Alexander Afenyo-Markin
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has called for an honest national conversation on the country’s education system following concerns over the latest West African Examinations Council (WAEC) results and challenges confronting the placement of Junior High School (JHS) graduates.
According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, the latest examination outcomes should concern every Ghanaian, as they point to deeper challenges in the country’s education system and could have serious implications for the future of thousands of young people.
He said 183,233 young people completed secondary education without obtaining a credit in Core Mathematics, while the credit pass rate in English Language fell to 62.40 percent, its lowest level in four years.
The Minority Leader said the performance in both subjects was also below the levels recorded in 2024, describing the situation as a matter that required urgent national attention.
He argued that the concerns extended beyond the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), pointing to challenges surrounding the placement of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates into Senior High Schools (SHS).
Mr. Afenyo-Markin said 54,985 BECE candidates were initially denied automatic placement, with reports also emerging of some children being wrongly placed in special schools and others arriving at their assigned schools only to discover that there was no space for them.
He questioned the apparent disparity between the number of candidates awaiting placement and the vacancies reportedly available.
According to him, government figures show that there are 859,828 vacancies for 623,072 candidates, while 85 private schools participating in the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme also have capacity.
He said the availability of a self-placement portal could not be equated with providing students with actual school places.
“A self-placement portal is not a school place; every child needs an actual seat in a functioning classroom,” he said.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin consequently warned that more than 200,000 young Ghanaians could be left behind at different stages of the secondary education system if the challenges were not addressed.
He urged the government to move beyond reacting to problems after they had become public and instead adopt measures to address the underlying challenges confronting education.
He called on the government to publish the final placement outcomes and explain the rules and pass marks applied in the placement process to ensure transparency and public confidence.
The Minority Leader also called for adequate funding for teaching and remedial programmes to support students who had performed poorly in the examinations.
He further urged the government to establish clear pathways into technical and vocational education and training (TVET), apprenticeships and skills development for young people who failed to obtain the required WASSCE credits.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin said the challenges required the government to treat education as a major national crisis demanding immediate intervention and sustainable solutions.
He called for a national discussion on educational funding, teaching quality, contact hours, teacher motivation, learning materials, infrastructure and supervision.
According to him, such a conversation should rise above partisan politics because the consequences of weaknesses in the education system would affect an entire generation.
“This must rise above partisan excuses because the future of an entire generation is at stake,” he said.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin also defended the record of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in expanding access to education, citing the introduction of Free SHS as well as Free TVET, apprenticeship and skills-development opportunities.
He said the objective of those interventions was to ensure that poverty or examination results did not permanently deny any Ghanaian child an opportunity to build a future.
He maintained that the immediate concern was to find practical solutions for both groups of affected young people.
“The 54,985 BECE candidates need real school places; the 183,233 WASSCE graduates need a second chance,” he said.
The Minority Leader said the situation was putting pressure on parents, children and teachers, and urged President John Dramani Mahama and his administration to act promptly.
He said the country’s response should focus not only on the immediate placement difficulties and examination results but also on the broader quality and effectiveness of education.
“When our children’s education is in crisis, Ghana’s future is in danger. The time to act is now,” he said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu