President must be blamed if students fail due to his ‘Akufo-Addo Graduates' tag - Educationist

Educationist and phycologist, Samuel Richard Ziggah, says students may have the right to blame President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo if they fail their West African Senior Certificate Examination because the entire process was politicised.

Commenting on viral videos of students insulting the president because they claimed questions they prepared for did not appear in their exams, Mr. Ziggah noted it was terribly wrong for President Akufo-Addo to have referred the students as ‘Akufo-Addo’ graduates.

Speaking on 'Frontline' on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he said the students felt some entitlement following these statements and the alleged promises they were given.

President Akufo-Addo, in his 12th address to the nation on Covid-19, referred twice final year students to what he called the “Akufo-Addo graduates.”

"[The] SHS 3 students, also referred to by some as the ‘Akufo-Addo graduates’, are the first group of beneficiaries of Government’s Free Senior High School policy, to sit the WASSCE exams. 1.2 million children, the highest such enrolment in our nation’s history, [are currently in senior high schools] because of this policy.”

Mr. Ziggah reacting to this said "why should we make education political? Politicians are always politicising education to the extent they tout their achievements by saying WASSCE students performed better under their watch compared to their opponents. Why should this happen? Two things happen when you write exams. You either pass or fail. The grades are not awarded based on beauty or handsomeness. We have made our students lazy and made them feel they have to pass even if they don’t prepare. Why should the president refer to them as Akufo-Addo graduates?

"If they fail, they have the right to blame the president. But that should not have been the case. We have caused this,” he added.

Mr. Ziggah further described the students as "half baked scholars” and warned they may create problems for the society, adding our society is sick and that has affected our children.

He bemoaned the politics of insults in the media landscape, a situation he said our current generation have learnt.