‘Pidgin, short-hand’ cause of mass failure in English – WAEC

The Public Relations Officer of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Agnes Teye Cudjoe, says the 2018 WASSCE Chief Examiner's Report attributes the massive failure in English to the use of Pidgin language and short-hand by students.

According to WAEC, 193,882 candidates, representing 61.67% out of the total number who sat for the exams failed to obtain a pass mark to enable them to secure admissions into the university.

Provisional results released by WAEC indicated that 99,402 which represents (31%) obtained D7-E8 in the English Language, 94,607 which represents (30.09%) obtained D7-E8 in Mathematics, and 109,069 which represents (34.72%) also obtained D7-E8 in Integrated Science.

68,002, representing 21.61%, obtained F9 in English Language; 99,275 (31.58%), obtained F9 in Mathematics; and 46,367, representing 14.76%, had F9 in Integrated Science.

Speaking to Ekourba Gyasi on Atinka AM Drive Monday, Madam Agnes Teye Cudjoe explained that although 2018 WASSCE saw an increase in the passes in Science compared to 2018, there was a total drop in passes in English and Maths.

She added that the 2018 Chief Examiners Report informed WAEC of a lack of vocabulary in the scripts of most of the candidates.

The 2018 Chief Examiners Report has recommended extensive reading for the students to help students build their vocabulary.

“You would agree with me that these days, our candidates hardly read, everybody is busy doing WhatsApp and all that. If students spend more time reading very good books, textbooks, Literature and English books they will improve and have command of the English Language.

According to MadamTeye Cudjoe, the report also urged teachers to give students more exercises on spelling drills, comprehension and summary to help students improve their Vocabulary.

“With respect to Mathematics, the 2018 Chief Examiners report revealed that the major challenge for the candidates was as a result of their inability to translate story problems into mathematical statements. The report also discovered that the candidates failed to answer questions on trigonometry and geometry”, she added.