It’s dishonest to compare GHASSCE results to WASSCE results – NDC MP to Akufo-Addo

A Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, has slammed President Akufo-Addo over the latter’s comparison of the 2016 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results to those of 2022.

The lawmaker who represents constitients of Builsa South said the president engaged in intellectual dishonesty with that comparison.

President Akufo-Addo has claimed that the quality of Senior High School education has not declined despite the increase in enrollment due to the implementation of the free Senior High School (free SHS) policy, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

To support his assertion, the president indicated that prior to the creation of the policy in 2017, 51.6 percent of students recorded A1 to C6 in English in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2016, as compared to the 60.39 percent recorded in 2022.

He also claimed that 61.39 percent recorded A1 to C6 in Mathematics as compared to 33.12% in 2016, and 71.51% recorded A1 to C6 in social studies as compared to 54.5 % in 2016.

Speaking at the 61st Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in Accra on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, he indicated that “The 2022 WASSCE results of the third batch of Akufo-Addo graduates show 60.39 percent of students recording A1 to C6 in English as opposed to 51.6% in 2016. 62.45 % recording A1 to C6 in Integrated Science in 2022 as opposed to 48.35 % in 2016 with the 2022 results being a slight regression from the 2021 pass rate of 65.7%. 61.39 percent recorded A1 to C6 in Mathematics as compared to 33.12% in 2016 and 71.51% recording A1 to C6 in social studies as compared to 54.5 % in 2016.”

But reacting to the comments by the President

Dr. Apaak described it as fraudulent.

He said Ghana, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease, left the sub-regional body of the West African Examination Council and organised its local examination; hence, the president would be engaging in an intellectually dishonest comparison.

To him, the president cannot be comparing oranges to apples in this situation.

He has therefore proposed that for us to have a comparison that is not dishonest, we have to revert to the sub-regional body and do a proper comparison of results in 2024.

In a brief statement, the MP wrote “It’s fraudulent to compare GHASSCE results to WASSCE results. Ghana left the sub-regionally organised West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2020, in the wake of COVID-19, to organise a [local]Ghana-made WASSCE: Ghana Senior School Certificate Examination (GHASSCE). So, it’s intellectually dishonest to compare the 2022 GHASSCE results to the 2016 WASSCE results. If we want a true comparison, we must revert to WASSCE in 2024 so that we can compare oranges to oranges”.