1. ELIGIBILITY

1. The Junior Science & Maths Quiz (JSMQ), a quiz competition organized by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, is open to all Junior High Schools (from Basic 7-9) in the respective regions of Ghana.
2. A contestant must be a JHS pupil at the time of registration for the contest. Form 3 pupils awaiting their B.E.C.E results are eligible to compete.
3. Each school must register a team of four (4) contestants but only two (2) can contest at a time.
4.  A school must register to contest. Schools which register after the registration deadline may not be considered.
5.  Each school will be required to pay a non-refundable commitment fee at the time of registration. The commitment fee will be determined by the organizing team at the start of every registration period.
6. Schools which fail to pay the commitment fee cannot participate in the quiz.
7. It must be noted that the payment of the commitment fee does not guarantee automatic right or qualification to compete in the quiz.
8. Schools may raise funds to support their registration and participation in the competition.

 

2. CONTEST RULES

1. The quiz starts at the preliminary level with regional contests.
2. Schools which reach the national finals may be seeded to begin at the 1/8^th stage of the national contest for the following season.

 

3. There are four (4) rounds in the regional contests and five (5) rounds in the national contest.

 

4. The first round of the quiz consists of SIMPLE DIRECT QUESTIONS from Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Each question carries a maximum of 3 points.  There shall be no penalty for a wrong answer. A correct answer to a bonus question attracts one (1) point. A wrong answer to a bonus question attracts a penalty of one (1) point deduction.
5. The second round is the FASTEST BRAIN, FASTEST FINGER round. About eight (8) questions are thrown to all schools to compete for. A correct answer attracts FOUR (4) points. An incorrect answer attracts a penalty of one (1) point deduction. Contestants have 40 seconds for questions involving calculations and 15 seconds for questions without calculations. Calculation questions include but not limited to Mathematical equations and problems, balancing of chemical equations, conversion of units, etc.  

 

6. The third round is the round of TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE. Contestants will be engaged in hands-on tasks, and 10 marks will be awarded for the regional contest and 15 marks for the national contest.  

 

7. The fourth round is DECODING THE CLUES.  Questions are thrown at all schools to compete for. A correct answer after the first clue attracts 6 points; 5 points after the second clue, 4 points after the third and and 3 points thereafter.

 

8. The fifth round is the NOBEL PRIZE and SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION Round. Contestants will be asked questions about Nobel prize winners, their contributions to science and the benefits of their discoveries to society. Questions will be given to each competing school to answer. When a school fails to answer a major question, it becomes   available as a bonus question to the other competing schools. If a school gets a major question right, the school can access the two sub-questions under the main question.

 

9. These rules may be modified from time to time as the organisers may deem it fit.

 

C. RULES OF CONDUCT

To ensure fairness, order, and professionalism during the conduct of the JSMQ competition, the following rules and regulations will be enforced.

 

1. General Conduct

1. Participating schools and staff must show respect to the organizers, moderators, judges and fellow schools and teachers throughout the competition.
2. Inappropriate behaviour, including verbal abuse or disruptive conduct, will attract sanctions against the offending school, staff, contestant or student.
3. Participants must adhere strictly to the quiz rules and the instructions given by the quiz moderators and judges during the event.
4. For the purpose of easy identification, competing schools are required to appear in their school uniforms.

 

2. Rules on the conduct of the Quiz

1. Each school must have a team of 2 contestants at a time. Schools are allowed to subtitute their contestants. However, no substitution is allowed once a particular round has started, except in the case of critical incidents and at the discretion of the quiz moderator.
2. The quiz moderator reads out the questions only once for competing schools.  Where the Moderator wants the schools to get a particular preamble, he/she may read out the question twice to ensure schools have gotten the preamble right.

 

3. Each team must answer questions within the time limit given by the quiz moderator. Failure to answer within the given time will result in no points awarded.

 

4. If a participating school or team fails to show up on time or leaves the venue without any valid reason, the participation of the school may be revoked for that particular year and subsequent years.
5. Teams are prohibited from engaging in any form of cheating, including the use of mobile phones, electronic devices or seeking external assistance during the quiz. Any violation of this rule will lead to immediate disqualification.

 

3. Misconduct

The following acts are considered acts of misconduct and are prohibited. Offenders will be sanctioned appropriately:

1. Cheating: Any act by a school, contestant, teacher, etc., intended to give unfair advantage to a school amount to cheating. This may result in immediate disqualification of the team from the competition. The school may also be barred from participating in future events.
2. Disruptive behaviour: Any act of a teacher, contestant, school or supporter which interrupts or disrupts the quiz proceedings including acts of noisemaking, distracting other teams, disrupting the quiz proceedings or acts of violence amount to disruptive behavior. This may result in immediate disqualification of the team from the competition. The school may also be barred from participating in future events.
3. Late Arrival: Teams which arrive after the designated time without prior notice and approval from the quiz organisers may not be allowed to compete.
4. Failure to follow rules: Teams, Schools, teachers, etc., who fail to follow the quiz moderator’s instructions may be warned. Persistent disregard of instructions will attract sanctions, including points deduction or disqualification.

 

D. SANCTIONS

Aside the sanctions mentioned in point 3 above, the Quiz Board may apply any of the following sanctions against schools, teachers, contestants or supporters based on the seriousness of the offence:

1. Warning
   1. A verbal or written warning may be given against offenders.
2. Disqualification
   1. This may be for a specific round of a particular contest or for an entire contest.

 

3. Suspension
   1. A school may be suspended from one or more competitions if the school, teachers, contestants or supporters engage in any form of misconduct.
4. Revocation of seeding rights
   1. A seeded school may lose its seeding rights if the school, teachers, contestants or supporters engage in any form of misconduct.

 

5. Revocation/Denial of an award
   1. A school, contestant or a teacher may have his or her award revoked or denied for any act of misconduct.

 

F. MEANING OF MISCONDUCT

For the purpose of the quiz, a misconduct refers to any act which breaches the rules of the quiz, acts of disrespect to authorities and organisers of the quiz,  cheating, use of abusive language or disruptive behaviour, violence or failure to follow the complaint procedure.

E. COMPLAINT PROCESS

In the conduct of the quiz, schools which have any complaingts are required to follow the following procedure:

1. Submit a complaint to the complaint desk set by the organizing committee.
2. The organizing committee will review the complaint. A final decision will be communicated to the Quiz Moderator and the representative of the school. The decision of the review committee, as announced, will be final.
3. A complaint should be launched before results are announced for the particular round where the complained incident occurred. Any complaints after the round has ended will not be entertained.