The West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is a critical assessment impacting students’ future educational and career opportunities; however, recent reports indicate a concerning decline in performance among Ghanaian students. In the 2025 WASSCE, more than half of the candidates failed to secure the pass grades required for tertiary admission: only 48.73% of candidates achieved the minimum passes in Core Subjects. These results confirm one of the poorest national performances recorded recently.
This underscores the need to critically examine the contributory factors to understand the root causes of this alarming trend.
The dynamics of Summative Assessment
A summative assessment examination alone does not accurately measure a student’s academic strength. And this is due to several reasons:
Stress and Anxiety: The pressure of standardised tests can lead to stress and anxiety, which may affect a student’s performance and overall understanding of the material.
Limited Scope: Summative assessments typically focus on a narrow range of skills and knowledge, thereby providing a snapshot of students’ understanding and achievement. This often leaves out critical thinking, problem-solving, and other important aspects of learning.
Overemphasis on Performance: The focus on performance outcomes can create a negative feedback loop, encouraging students to prioritise performance over genuine learning and retention.
Memorisation Over Critical Thinking: Standardised tests often emphasise memorisation over critical thinking and real-world problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic success.
Enhancing Students’ Achievements in Core Subjects
The fact that the low performance was not just in one subject or situated in one region underscores a multifaceted issue which calls for comprehensive policy reforms. Secondary education should prioritise mastery of core foundational subjects because they have become the determinant of long-term academic and career success.
Science: Educators can set questions that not only illustrate science concepts but also enhance students’ understanding. Focus strategies should centre on clear and concise language; incorporate practical skills, use keywords like “explain,” “compare,” “describe,” and “evaluate” to help students structure their responses effectively.
Mathematics: Mathematics questions should be designed to challenge students’ understanding and application of key principles to evidence competency in key mathematical skills. Focus should be on the Interpretation of data, application of real-life issues, and translation of word problems into mathematical expressions.
English: Encourage active learning to develop critical thinking skills and confidence. Questions could be set using a variety of assessment methods and question types to help students analyse, interpret, and compare texts from different genres and time periods. Focus on comprehension and analysis; Encourage creative expression, and provide clear and concise instructions.
Conducive Learning Environment
The school settings must promote effective learning by ensuring physical comfort, emotional safety, and positive social interactions among students and teachers.
Child-Centred Approach: Teaching styles, teaching resources, and learning materials must meet individual learning needs to enhance a positive learning atmosphere.
Continuous Formative assessment: To test understanding and promote retention, there must be informal tests to assess students’ comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress throughout a lesson, allowing for real-time adjustments to teaching methods. Assessments must not just be limited to end-of-year testing, but a national remediation programme: early (JHS/SHS-1 level) for low performers. Plus, a nationwide literacy and numeracy intervention scheme.
Disadvantaged Schools: Inequalities in society do not foster equal access and opportunity for all learners. This underscores the importance of providing educational materials to under-resourced schools; for example, providing laboratory facilities for science subjects. It is unfair that students who do not have a science laboratory in their school to experiment with theory-to-practice are expected to write the same WASSCE examination as students from advantaged schools.
Digital learning: This facilitates instant access to a wide range of online learning tools to enhance students’ education. Disadvantaged students may not have access to computers, electricity and the internet. This category of students may not be able to extend their learning beyond the school premises, thereby putting them at a disadvantage compared to their peers with these learning facilities.
Safety and Security: There should be on-site Safeguarding Officers and a confidential office where students can feel safe to discuss their issues and challenges. Some teachers can be trained to provide pastoral and mentoring support to students.
Moral Education: Back in the days, we used to have a book entitled “Courtesy for Boys and Girls”. The aim was to foster emotional and social growth, guiding students to navigate life’s complexities with a sound moral compass. Beyond the traditional academic education, which focuses on cognitive skills, education must also encompass moral lessons right from pre-school.
There is too much negative influence on the youth these days, stemming predominantly from the influence of social media. Recent videos of young school girls on TikTok in their school uniforms saying all sorts of unprintable words, including telling married women to hide their husbands because they are on school holidays. These brazen behaviours should be our collective concern as a society. Therefore, moral education should emphasise the development of character traits such as empathy, integrity, responsibility, and respect. The focus should be on developing ethical principles, values, and virtues among students; enabling them to distinguish between right and wrong, and helping them become responsible and compassionate members of society.
Comprehensive Sexual Health and Reproduction Education: I believe we, as a society, should not shy away from teaching CSHR education to our children. However, this must be age and stage appropriate, and should be done in consultation with parents, community heads and religious leaders – and must be delivered within the milieu of our culture.
Mobile Phones and Social Media: There must be either no access to, or limited access to, mobile phones while students are on the school premises. This could help minimise distractions from social media and the reliance on AI to do their coursework. School administration must implement appropriate filtering and monitoring systems to block students from accessing unhealthy sites on the internet. This is a critical responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of students. Australia’s social media ban for people aged under 16 has officially started, marking a world-first push to protect children from phone addiction and online harms.
Alliance: Universities and the Secondary Schools Directorate
Countries with strong university–secondary school collaboration, like Finland, Singapore, and South Korea, consistently achieve higher student outcomes. Their systems work because universities, ministries, and high schools function as one ecosystem — not separate silos. The core reason for the alignment between secondary-school teaching and university expectations is that universities are the final consumers of the SHS curriculum. Thus, they can clearly see the gaps in the foundational maths and science skills. academic writing. research and critical thinking. and problem-solving.
