President John Dramani Mahama has expressed serious concern over the sharp decline in performance in the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), describing the results as “mind-boggling.”
Speaking at the launch of the STEMBox initiative for primary schools, the President said the poor outcomes are a major worry for the government, parents, and the public.
Mahama revealed that he has directed the Minister of Education to conduct a thorough review of the examiners’ report to identify the factors behind the significant drop in student performance.
“It has become an issue of great concern to the government, parents, and the public at large. I have asked the ministry to analyse the examiners’ report and determine what went so disastrously wrong. It is mind-boggling that with the same teachers and conditions, one batch performs so poorly compared to the previous one,” he stated.
The remarks follow revelations from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) showing particularly low performance in Core Mathematics and Social Studies.
WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, disclosed that A1–C6 passes in Core Mathematics fell sharply from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025—a decline of over 96,000 passes—bringing the overall pass rate to 48.73%. This leaves more than half of candidates without grades required for tertiary education.
Chief examiners noted that the drop in performance stems largely from candidate weaknesses rather than exam quality.
In Mathematics, students struggled with representing information in diagrams, solving real-life problems, constructing cumulative frequency tables, and interpreting data. In Social Studies, candidates found it difficult to explain government policies, analyze the economic impact of costly funerals, and discuss Ghana’s cooperation with United Nations agencies.
