What began as a modest dream to compete in the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) has become a national awakening for Mankranso Senior High School, a Category C school in the Ahafo Ano Southwest District of the Ashanti Region.

This year, the school defied all odds to reach the semifinals of the 2025 NSMQ for the first time in its history. But behind their remarkable success lies a deeper mission, a call for help.

“The reason I joined the quiz team was to lift the school to a level where we could get a platform to show our condition so the government, Ministry of Education, and philanthropists will come to our aid,” NSMQ coordinator, Mr Ibrahim Ofori Yusif.

For many of the students, participating in the competition has been less about glory and more about survival. When they first stepped onto campus, the reality of their learning environment nearly crushed their hopes.

“When you get there, it’s horrible. Not only the lab for the lab, it’s outdated. The classrooms have no furniture, and we don’t even have an assembly hall. The dormitories are horrible.”

Hubert, Abugbilla Adelwin, Augustine Manu Neyare and Blessed Oforiwaa Nsiah, representing Mankranso SHS in the 2025 NSMQ, revealed that they had imagined a standard senior high school experience. Instead, they found deteriorating classrooms, broken furniture, and a science laboratory in ruin.

“At first, I thought we didn’t have a science lab,” Herbert recalled. “Until we went for orientation and they showed us what they called a lab I was surprised. It’s just by the roadside, full of dust, with little or no equipment. I don’t think they’ve renovated it since the school was established.”

For Neyare and Oforiwaa Nsiah, they even thought about quitting.

“When I first arrived, I cried. It wasn’t like what I saw online,” Blessed admitted.

“I told my mother I wanted to leave because I wasn’t interested anymore, but it was too late to change schools,” Neyare.

Yet, something made them stay. Not improved facilities, but a simple, burning hope: to represent their school in the NSMQ and appear on national television.

According to Mr. Ibrahim Ofori, despite objections from relatives, Blessed’s father enrolled his daughter at Mankranso SHS solely because he wanted to see her on that stage.

That ambition, however small, became the team’s unifying purpose.

Under the guidance of Mr. Ibrahim Ofori, the students turned adversity into motivation using the quiz platform not just to compete, but to show the conditions in which they study.

From their first-ever quarterfinal appearance to an inspiring semifinal qualification, Mankranso SHS has forced Ghana to look again at the schools often left behind in the country’s education system.

“I decided to be part of the NSMQ team to use the platform to showcase our school and attract support from the government, stakeholders, and philanthropists” Mr. Yusif told JoyNews. “We hope people will see our situation and help us fix it.”

For a senior high school some of the teachers described as an “advanced JHS” due to its poor infrastructure, their success in the 2025 NSMQ is nothing short of historic.

From worn-out classrooms to the bright national stage, Mankranso SHS has proven that brilliance can rise from broken walls and that with the right support, Ghana’s forgotten schools can shine again.