For a school that had built a reputation for going deep into the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) in recent years, Opoku Ware School’s 2026 campaign ended far earlier than expected.

The two-time champions were knocked out at the One-Eighth Stage after their disappointing contest involving Bishop Herman College and Asanteman SHS, bringing to an end a run that had seen OWASS reach at least the quarterfinals in every edition from 2022 to 2025.

The disappointment was made even sharper by the manner of their exit.

OWASS began the contest brightly, but their advantage gradually disappeared as Asanteman SHS and Bishop Herman College took control. By the closing stages, the two schools were tied on 43 points, while OWASS had fallen to 31.

A tie-breaker was required to determine who would claim the final quarter-final ticket, and Bishop Herman held their nerve to progress.

For OWASS, however, the contest was already over.

The elimination represents a significant setback for a school that had enjoyed a notable resurgence in the NSMQ.

Since 2022, OWASS had consistently made the quarter-finals. The school went a step further in 2023, reaching the Grand Finale and finishing third, before returning to the final in 2025. Their 2025 campaign was particularly impressive, with OWASS reaching the semi-finals and eventually qualifying for the Grand Finale.

That recent consistency had raised expectations around the school heading into 2026.

After reaching the final only the previous year, few would have expected OWASS to exit at the One-Eighth Stage — especially without even making it to the quarter-finals.

But behind the disappointing result lies a question that has increasingly surfaced around the school’s campaign: did preparation begin too late?

‘We knew they weren’t the best’

A source with close knowledge of the school’s Science and Maths team believes the result should not have come as a complete surprise.

Speaking on the team’s preparation, the source admitted that there were concerns about the strength of the 2026 contestants even before the competition began.

“We knew they weren’t the best but this was too bad. Really unexpected.”

The comment points to a difficult reality behind OWASS’ early exit: the problem may not have been one bad day on the stage, but rather a preparation process that did not give the contestants enough time to develop into a competitive team.

Why weren’t the contestants changed?

One obvious question is why the school did not replace the contestants if concerns about their readiness had already emerged.

According to the source, however, the issue was not necessarily the ability of the students themselves.

The bigger problem, they suggested, was when the preparation began.

“They didn’t begin preparation early, so it wasn’t the fault of the students.”

The explanation offers a different perspective on the 2026 campaign. Rather than blaming the contestants for failing to deliver, the source believes the students were placed in a difficult position by the limited preparation time available to them.

The students may have had the potential, but the time required to sharpen that potential was not available.

The source says the difference between the current approach and previous preparations was significant.

According to the account, contestants in earlier years had begun preparing almost immediately after completing Junior High School, while the 2026 team did not begin its serious preparations until late 2025.

Even though the students had been identified before entering senior high school, their actual training for the NSMQ came much later.

“Even though they were also scouted pre-SHS, their training was delayed (began late 2025). They seemed quite inexperienced and didn’t have enough time to improve.”

That delay, the source believes, left the team short of the experience and refinement required to compete at the highest level.

NSMQ success is rarely determined by raw academic ability alone. Contestants must become accustomed to the speed of answering, the pressure of the stage, the format of the questions and, importantly, working seamlessly with a teammate.

Those qualities are developed through repetition and sustained exposure.

For OWASS, the concern is that the 2026 team simply did not have enough time to go through that process.

Did the absence of the zonal championship matter?

Another possible explanation is OWASS’ failure to participate in the zonal championship this year.

The zonal competition has traditionally provided an opportunity for schools to test their teams against strong opposition before the national championship. It can expose weaknesses, build confidence and give contestants valuable competition experience.

But the source does not believe the absence of the zonal championship was the decisive factor.

“I really doubt that would have made a significant change because our time we began preps right after JHS.”

For the source, the bigger issue was not the absence of one competition but the overall length and intensity of preparation.

The zonal championship could have helped, but it could not have completely compensated for months of preparation that were lost.

The disappointment is particularly significant given OWASS’ history in the competition.

The school won the NSMQ in 1997 and 2002, but has been searching for another title for more than two decades. Their most recent triumph came in 2002, when they defeated St. Peter’s SHS to claim their second championship.

Since then, OWASS have repeatedly come close. They have appeared in the Grand Finale on several occasions, including 2003, 2005, 2008, 2016, 2020, 2023 and 2025. They finished as runners-up in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2016, while placing third in 2020, 2023 and 2025.

That history makes their recent resurgence particularly noteworthy.

The school had appeared to be building towards another serious title challenge after consecutive deep runs from 2022, culminating in another Grand Finale appearance in 2025.

Instead, 2026 has brought a sharp reversal.

What next for OWASS?

They start 2027 NSMQ from scratch by competing in the Ashanti Regional qualifiers with unseeded schools.

The 2026 National Science and Maths Quiz is produced by Primetime Limited and sponsored by the Ghana Education Service with support from Goil Plc, Prudential Life Insurance, Pepsodent, Trustur AI, Cowbell, Jupay Money Transfer, Lumevax, GTP, SpinCITI Laundromat, Didi Jollof, Bel Beverages, Accra College of Medicine and Coronation Insurance and Academic City University.

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