Nana Addo’s Final Free SHS Cohort Records the Worst WASSCE Core-Subject Performance in Four Years: A Wake-Up Call for Government, Teachers, and Schools
The release of the 2025 WASSCE results has triggered a storm of national conversation—rightfully so. This year’s performance, the first under President John Mahama’s return to power and the final Free SHS cohort trained entirely under former President Akufo-Addo’s administration, paints a troubling picture of Ghana’s educational trajectory.
The data published by WAEC as part of the release of the 2025 WASSCE results reveals a deeper crisis than many anticipated. For years, Ghanaians were assured that student performance under the Free SHS policy was improving. Yet the 2025 results, particularly in the four core subjects thus English Language, Social Studies, Mathematics and Integrated Science, suggest a sharp decline and raise critical questions about whether results in previous years were accurately reflective of student competence.
A Disturbing Drop in 2025 WASSCE Results For Core-Subject Performance
The statistics speak clearly—and harshly.
In 2025, the percentage of candidates scoring A1–C6 in the core subjects dropped dramatically, especially in Mathematics and Social Studies. WAEC’s data released along with the 2025 WASSCE results shows the following pass rates (A1–C6):
English Language: 69.00%
Mathematics (Core): 48.73%
Integrated Science: 57.74%
Social Studies: 55.82%
When placed beside the previous years’ results, the decline becomes glaring:
Four-Year Trend (A1–C6)
English Language
• 2022: 60.39%
• 2023: 73.11%
• 2024: 69.52%
• 2025: 69.00%
Mathematics (Core)
• 2022: 61.39%
• 2023: 62.23%
• 2024: 66.86%
• 2025: 48.73% (a dangerous plunge)
Integrated Science
• 2022: 62.45%
• 2023: 66.82%
• 2024: 58.77%
• 2025: 57.74%
Social Studies
• 2022: 71.51%
• 2023: 76.76%
• 2024: 71.53%
• 2025: 55.82%
The crash in Mathematics and Social Studies is especially alarming and suggests deeper structural issues than mere student effort.
Did the Free SHS System Deliver the Competence It Promised?
The 2025 WASSCE results reflect the academic maturation of students who were educated entirely under the Free SHS policy as implemented by the previous administration. Many expected the final year of the Akufo-Addo-era educational pipeline to either confirm or disprove the rosy narrative of consistent improvement.
Instead, Ghana has been confronted with the worst WASSCE performance in four years.
This raises unavoidable questions:
Were Ghanaian students genuinely improving between 2022 and 2024?
Or were the earlier results over-celebrated, politically amplified, or even possibly influenced by external pressures to present a favourable picture of Free SHS?
Is the 2025 data the first honest and unembellished reflection of students’ true academic abilities?
There is no evidence that results were manipulated in previous years—but the sharp contrast between 2024 and 2025 naturally invites scrutiny. What we can say with confidence is that the 2025 results expose cracks that may have been widening quietly for years.
The 2025 Data Exposes a Deeper Educational Decline
The details within the subject performance table reveal more than surface trends:
Over 114,000 students scored F9 in Mathematics—more than one in every four candidates.
Over 54,000 failed English outright.
Over 61,000 failed Integrated Science, a subject central to Ghana’s STEM ambitions.
A staggering 122,449 students scored F9 in Social Studies, undermining civic literacy.
These numbers are not simply disappointing—they are catastrophic for a nation aiming to compete globally.
What Went Wrong?
Several compounding problems may explain the downward trajectory:
Overcrowded classrooms created by Free SHS double-track strains
Inadequate teacher-student contact hours
Insufficient teaching materials and laboratory facilities
Teacher morale weakened by delayed promotions, poor remuneration, and resource constraints
Schools forced to improvise and survive on thin budgets
A growing culture of exam dependency instead of conceptual understanding
The 2025 results strongly suggest that these challenges have accumulated into full-blown educational regression.
Teachers, Schools, Ministry of Education, and Government Must Respond Urgently
The data is not just a statistical disappointment—it is a national emergency. Ghana is witnessing a generation of students slipping academically through the cracks of a system that is failing to support them.
This demands collective action:
Teachers of core subjects must intensify pedagogical innovation, assessment discipline, and classroom engagement.
School administrators must prioritize instructional quality, not just student enrollment numbers.
The Ministry of Education must re-evaluate the Free SHS implementation strategy, focusing on quality over quantity.
Government must invest not merely in access, but in academic excellence—resources, training, facilities, and learning tools.
Without a determined national intervention, Ghana risks normalizing low performance as a new standard.
READ: 2025 WASSCE Results: WAEC cancels 6,295 subject results and annuls all results of 653 candidates
2025 WASSCE: A Mirror Ghana Cannot Ignore
The performance of the 2025 cohort—students shaped entirely under the Akufo-Addo-era Free SHS system—has revealed the true state of academic readiness in the country. Whether earlier WASSCE outcomes reflected real competence remains a subject for national debate, but what is certain is that the 2025 results expose a reality that can no longer be glossed over.
If Ghana hopes to rebuild confidence in its educational system, the decline must be confronted boldly, honestly, and urgently.
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