President John Dramani Mahama has attributed the poor results in the recent WASSCE examination to years of neglect of basic education.
“Recently the West African Exam Council has released the results for the last West African School Certificate Examination and as the honourable Minister has said it has become an issue of great concern to government, parents and the public at large.
“I was speaking with the Minister and I have asked them to do an analysis of the examiner’s report to try and decipher what could have gone so disastrously wrong,” the President stated.
President Mahama bemoaned the poor performance of this year’s WASSCE candidates, insisting that urgent action is needed to reform the education sector.
“It is mind-boggling that with the same teachers, the same factors in play just from one batch to another, one batch does so disastrously. We need to get to the bottom of it,” President Mahama said.
According to the President, a contributing factor to this year’s poor results in the West African Examinations is several years of inability to ensure quality education at the basic level.
The President stressed that the foundational level of the education system needs much improvement.
“But it also emphasizes the issue of foundational learning. One of the major thing that has taken place in the last several years is the neglect of basic education. Inability to send capitation grant, ensuring that we have quality teachers at the foundational level, at the basic level.
“Because it is that level that prepares the child for secondary and tertiary education and once you don’t get that level right, you will just send the child through a conveyer belt like a factory.
“And when it comes out at the end, it will be picked up by quality control and say that this one did not do well. And so our focus must be on foundational learning,” he added.
The 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results have been released with the data showing significant declines in performance in several core subjects.
The English Language subject recorded the highest performance among the core subjects.
According to official statistics, 7 in 10 candidates (69%) achieved a grade between A1 and C6, marking a strong outcome for the compulsory language paper.
The performance in English Language surpasses that of other core subjects among the candidates who sat for the 2025 exams.
The WASSCE results, released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), are crucial for university admissions and employment prospects for the nearly two million candidates who participated.
While the overall passing threshold (A1-C6) in English Language stood at 69%, other core subjects also recorded significant pass rates:
- Social Studies saw 55.82% of candidates achieving A1-C6 grades.
- Core Mathematics saw 48.73% of candidates securing grades between A1 and C6.
- Integrated Science had a pass rate of 57.74% in the A1-C6 band