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President John Dramani Mahama has raised serious concerns over the sharp decline in performance recorded in the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), describing the situation as “mind-boggling.”
Speaking at the launch of the STEMBox initiative for primary schools, the President said the disappointing results have become a major source of worry for the government, parents, educators, and the wider public.
Mahama revealed that he has directed the Minister of Education to conduct a thorough review of the examiners’ report to unravel the causes behind the dramatic dip in student performance.
“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 examiners’ 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,” the President said.
Steep Declines in Core Subjects
Mahama’s remarks follow new data released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) indicating widespread poor performance, especially in Core Mathematics and Social Studies.
According to John Kapi, WAEC’s Head of Public Relations, Core Mathematics recorded the most alarming decline. Passes in the A1–C6 range fell from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025, representing a drop of more than 96,000 candidates. The overall pass rate has now fallen to 48.73%, meaning more than half of the candidates failed to obtain the grades required for admission into tertiary institutions.
What the Examiners Found
Chief examiners have attributed the poor outcomes not to the quality of the examination but to significant candidate weaknesses.
In Core Mathematics, students struggled with:
- representing mathematical information in diagrams
- solving real-life problems
- constructing cumulative frequency tables
- interpreting statistical data
In Social Studies, many candidates were unable to:
- clearly explain government policies
- analyze the impact of expensive funerals on national development
- discuss Ghana’s collaboration with United Nations agencies
Government Response
With the Education Ministry set to embark on a detailed review, President Mahama emphasized that understanding the root causes is essential to preventing a recurrence and improving the quality of teaching and learning across the country.
