Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, says the recent decline in exam performance is linked primarily to “inadequate preparation” and a mismatch between teaching methods and the expectations of the examination.
He argued that the concern being raised by the public is justified. “It is great to have conversations around the performance of children in examinations.
“When results go wrong, we discuss them and where there are gaps, we bring them out,” he said on Metro TV monitored by MyNewsGh.
According to him, early feedback from his organisation’s ongoing survey of senior high school teachers points to under-preparation as the leading issue.
“Many of our teachers believe the main contributing reason could have been poor preparation. One headmaster explained to me that the nature of the questions this year were applied, and many students are used to recall-type questions,” he stated.
He added that the applied nature of this year’s questions required comprehension, analysis, and interpretation. “When you prepare for ABC and you meet DF, it means you did not prepare adequately,” he noted.
Mr Asare stressed that deficits in analytical readiness were visible across subjects, particularly mathematics.
He referenced WAEC’s initial observations, saying the challenges cited included “problem understanding, making deductions from real-life problems, and interpreting results from cumulative frequency.”
He also highlighted teacher welfare concerns that may have affected instruction time. “Payment of allowances for extra instructional hours has not been made since last year.
“It is important that GES prioritises paying teachers for the extra work done because it contributes to motivation,” he emphasized.
