Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, a Supreme Court judge has stated that the difficulties faced by girls’ schools in preparing for the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) have an impact on their performance in the competition.
In an interview with JoyNews’ Mamavi Owusu-Aboagye, she explained that winning the NSMQ requires practice and preparation, which girls’ schools may struggle with due to parents’ attachment to their daughters.
“when I hear the kind of preparation and practice the boys’ schools put their contestants through, then I know it will be a challenge for the young women because parents tend to want their daughters to come home during vacation. Most of the contestants stay on in school and parents don’t like that with their daughters,” she said.
Prof Mensa-Bonsu, using herself as an example, stated that as a young girl, her parents inquired about her whereabouts when they returned home, just as many parents do in the case of their daughters.
“So I don’t think they would have agreed that I should just stay on in school preparing for a contest two years ahead as the boys do,” she noted.
Prof Mensa-Bonsu continued by saying that the young ladies are every bit as intelligent and capable as the boys, but with everything, practice is required, and they simply do not have the time.
This follows public outrage over the elimination of all girls’ schools from the 2022 NSMQ competition.
Prof Mensa- Bonsu’s alma mater, Wesley Girls High School, was unseeded for the first time in eight years and will have to compete in the regional qualifiers.
They are also the only girl’s school to reach the finals. They made their first appearance in the finals in 1999 but were defeated by Mfantsipim.