External exams preparation in high school: Matters arising
Early this year, 2025, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) released the dates of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for 2025.
In a competitive learning environment like Ghana where high schools, especially public senior high schools, are evaluated and classified as Class A, B, etc., the school leadership may leave no stone unturned to get their candidates prepared for the exams.
Usually, the schools adopt mock exams as the final test of their candidates’ readiness for the external exams. Specifically, the mock exams help the learners identify their areas of strength and weakness, as well as reflect on the questions to expect.
Unfortunately, players within the education industry seem to have turned the meaning of examination into something it is not; chew and pour!
Notwithstanding, over the years, there have been some factors that may affect effective exams preparation, thus reducing learners’ chances of success in the BECE and WASSCE.
Syllabus completion
For a layman’s understanding, a syllabus is a document that outlines all the topics/courses a teacher must deliver in a class before the end of an academic year.
It shows learners how they should prepare for a class (Mansbach, J., 2018). Unfortunately, the syllabus does not get fully covered in some schools due to the schedule of extracurricular activities, teacher and learner absenteeism, lack of instructional clarity, inadequate subject teacher experts, instructional resources, etc.
This situation leads to teachers ignoring certain topics or rushing through them, thereby depriving learners of the opportunity to learn topics on which questions may be set.
Consequently, as part of the external exams preparation, learners are forced to attend weekend classes organised by the school, which may inconvenience those who may not attend on religious grounds, lack of parental support, etc.
Teaching and learning resources
Undeniably, some subjects require practical sessions, or else learners may find it difficult to grasp the meaning of concepts and theories.
Unfortunately, some schools lack facilities for such sessions.
Therefore, as part of preparations, they resort to neighbouring schools with the facilities.
This practice delays the completion of the syllabus and reduces contact hours, which is equally important for lesson understanding.
Similarly, in recent times, the high prices of some learning materials on the market, such as textbooks, has made it difficult for parents to acquire them for their children.
This has led to peers sharing theirs but withdrawing for personal use during exam preparation.
Consequently, learners without textbooks feel anxious and nervous throughout the preparatory period and may easily lose focus.
Learning for life
Ghana’s education system seems to be directed towards simply preparing for exams, passing and forgetting lessons.
As such, I bet say that majority of learners focus on learning for exams and not for life. As a result, some resort to ‘Apo’ meaning leaked questions, in the Akan dialect, just to earn a pass mark.
No wonder, over the years, there has been a proliferation of external exam question leakage scandals.
Is it true that some schools intentionally buy these questions to help maintain their status symbol as the best school in the district or municipality?
In this regard, the school leadership simply prepare the learners for exams.
Lifelong learning is virtually absent on their agenda and so learners’ study for school, not for life.
Teacher motivation
Teachers are the pivot for learners preparing for exams, and it is vital to ensure that their motivation levels do not plummet.
Unfortunately, some teachers get distracted by the unconducive nature of the school’s environment created by poor infrastructure, inadequate/unavailable teachers and learning resources, uncooperative posture of some school leaders and parents, etc.
Notwithstanding, some of them strive to prepare the learners whilst others leave the learners to prepare on their own accord.
As a nation, the holistic development of learners should matter to all, and not simply preparing them for exams.
The writer is an Institutional Assessment Practitioner
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