Education and Management Expert, Mr. Nii Armah Addy has said the provisional results for candidates who sat for the 2021 WASSCE as released by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) exonerates Think Tank, Education Watch Ghana (EDUWATCH).
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, Mr. Addy explained that while WAEC initially vehemently denied allegations by EDUCWATCH that the examination process, as conducted by WAEC, was fraught with challenges, the release of the provisional results indicates that WAEC had no basis for rejecting the findings of the Think Tank. “I mean I totally agree with them [EDUWATCH]. They have been vindicated. They said it and WAEC said no. the results have shown that there was mass malpractice,” he said.
He explained the numbers supposedly involved in the malpractice, should be of great worry to WAEC, thus encouraging the Council to ensure strictness in the Monitoring and Evaluation of the processes of the examinations it conducts. Mr. Addy implored the Council to investigate the claims thoroughly and take needed steps to remedy the situation.
Mr. Addy explained that government and all related stakeholders should not pat themselves on the back as the general performance of the students does not spell excellence.
Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) has described as unacceptable, the dips in the performance of students who sat for the 2021 WASSCE in subjects like Core Mathematics and English Language. The President of GNAPS Dr. Damasus Tuurosung explained that the situation is even more worrying when is a comparative analysis is done on the performances of students who wrote the 2020 WASSCE and those who wrote this year. He said even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, when students had very little time with the teachers in the classrooms, the students performed better.
Also, stakeholders in the educations sector are worried about what it described as government’s continuous investment towards expanding access to education while continually ignoring the challenges with regard to the quality of the education being provided. The Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) explained that while the drive to expand access to education is a good one, the quality of education being offered should not be sacrificed.
Background
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released provisional results of candidates, who sat for the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2021 in Ghana. WAEC said it will make available login details to Heads of school to enable them print the statement of results of their candidates.
In a statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs Mrs. Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, WAEC cautioned the candidates against falling prey to the activities of scammers who promise to upgrade results for a fee. According to WAEC, a total of 446,352 candidates, made up of 221,439 (49.6 %) males and 224,913 (50.4 %) females from 965 schools sat for the examination. This figure is 18.8% higher than the 2020 figure of 375,763. A total of 3,545 (0.79 %) of the candidates who registered were absent from the examination.
WAEC through the statement indicated that some 54.08 percent of students who sat for the exam passed the English Language. Another 54.11 who sat for the exam passed the mathematics subject while some 65.70 percent of candidates passed in Integrated Science. The statement indicated that 66.03 percent of candidates passed the Social Studies exam.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
