President Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed disappointment in former President John Mahama’s criticism of the credibility of results from the recent West Africa Senior Schools Certificate Examination.
The National Democratic Congress flagbearer last year alleged that some invigilators were lax, allowing teachers to assist students in answering questions hence the high numbers of students passing the exams.
These remarks followed Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum’s announcement that the 2023 results were the best since 2015.
Mahama argued that cheating compromises the quality of education, stating, “You certify these children saying they are of this standard either the BECE or SSCE, and that child will use that certificate, go abroad to a school, and they will find out that your qualification is not up to the standard you say it is.”
But addressing the 187th speech and prize-giving day at Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, President Akufo-Addo dismissed Mahama’s criticism as lacking merit.
He expressed regret that political dynamics led some, including Mahama, to question the results’ integrity without any foundation.
President Akufo-Addo emphasized the quality of education under the free senior high school program, citing the 2023 WASSCE results as evidence. He commended the “Akufo-Addo graduates,” noting that from 2020 to 2023, more than 50% of candidates obtained A1 to C6 in all core subjects, indicating a significant improvement in education quality.
“It is a pity though that the sad nature of aspects of contemporary Ghanaian politics drove some otherwise allegedly responsible people including your former President and current NDC Presidential candidate to question the integrity of the results happily without any foundation and to attribute these results to cheating.
“Students of Wesley Girls High School, do you cheat in examinations? This loud no will send a strong message to those who expressed these unfortunate, misguided sentiments.”
“The WASSCE results of the students I proudly call the Akufo-Addo graduates have shown that the quality of education has not deteriorated but on the contrary, it has improved significantly. The results of the Akufo-Addo graduates in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 are the only years in the past decade that show that more than 50% of the candidates obtained A1 to C6 in all core subjects.”