Examiners Outline WASSCE Candidates' Weaknesses to Avoid Failure

Each year, WASSCE candidates’ weaknesses and suggested solutions by chief examiners are disclosed to help students and teachers towards preparation for the next examination. These revelations are often not taken seriously by teachers, and students do not often hear about them.

Usually, the chief examiners would set questions around the topics they consider to be the weak links in students’ preparation, and this can lead to high rate of failure if teachers fail to take the necessary steps and ignore the recommendations of the examiners while preparing students for the examination. Better still, they can repeat questions from topics that give students a challenge in the examination or set questions on topics teachers are not teaching very well.

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Students and teachers who take the WASSCE chief examiners report very seriously can know exactly what is expected of them by examiners in answering questions. Note that the recommendations are from the 2020 WASSCE Chief Examiners’ Reports and it is the most current of all reports for students and teachers.

WASSCE candidates’ weaknesses and suggested solutions by chief examiners to Avoid Failure

The Chief Examiners highlighted the following remedies for improvement of performance of candidates:

(a) Candidates should devote time to the reading of relevant literature to enrich understanding of topics in their subject areas.

(b) Candidates of History should have a firm understanding of the socio-economic problems Ghana faced between 1957 and 1991;

(d) Students of Christian Religious Studies should be encouraged to adequately read their text books thoroughly, especially the recommended Bible for the study of the subject (RSV BIBLE);

(e) Geography teachers should give a lot of attention to cross-section drawing and problems hindering the development of sea ports in Ghana;

(f) Candidates of Islamic Studies should pay attention to the narratives of the marital life of the Prophet;

(g) Candidates of Economics should be assisted to understand the effect of inflation on money as a store of value and balance of payment;

(h) Candidates of Government should be assisted to understand the features of Feudalism.

READ: Exam Preparation Tips For Making Grade “A” in Any Subject

How did the chief examiners’ rate Language students?

(1) Poor use of language

The Chief Examiners for English Language 2, Twi (Asante) 2, Fante 2, French 2, Nzema 1 and Fante 1 lamented the rate at which faulty constructions, spelling errors and poor grammar were found in candidates’ responses. Similarly, the Chief Examiners for Ewe 2 and Ga 2 expressed worry about the use of the spoken form of the language instead of the standard one. They lamented the misuse of personal pronouns in the language.

(2) Poor Stock of Vocabulary

The Chief Examiners for French 2, Dangme 2, Gonja 2 observed that candidates’ stock of vocabulary was limited. As such, they wrote their essays with a lot of English words in it. This made it very difficult to understand some of the sentences they constructed. Similarly, the Chief Examiner for English Language 2 lamented the wrong use of words and poor punctuation in the essays of the candidates.

(3) Poor Skills in Answering Comprehension Questions

It was a worry to the Chief Examiner for English Language 2 that some candidates lifted portions of the comprehension passages, which were irrelevant, as answers to some questions.

(4) Length of Answers

While the Chief Examiners for Gonja 2 and Dangme 1 indicated that some candidates provided short answers that lacked substance, the Chief Examiner for French 2 lamented the rather long essays written by some candidates which resulted in they losing marks.

WASSCE candidates’ weaknesses and suggested solutions by chief examiners for language students to Avoid Failure

The following remedies were recommended to address the weaknesses identified: (1) teachers should endeavour to teach all aspects of the syllabus to enable candidates to tackle all aspects of the questions;

(2) students should be encouraged to read widely on a variety of topics to enrich their stock of vocabulary;

(3) workshops should be organized for language teachers to update their knowledge in content and pedagogy;

(4) candidates should be taken through periodic spelling drills to improve their spelling;

(5) candidates should be taught to be creative in their essay writing in order to get the required marks for that section;

(6) teachers should teach thoroughly the grammar of the languages so as to improve on sentence construction of candidates;

(7) a lot of assignments should be given, marked and discussed with students; (8) teachers should read the Chief Examiners’ Reports to know the weaknesses in students and correct them;

(9) students should be exposed to techniques of answering questions.

SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES IN CORE MATHEMATICS AND ELECTIVE MATHEMATICS

(1) MATHEMATICS (CORE) 2

Candidates were unable to:

(a) show evidence of reading values from graphs;

(b) translate word problems into mathematical equations;

(2) MATHEMATICS (ELECTIVE) 2

Candidates exhibited lack of understanding in:

(a) applying probability concepts to solve problems;

(b) finding angles and tensions of an inextensible string fixed at two points.

READ: Exam Preparation Tips For Making Grade “A” in Any Subject

WASSCE candidates’ weaknesses and suggested solutions by chief examiners for Mathematics to Avoid Failure

(1) MATHEMATICS (CORE) 2

The Chief Examiner made the following recommendations to remedy candidates’ weaknesses:

(a) In teaching, emphasis should be placed on showing evidence of reading from graphs;

(b) Algebraic concepts should be explained meticulously to help candidates translate word-problems into mathematical equations (statements);

(c) Teachers should encourage group work among candidates using geometrical figures to enable them solve questions on mensuration and geometry.

(2) MATHEMATICS (ELECTIVE) 2

The following were recommended by the Chief Examiner to help candidates overcome their weaknesses:

(a) The candidates should be exposed to many exercises on probability; (b) Teachers should give more attention to the concept of forces relating to tensions in an inextensible string.

READ: Exam Preparation Tips For Making Grade “A” in Any Subject

CHIEF EXAMINERS REPORT ON SCIENCE SUBJECTS

The Chief Examiners for the Science subjects generally recommended that candidates should be taken through many practical lessons to improve their performance. Moreover, candidates should be adequately prepared for the examination and given the needed help to improve upon the usage of the English Language.

After reading the summaries of the recommendations, download all the reports and study them carefully to know the full requirements of the examiners in the upcoming WASSCE.

WASSCE candidates’ weaknesses and suggested solutions by chief examiners for Science Subjects to Avoid Failure

The Chief Examiners also made the following suggestions:

(1) candidates should read questions carefully and adhere to instructions; (2) candidates should be helped to identify and understand the scientific principles underlying everyday occurrence;

(3) teachers should allot more time for practical lessons;

(4) teachers should demonstrate the procedure used in practical activities; (5) teachers should give more exercises in organic chemistry especially drawing of structures;

READ: Exam Preparation Tips For Making Grade “A” in Any Subject

(6) teachers should help students to master biological drawings;

(7) teachers should do their best to explain the theories and principles in Physics and their applications to students.