2014 WASSCE: 96% of Ghanaian students passed – Prof. Agyemang

Only 3.7 percent of Ghanaian students who wrote this year’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations failed, the country’s Education Minister has said. This means 96.3 percent of the candidates passed.

A total of 68,062 out of 242,162 students who sat for the final examination are eligible for admission to tertiary institutions.

The figure represent 28.11 per cent of candidates who obtained grades A1 to C6 in at least six subjects, including English Language and Mathematics (Core).

The results have been interpreted by the media and the public to mean that 72 percent of the candidates who scored grades below C6 failed.

But both the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education have described the interpretation as misleading.

In separate interviews, they said even though 72 percent failed to obtain grades that could qualify them for admission into tertiary institutions, they nonetheless got pass marks.

Sector Minister Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang told Accra-based Joy FM station on Tuesday that, the candidates who can be said to have failed totally were those who did not score any grades with credit.

According to her, the 28 percent of students who obtained grades that qualify them for entry into tertiary institutions is an improvement on that of last year.

She said in 2006, 12.5 percent of students fell within the A1-C6 category; 10.5 percent in 2007; 12.9 percent in 2008; 14.5 percent in 2009; 26 percent in 2011; 31 percent in 2012; and 19 percent in 2013.

Out of the total number who wrote the examination, 126,921 representing 52.41 per cent, were males, while 115,241 representing 47.59 per cent, were females.

The examination was conducted for 809 participating schools.

A total of 1,447, representing 0.59 per cent of the candidates who registered, did not write the examination. The results of 321 candidates who sat for the examinations have been cancelled after being found culpable of examination malpractices.