dumbstruck by questions in the Bermuda National Quiz Contest for Schools.

A competition mistake deprived two schools of preparation material for vital questions -- leaving perplexed children shaking their heads in dismay at being unable to provide answers.

Organisers at the Ministry of Youth and Sports have already apologised for the embarrassment caused to the young contestants live on ZBM television.

And they have vowed to launch a full investigation into how both schools, Saltus and Clearwater, were left underprepared for the big showdown.

Parent Rodney Trott, whose 11-year-old daughter Teshae competed for the losing Clearwater Middle School team, said the youngsters had been denied access to research material for up to 70 questions.

He said the six girls on the Clearwater team were so distressed at the humiliation that they shed tears before the quiz interval.

They even had to be persuaded to re-take their seats after the break.

Mr. Trott said: "I don't mind losing but I want a level playing field. These kids were humiliated on national TV and I want to know what went wrong.

"My daughter was in tears, so were the other girls and they were all very embarrassed. It was unfair and they didn't want to continue with the competition which they had prepared so hard for.

"They were too embarrassed to go on and their confidence was severely rocked.

Something has to be done about it and the parents are now writing to the Ministry to complain.'' The three-hour competition -- in its 13th year -- was eventually won by children from Warwick Academy, who also took the title in 1997.

But teacher Terrylynn Weeks, who prepared the Clearwater team, said her side had tied third with Warwick Academy during Thursday's practice run.

"We discovered quite early in Saturday's competition that we hadn't been given the research facts for quite a few questions,'' she said.

"The children had spent months preparing for this and they were really looking forward to it.

"But in the end they felt so embarrassed, they were crying and it was a horrible experience for them. They were publicly humiliated and we want people to know that they did not have a fair chance.'' Clearwater came last out of the six teams with 125 points. Sandys Middle School were fifth with 145, CedarBridge came fourth with 180, Saltus were third with 235 and Mount Saint Agnes finished second on 240 -- just five points behind the winners.

Brenton Roberts, Director of Youth and Sports, said he was "distraught'' about the error and the quiz contest committee was already investigating.

And he said a simple photocopying error could have been the reason for the shambles.

Mr. Roberts said: "We ask about 2,000 questions and the schools are given sets of facts between September and December so they can prepare.

"Saltus and Clearwater were the victims but we do not believe it affected as many as 70 questions.

"It was a simple error and we have asked the two schools to send us back their questions so we can check.

"It might have been an error in photocopying or something like that and I was distraught myself that some of the young people didn't appear to have the same chance.

"It was our 13th event so perhaps it was jinxed. We are sorry that this happened, we are glad that the parents have taken it so seriously and we are now actively looking into it.'' Four children scored maximum marks in individual question rounds -- Karen Watts from Warwick Academy, Sean Kelly from Mount Saint Agnes, Lesley Smith from Saltus and Adinoyi Jetto from CedarBridge.

EDUCATION ED