It’s ‘misguided, unfortunate’ – Akufo-Addo on Mahama’s WASSCE cheating claims

Former President John Dramani Mahama’s doubts about the authenticity of the WASSCE results by Ghanaian students were unfortunate and misguided, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

“In many places, they let the children cheat. You go to places and the teachers are conniving with the students to cheat. The effect will be seen later,” Mr. Mahama said during one of his ‘Building Ghana Tours’.

“You certify these children saying they are of this standard either the BECE or SSCE and that child will use that certificate, go abroad to a school and they will find out that your qualification is not up to the standard you say it is,” the 2024 flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress added.

In a rebuttal, however, President Akufo-Addo told the audience at the 187th speech and prize-giving day of Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast, that: "Contrary to the normal experience, the large excess and improved quality have gone hand in hand. Long may this continue”.

"It is a pity though”, he added, “that the sad nature of aspects of contemporary Ghanaian politics drove some otherwise allegedly responsible people including your former president and current NDC presidential candidate to question the integrity of the results happily without any foundation and to attribute these results to cheating,” Mr. Akufo-Addo decried.

He then asked: "Students of Wesley Girls’ High School, do you cheat in examinations?”, to which they shouted “no”.

The president noted: “This loud noise will send a strong message to those who expressed these unfortunate, misguided sentiments."

In Nana Akufo-Addo’s view, "The WASSCE results of the students I proudly call the Akufo-Addo graduates have shown that the quality of education has not deteriorated but on the contrary, it has improved significantly. The results of the Akufo-Addo graduates in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 are the only years in the past decade that show that more than 50% of the candidates obtained A1 to C6 in all core subjects."