Bawku Senior High/Technical School in the Bawku Municipality have emerged winners of the Ghana Muslim Students Association (GMSA) Quiz Competition for senior high schools in the Upper East Region.
Contestants of the school beat stiff competition from contestants of five other schools to claim the bragging right at the Regional GMSA Quiz Competition and Symposium held on May 10, 2025 at the Bolgatanga Girls’ Senior High School.
The quiz commenced in February this year with 23 schools slugging it out in three different zones – Central, Eastern and North-Western – for slots in the next of the competition.
At the end of the zonal competition, three schools from the Central, two from the Eastern and one from North-Western Zones stood out, booking slots in the regional competition.
The six competing schools – Bolgatanga SHS, Bolgatanga Girls’ SHS, Gowrie SH/TS, Awe SH/TS, Bawku SHS and Bawku SH/TS – showcased their general knowledge of the Islamic religion, their Qur’anic recitation skills and knowledge of current affairs of Ghana.
At the end of the five rounds, Bawku SH/TS topped with 39 points, with their neighbours, Bawku SHS following closely with 38 points. Awe SH/TS and Gowrie SH/TS placed third and fourth with 30 and 27 points respectively while Bolgatanga SHS garnered 24.5 to finish at fifth.
Bolgatanga Girls’ SHS, the host school, scored the least points – 19 – finishing at the bottom.
Speaking on the side-lines of the event, National Vice-chairman of GMSA Abdul-Hakim Abdul-Razak explained that the programme is aimed at encouraging knowledge acquisition particularly formal education in the Muslim community.
He noted the significance of knowledge acquisition in Islam and expressed worry over the level of illiteracy in the Muslim community.
“When we speak about Islam, one thing that shouldn’t be left out is the seeking of knowledge. Looking at the first verse (of the holy Qur’an) that was revealed, it speaks about knowledge. There are a lot of signs that are showing that if we are to speak about knowledge in itself, it should be for the Muslim society. But we are not seeing that much in recent years,” he stated.
Abdul-Razak, therefore, entreated Muslim parents to show interest in the formal education of their children.
“We are calling on every parent to should make sure their ward is schooling, not just schooling, but schooling Islamic and secular aspect. And when we hold hand in trying to make this great future for the Muslim society, it is not the Muslim society alone that will benefit but the general environment of the country.”
Ayaaba-Nafiu Mahamuod, one of the contestants of the winning school expressed joy over their victory and urged Muslim youth not to relent on seeking knowledge in Islam.
