NSMQ 2025: Attafuah SHTS Disqualified From the Competition for Cheating

• Attafuah Senior High Technical School (SHTS) in the Eastern Region has been disqualified from the 2025 NSMQ
• The school was dropped after the contestants representing it were caught cheating in the fourth round
• Social media users shared their thoughts on the matter, with some people wondering how possible it is to cheat

Attafuah Senior High Technical School (SHTS) has been disqualified from the 2025 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ).

The school participated in the preliminary stages of the national competition on Friday, October 24, 2025.

In their contest, they squared it out with Serwaa Nyarko Girls’ Senior High School and Northern School of Business.

However, in the fourth round of the competition, the organisers noticed that the representatives of Attafuah SHTS were cheating. Videos on social media showed that someone in the crowd was doing gestures to show them the answers to the questions.

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The fourth round is usually a true or false stage.

At one point, the quiz mistress told the students to stop looking in the crowd and only focus on her. However, the boys continued to look against the quiz mistress's directive.

After several warnings, the organisers of the NSMQ disqualified the school. The learning institution was also banned for one year from participating in the competition. It is not clear yet if further sanctions will be meted out against the school.

This is the first time the school has contested in the NSMQ since the competition started. Many also indicated that disqualifying a school in the competition is unheard of, possibly making it the first time a competing institution has been disqualified.

After Attafuah SHTS was disqualified, Serwaa Nyarko Girls’ Senior High School and Northern School of Business were left to compete for a slot in the next stage.

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At the end of the contest, Serwaa Nyarko Girls’ Senior High School and Northern School of Business scored 34 points. Serwaa Nyarko Girls’ SHS broke the tie to win the contest and qualify for the one-eighth stage of the competition.

Reactions to Attafuah SHTS NSMQ disqualification

YEN.com.gh collated some reactions to the post shared by NSMQ on X. Read them below:

@Matey_Korley asked:

"What actually was this cheating? @NSMQGhana can you please elaborate more for us?"

@1ReallPablo responded:

"Someone in the audience was gesturing to the contestants on stage."

@He_is_Free08 wrote:

"😂 Cheating in NSMQ? How?"

@TeoRanchoddas said:

"Cheating ??? That’s new."

@owusu_adum wrote:

"I’ve never seen a school being disqualified (for cheating) in NSMQ before 👀."

@KwaoBuabeng said:

"They have to be strict with the True/False section this year. It is very easy to cheat in that round. Other schools have been suspected of cheating in that round in the past, including Achimota in the 2023 final."

@Kwadaso_BBC wrote:

"Just imagine them writing WASCCE. Cheating be what???? 😂😂😂."

@Venunye_F said:

"Attafuah promised to change the face of the competition and yes, they did. Being the first school I have ever seen being disqualified."

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Adisco advances to 2025 NSMQ one-eighth stage

YEN.com.gh reported that Adisadel College has advanced to the one-eighth stage of the 2025 NSMQ competition.

Adisadel's win caused a young lady to express her desire to marry an Adisco old student. She was also hopeful that the school would win the competition this year.

Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh