a mark because the required unit was omitted.
The school argued that if marks were being awarded to St. Augustine’s College on grounds of generosity and magnanimity, similar consideration should be extended to its answer.
The request was rejected.
Consultant expected ‘meninges’
The disagreement deepened over the advice attributed to the Biology consultant.
According to Anlo SHS’s account of the incident, a subsequent telephone conversation with the consultant was placed on loudspeaker after the school protested.
During that conversation, the consultant reportedly indicated that the expected answer was “meninges”, but suggested that St. Augustine’s College could receive one mark because “dura mater” is one of the layers of the meninges.
Anlo SHS further contended that the consultant had not initially been informed that the bonus question had been answered by Anlo SHS with “meninges” and that the answer had already been accepted.
Despite the consultant reportedly recommending one mark for St. Augustine’s College, the Quiz Mistress maintained the award of two marks.
Anlo SHS demands second review
The contest proceeded through Round Four, but Anlo SHS again petitioned against the decision before the final round.
The school maintained that the expected answer had been confirmed as “meninges,” which its contestants had provided when the question was passed to them as a bonus.
It further argued that St. Augustine’s College’s protest had already been determined after Round One and that reopening the same issue after Round Three was inconsistent with the rules on when protests should be made.
Anlo SHS also argued that because it had correctly answered the bonus and had already been awarded the mark, the subsequent reconsideration of St. Augustine’s College’s original answer should not invalidate its accepted response.
The disagreement led to a prolonged interruption of the contest.
Eventually, officials decided that the competition should proceed to Round Five, the Riddles, despite Anlo SHS insisting that its petition should first be reconsidered.
Anlo SHS and Kumasi High stage walkout
When the Quiz Mistress began reading the first clue of the opening riddle, Anlo SHS maintained that the contest should not continue until its petition had received further consideration.
Kumasi High School subsequently joined Anlo SHS in calling for the petition to be reconsidered before the final round proceeded.
Teachers accompanying the two schools then instructed their contestants to leave the stage, resulting in contestants from Anlo SHS and Kumasi High School walking out of the contest.
The development left St. Augustine’s College as the only school remaining on stage.
After a delay of about one to two hours, the Quiz Mistress declared St. Augustine’s College the winner based on the scores recorded at the end of Round Four, without the Riddles round being completed.
St. Augustine’s College consequently qualified for the quarter-final stage of the 2026 NSMQ.
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