GES ‘pasco’ purchase out of fear Free SHS students will fail – Dr Apaak

The Deputy Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Dr Clement Apaak says government’s decision to purchase questions and answer booklets from the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) for students is out of fear the first batch of the Free SHS policy will fail their exams.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has procured four hundred thousand (400,000) sets of questions and answer booklets from the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) for distribution to the first batch of beneficiaries of the Free Senior High School policy preparing to write their final examination April next year.

Speaking at a Speech and Prize Giving Day/Homecoming for past students of Suhum Senior High Technical School (SUTESCO) in the Eastern Region, the Director-General of Ghana Education Service, Prof. Kwasi Opoku Amankwa explained that, the decision is an additional intervention.

“Additional interventions are being put in place with the procurement of two sets of questions and answers for the schools to be used for revision. 400,000 copies that have been bought, one each is expected to be given to each student in the final year to help them in their revision. The set that each student is going to get is actually a compilation from West Africa Examination itself so it has the keys as to how to answer questions,” he said.

However, reacting to the development, the former Presidential staff told Starr News the move is inimical to the growth of students and the academic environment.

“We are talking about a government agency going to WAEC to buy 400,000 questions to supply to students who are beneficiaries of our Free SHS policy as an intervention. And which institution is supposed to set the question and if government by virtue of its might can afford to procure 400,000 questions the likelihood that this is going to affect the conduct as far as the exam is concerned cannot be dismissed. Because the government is not doing this for no reason, the intent is to ensure that as many students as possible will pass.”

“What they are doing will rather cause a problem for the student. It appears because things have not been properly done with the implementation of the Free SHS policy, the government fears that most of the students may not pass the WASSCE so they are going the extra mile to work with WAEC to ensure they pass the exams. So if they get to the university level, will the government again buy exams papers for them to learn and write their exams”.