Akufo-Addo jabs Mahama over failing Educational system

Ghana’s education system is in crisis, former presidential candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo has said.

Making reference to the 2014 results of the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Education (WASSCE), which imply that 72 percent of the students obtained results which do not qualify them for admission in the University, Akufo-Addo said the country’s education is failing under the Mahama administration.

Per the results, only 28 percent of the students obtained grades A1 to C6 in six of their subjects including Maths and English.

Addressing delegates from the Volta Region on Monday, August 25, when he took his campaign to the region in his bid to lead the party in to the 2016 election, Nana Akufo-Addo said: "7 out of the 10 children have failed the WASSCE and cannot get access to tertiary institutions."

“What this means is that after taking them through kindergarten, primary school, junior high and senior high, these kids end up with no certificate”, the former Attorney General said.

This trend, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, is a sharp departure from what was witnessed under the leadership of former President John Kufuor, where there was an upward trend in the pass rates of students who sat the WASSCE.

He said in 2004, 40% of students who sat the SSCE (Senior Secondary Certificate Education) passed in seven subjects and above, with the pass rates increasing to 44% in 2005. According to him, in 2007, 47% of students who sat for the examination passed in seven subjects and above, instantly qualifying them to be admitted into tertiary institutions.

“In President Kufuor's time, we saw a constant rate of passing. In our health economic, and political systems, in every aspect of our lives saw an improvement. Having inherited an economy in good shape this is where they (NDC) have left us," Akufo-Addo said.

He recounted the statement made by President Mahama on October 10, 2012, when he toured some constituencies in the Volta Region, in the run up to the December 2012 elections, and promised that “we will do everything step by step to ensure that everybody enjoys quality education in the coming years."

"Is this what he [President Mahama] means by quality education?" Nana Addo asked.