The 2024 Presidential Candidate of the Progressive Alliance of Ghana (PAG), Dr John Kpikpi, has argued that the widespread concern over this year’s poor WASSCE performance only reflects the harsh reality of Ghana’s long-standing decline in academic standards, which he says has been hidden for years by rampant examination malpractice.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana, Dr Kpikpi said the latest results should not shock anyone familiar with the extent to which cheating has taken root in many schools. According to him, unethical practices involving parents, teachers and some invigilators have created an artificial impression of improved academic performance.
“I wonder whether these results we’ve seen now are actually the real results that we shall be receiving all these years, but they have been masked by serious exam malpractice, which is entrenched and practised across this country,” he said. He added that in “most schools, parents happily pay money and schools receive money from parents to buy invigilators. In fact, it has become the norm.”
Dr Kpikpi suggested that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) appeared to have tightened supervision this year, and in doing so, revealed the underlying academic weaknesses previously concealed by organised cheating. He commended the Council for “finding a way to dig in and tackle all of these,” noting that the results now reflect performance “without the mask on it.”
He urged policymakers, teachers and parents to confront the uncomfortable truth rather than lament the decline, stressing that the 2024 outcome offers an opportunity to rebuild standards and restore integrity to Ghana’s assessment system.
WAEC’s release of the 2025 WASSCE results has intensified debate over the credibility of the country’s examination processes. The Council has cancelled the subject results of 6,295 candidates for bringing foreign materials into examination halls and annulled the entire results of 653 candidates found with mobile phones.
A further 908 subject results and 158 entire results are being withheld pending investigations into various suspected irregularities. WAEC also disclosed that results from candidates in 185 schools have been withheld over alleged collusion.
The Council noted that 35 people, including 19 teachers, were implicated in acts that compromised the integrity of the examination. Nineteen of them have already been convicted and sentenced to fines or imprisonment, while the remaining 16 await court proceedings. WAEC says the names of all offending teachers will be forwarded to the Ghana Education Service for disciplinary action.
The Council has assured candidates, parents and schools that all withheld results will be resolved and published before the end of December 2025, subject to the conclusion of investigations.
As the national debate continues, Dr Kpikpi maintains that Ghana must use this year’s outcome as a wake-up call to fix systemic problems that have undermined the credibility of the education system for years.
