Story By: Juliet Akosua Danquah
President John Dramani Mahama has attributed the sharp decline in performance in the latest WASSCE to years of neglect at the basic education level.
Speaking at the launch of the STEMBox initiative for primary schools, he said the poor results reflect deep weaknesses in foundational learning, which have been worsened by persistent delays in the release of the capitation grant and the inability to guarantee quality teaching at the basic level.
President Mahama stressed that a strong foundation was essential for learner progression, warning that students who lack basic skills are simply pushed through the system without the competence required to succeed.
“It emphasises the issue of foundational learning. One of the major things that has taken place in the last several years is the neglect of basic education. Inability to send the capitation grant, ensuring that we have quality teachers at the foundational level or the basic level. Because it is that level that prepares the child for secondary and tertiary education and once you don’t get that level right you will just send the child through a conveyor belt like a factory and when he comes out at the end it will be picked out by quality control and said that this one did not do well so our focus must be on foundational learning.”
He described the situation as a serious concern for the government, parents, and the wider public.
President Mahama revealed that he has directed the Minister of Education to conduct a detailed analysis of the examiners’ report to determine what triggered the dramatic drop in performance, especially given that the same teachers and conditions were in place. “It has become an issue of great concern to the government, parents, and the public at large. I was speaking with the minister, and I have asked them to do an analysis of the examiner’s report and try and decipher what could have gone so disastrously wrong. It is mind-boggling that with the same teachers, the same factors in play just from one batch to another, one batch does so disastrously, and also we need to get to the bottom of it.”
