President Mahama Attributes WASSCE Performance Decline to Years of Neglect in Basic Education

President John Dramani Mahama has attributed the sharp drop in performance in the latest West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to prolonged neglect of Ghana’s basic education sector.

Speaking at the launch of the STEMBox initiative for primary schools, the President highlighted that the decline underscores critical weaknesses in foundational learning, exacerbated by chronic delays in the release of capitation grants and the failure to ensure quality teaching at the basic level.

“A strong foundation is crucial for learner progression. One of the major issues in recent years has been the neglect of basic education, delays in capitation grants, and the inability to ensure quality teachers at the foundational level,” Mahama said.

He warned that students who lack essential skills are often moved through the education system without the competence needed to excel, describing the practice as pushing children “through like a conveyor belt.” He stressed that the repercussions of weak foundational learning inevitably manifest in poor secondary and tertiary education outcomes.

“It emphasizes the issue of foundational learning. At the end, quality control shows that students are not performing well. Our focus must be on foundational learning,” he added.

The President said the decline is a matter of serious concern for the government, parents, and the public. He disclosed that the Minister of Education has been tasked with conducting a thorough analysis of the examiners’ report to identify the root causes of the poor results, noting that teaching conditions had remained largely unchanged.

“It is mind-boggling that with the same teachers and the same conditions, one batch performs so disastrously. We need to get to the bottom of it,” Mahama stated, underscoring the urgency of addressing deficiencies at the basic education level to prevent future systemic failures.