Read Adutwum's explanation for decline in 2025 WASSCE results

Former Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, has blamed the decline in the 2025 WASSCE results on what he termed as the lack of a consistent and data-driven education strategy.

According to a report by adomonline.com on May 8, 2026, he argued that academic excellence cannot be sustained without a clearly defined formula backed by continuous assessment, targeted interventions, and effective teacher support.

“I believe that for you to succeed in everything, whether as a businessman or in public service, you need a formula. When you apply the formula, you may not get 100 per cent, but you will get 80 or 90 per cent. Things go wrong when there is no formula,” he said.

Dr Adutwum explained that during his tenure as education minister, decisions were guided by annual reports from the West African Examinations Council, (WAEC) which highlighted subjects and topics students found difficult.

According to him, the Ministry relied on the data to organise targeted training sessions for teachers using examiners and subject experts to improve instruction in weak areas.

“Once we identified the gaps, we brought in examiners to train teachers so that when similar questions came again, students would be better prepared,” he explained.

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He noted that additional academic support through extra classes also contributed significantly to improved student outcomes.

“We used to pay teachers to run extra classes to prepare students better. That additional time made a difference in strengthening understanding,” he revealed.

Dr Adutwum further disclosed that his administration tracked performance trends across regions and subjects to identify underperforming schools and deployed interventions accordingly.

“This helped us see, for example, that one region may be struggling in chemistry while another is weak in biology, so that we could intervene specifically,” he stated.

He also pointed to teacher placement challenges as a factor affecting student performance, recalling instances where teachers handled subjects outside their areas of expertise.

“In some schools, the person teaching mathematics was not even a mathematics major. Once that was corrected, performance improved,” he said.

Dr Adutwum maintained that the combination of data analysis, teacher training, regional monitoring, and extended learning hours contributed to better pass mark during his administration.

However, he, warned that the discontinuation of some of these interventions and the lack of policy continuity were undermining progress made in the education sector.

MRA/VPO

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