If universities communicate these gaps to the Secondary Schools Directorate, the curriculum and teaching methods can be adjusted to prepare students more effectively. The advantages include: Early identification of skill gaps; Collaborative teacher development; Improved examination standards and assessment literacy, and a structured pathway.
Ghanaian universities should liaise with the Secondary Schools Directorate. This partnership can improve WASSCE performance, strengthen teaching quality, modernise curriculum delivery, and better prepare students for the demands of 21st-century learning. Without such collaboration, secondary education and tertiary expectations will continue to be misaligned, and poor outcomes could persist.
What Ghana could consider from the UK System that Works for Them
What Ghana’s education system could adopt from the UK secondary-school model, emphasising evidence-based elements, includes:
Continuous Assessment, Not Exam-Only Pressure: The UK does not rely solely on final, high-stakes examinations. Students are assessed through coursework. projects. teacher assessments and periodic formative tests. This approach could reduce exam anxiety and provide a full picture of a student’s academic ability. This helps to increase genuine continuous assessment weight (not just paperwork). This could reduce the overdependence on BECE and WASSCE as the key measure of intellect, and the adoption of project-based learning as part of grading.
Student Support Systems: UK schools have strong student support structures: school counsellors, learning difficulties units, special education departments, career guidance offices, and mental-health support services.
Safeguarding: There are dedicated counsellors and a child protection officer in every school. There is also an ongoing screening and assessment for learning disorders like dyslexia, ADHD, mild autism, etc.
Vetting of UK teachers for DBS: One of the most important tools in maintaining child protection is the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. UK teachers are vetted for DBS checks to ensure they are suitable to work with children. The checks help prevent individuals with relevant criminal records or a history of harmful behaviour from being placed in positions of trust. It also checks how schools support safeguarding legislation and ensure compliance with UK law on education and child safety.
Strong Partnership Between Schools and Universities: UK universities work closely with secondary schools through curriculum alignment, outreach programmes – subject-specific workshops, teacher mentoring, and feedback on skills gaps. On this premise, the GES Secondary Directorate should have a structured collaboration between the universities. They could institute university-led subject clinics in SHSs and a joint curriculum review committee.
Teacher Quality, Training, and Accountability: One of the UK’s greatest strengths is teacher professionalism. There is a mandatory requirement of teacher certification, and periodic re-certification (Qualified Teacher Status) – plus, a mandatory professional development (CPD) training.
Strong Governance and Accountability: UK schools are reviewed by OFSTED, which assesses teaching quality, leadership performance, safeguarding, and students’ academic outcomes. The inspection process is designed to identify schools that require improvement and provide them with the necessary support to enhance their performance. However, it can also lead to significant consequences such as losing funding, being forced into academisation, and facing scrutiny measures. To ensure mandatory improvement plans for underachieving schools, Ghana can set up a fully independent school quality assurance authority, with public publication of school league performance reports.
Publication of school league performance reports: To ensure mandatory improvement plans for underachieving schools, Ghana can set up a fully independent school quality assurance authority, with the publication of school league performance reports. This could serve as a means to measure and compare the performance of schools based on standardized test scores and other academic outcomes. These reports could provide parents, policymakers, and the public with a comparative measure of school performance, promoting accountability and driving improvements in educational standards. The reports should be based on data collected from local schools, regions, districts, and examination boards, and can be used to monitor school effectiveness and pupil progress
Integration of Digital Learning: the UK uses digital tools for homework, assessments, content delivery, revision apps, and school communication. Ghana can introduce blended learning platforms. Provide digital resources for SHS students. Standardised e-textbooks and digital libraries, and train teachers to use tech effectively.
Modern Teaching Methods – Less Rote Learning: UK schools use inquiry-based learning, problem-solving, discussions and debates, hands-on project work, and blended e-learning. This builds critical thinking instead of memorisation.
Parent Engagement and Behaviour Management: Parents must be active participants in their children’s education. UK schools have structured parent-school communication, clear behaviour policies, and consistent discipline frameworks.
Career guidance linked to industry and tertiary institutions: This is a critical component of tertiary education and training, especially in the context of industry and vocational education. It aims to provide students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in their chosen careers.
Vocational and academic pathways that are equally valued. The UK provides strong vocational options, such as BTECs and Apprenticeships, directly connected to businesses and industries.
Lift the prestige of TVET: Make it a first choice, not a “last resort”. Strengthen SHS/TVET–industry partnerships. Provide pathways for TVET graduates to enter universities.
Mandatory Education for under 16-year-olds: Age 16 is the compulsory school leaving age in the UK. Failure to ensure a child’s regular attendance at the school at which he/she is registered is a criminal offence under the Education Act 1996. In the UK, if a school-going child is seen roaming during school hours, police officers may question them. This power is part of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It is part of the legal framework to ensure that children attend school regularly and are not absent without lawful authority. If a registered pupil of compulsory school age fails to attend school regularly, the parent could be guilty of an offence under section 444 Education Act 1996. Parents can be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice by the local authority for their child’s non-attendance.
Conclusion
The 2025 WASSCE results are not just disappointing numbers; they are a wake-up call. They reveal not just a failing examination cohort, but systemic weaknesses in Ghana’s secondary-education architecture. Left unaddressed, the slide threatens to erode human-capital gains and undermine long-term national development. Only through a concerted effort of urgent reforms with all stakeholders can this trend be reversed. Failure to do so will perpetuate a cycle of academic underachievement with long-term adverse effects. This crisis, however, can become a turning point for academic recovery and improvement. Read More
Author: Dr Abena Nyarkoa. Lecturer and Gender Analyst. Email: info@nkunim.org
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