Why Cornwall lost the match

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I am responding to a letter captioned 'Unfair result for CC quiz team', which was published in The Gleaner on Friday, March 4. Television Jamaica is aware of the concerns raised by many of our viewers about the outcome of the recent Schools' Challenge Quiz match between Cornwall College and Ardenne High. As a result of the concerns, TVJ requested an official report from the sitting judges in the match. These are the highlights from the official report.

At the beginning of the third section of the match, the scores were Ardenne High 31, Cornwall 24. During that final round, Ardenne answered four questions correctly and three questions incorrectly. This gave them a net gain of two points, and at the end of the match their score was 33 points. CC answered eight questions correctly and three questions incorrectly. Their net gain was 10 points, and at the end of the match, their score was 34 points.

This was the official score but it did not correspond to the on-screen scores, which were incorrect. Therefore, the presenter, Jean-Paul Menou, did not announce a winner, but a break was taken to review the scores.

Review and queries

In the break, it was established and confirmed with the official scorer, judges and both sets of team coaches that the final scores before the break were actually CC 34, Ardenne 33.

Also during this break, there were several queries from both schools: Ardenne contended that their answer to the Bible knowledge question: "Which ruler told the Apostle Paul that he (Paul) almost persuaded him to become a Christian"? was correct. Ardenne's answer was Herod Agrippa, instead of the stated answer of Herod Agrippa II. The judges agreed with Ardenne. The result was that the two points which were deducted from Ardenne were restored, moving their score to 35. They were then awarded two more points by the judges for giving the correct answer, moving their final score to 37.

CC contended that their answer to the general knowledge question: "What is the name that archaeologists use to refer to one of the carved symbols used in ancient Egyptian writing?" was correct. Cornwall's answer was 'hieroglyphics', instead of the stated answer of glyph or hieroglyph. The judges turned down Cornwall's query and their points tally remained at 34 points.

CC also challenged Ardenne's pronunciation of the French, Au revoir. However, the judges ruled that the pronunciation was acceptable. The final score for the match was, therefore, Ardenne 37, CC 34.

TVJ accepts that the presenter could have given a more detailed explanation of the changes, and since then we have implemented measures to ensure this is done. We value the comments of our viewers and look forward to continue providing them with a programme of the highest quality in keeping with the proud tradition of Schools' Challenge Quiz.

I am, etc.,

MICHAEL GONZALES

Producer,

TVJ Schools' Challenge Quiz