Poor 2025 WASSCE Results: A National Shame Unmasked by Strict Invigilation

The 2025 WASSCE results, defined by the catastrophic plunge in Core Mathematics and Social Studies, demand an immediate end to the political posturing that has shielded the Ghanaian educational system from honest scrutiny. This is not merely a statistical anomaly but a crisis of competence, and the public debate points toward a single, painful conclusion: the 2025 results are a true reflection of student ability, one that may have been intentionally or accidentally obscured in previous years.

The fact that the year with strict invigilation—which saw the cancellation of 6,295 subject results and 653 entire results for malpractice—coincided with the worst performance in four years is too stark to ignore. The nation must ask: were previous years’ passing rates—which consistently ranged between $60%$ and $76%$ in the core subjects—a genuine indicator of learning, or were they “cosmetic” results achieved through lowered marking schemes or a culture of “apor” (cheating) that has now been curtailed?

Poor 2025 WASSCE Results: The Access vs. Quality Paradox

The Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy, designed to fulfill the constitutional mandate of making secondary education “accessible to all”, successfully removed financial barriers for millions of students. However, the 2025 data brutally exposes the unresolved tension between access and quality.

The massive drop in Core Mathematics (to $48.73%$ pass rate) and Social Studies (to $55.82%$ pass rate) suggests that while the system granted universal entry, it failed to deliver a universal standard of instruction and learning. The public discourse attributes this decline to several structural weaknesses that accumulated during the program’s implementation:

Undermining the Foundation: The policy of compulsory admission to SHS, irrespective of the student’s BECE grade, is fundamentally flawed, removing the incentive for hard study at the foundational level.

Infrastructure and Resources: Rapid, massive enrollment strained the system, leading to overcrowded classrooms and a lack of learning materials, which directly compromises instructional quality. Many schools reportedly lacked textbooks even with new curricula.

Administrative Instability: Shifts in the academic calendar, including longer vacation periods or changes from a four-year to a three-year duration, are cited as factors that reduced crucial teacher-student contact hours necessary for mastering the curriculum.

 A Crisis of Adult Responsibility

The blame cannot be exclusively laid at the feet of the students who sat the exam. The problem is a crisis of adult responsibility involving teachers, parents, and policymakers.

• The Teacher Motivation Gap: Teachers, the pivot around which student performance revolves, are widely cited as under-motivated, suffering from poor remuneration and a lack of support, which includes withheld salaries and delayed payment of allowances. The teaching profession’s low morale and perceived decline in quality—where some teachers are themselves alleged products of the “apor” system—directly affect classroom competence.

• Student Indiscipline: A growing culture of indiscipline pervades the learning environment. Students are distracted by social media (like TikTok), rely on phones in class, and show a blatant disregard for reading or traditional learning methods. This apathy is exacerbated when the accountability of terminal exams and report cards is allegedly relaxed.

• Politicization of Education: Ultimately, the greatest disservice is the politicization of the results. Every factor, from the pass rate to teacher allowances, is weaponized to either defend a legacy or attack an opponent, ensuring that the true, data-driven solutions are never implemented.

The Path to Educational Recovery

The 2025 WASSCE is a wake-up call for a total reset. The core national objective must shift from merely providing free access to guaranteeing quality outcomes.

Moving forward requires a radical re-commitment to educational fundamentals:

1. Reforming Entry Standards: Policy must be reviewed to introduce a qualifying or entrance exam into SHS, restoring meritocracy and providing students with the necessary incentive to excel at the basic level.

2. Professionalizing Teaching: Investment must be redirected to motivate and reward teachers with competitive salaries, allowances, and a working environment that includes appropriate class sizes and necessary resources.

3. Restoring Exam Integrity: The strict invigilation of 2025 must become the norm, eliminating the culture of cheating that degrades the value of a Ghanaian certificate.

   

READ: 2025 WASSCE results suggest Nana Addo’s Free SHS WASSCE results were artificial passes, cosmetic and manipulated

Ghana can no longer afford to celebrate enrollment figures while sacrificing the intellectual capacity of a generation. The WASSCE is a mirror that shows the real cost of putting political ambition ahead of academic excellence.