Member of Parliament for Builsa south in the Upper East Region Dr. Clement Apaak has expressed worries over the politicization of National policies by President Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo speaking at the 70th anniversary of the Opoku Ware SHS (OWASS) in Kumasi last Saturday, stressed that the 2022 WASSCE results of those students, which he preferred to call the ‘Akufo-Addo Graduates’, were splendid which he did some comparisons with the 2016 batch of the students who sat for the WASSCE but Dr. Apaak said the President should focus on solving the challenges facing the policy than politicizing it because it is been financed by National money.
“The President should move away from politicizing National policies, what was he trying to achieve by comparing students, he should rather focus on solving the challenges the policy is facing”. Dr Apaak said on Ahotor 92.3 Fm’s morning show Adekye Mu Nsem.
As the Deputy Ranking member on the Education Committee in Parliament, Dr. Apaak pleaded with Akufo-Addo to focus on comments that will help move the education of the country forward by addressing the numerous concerns of CHASS.
Performance statistics for the core subjects over the three years of the free SHS, as released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), show that in 2020, when the first batch of the free SHS beneficiaries wrote the WASSCE, 57.34 per cent passed in English, 65.71 per cent passed in Core Mathematics, while 52.53 and 64.31 per cent passed in Integrated Science and Social Studies, respectively.
In 2021, 54.08 passed in English, Core Mathematics recorded 54.11 per cent passes, with 65.70 per cent passing in Integrated Science and 66.03 per cent in Social Studies.
The President, happy with the data, further broke it down, saying: “This year, 61.39 per cent recorded A1 to C6 in Mathematics, compared to 33.12 per cent in 2016; 71.5 per cent recorded A1 to C6 in Social Studies, compared to 54.5 per cent in 2016; 62.45 per cent recorded A1-C6 in Integrated Science, compared to 48.35 per cent in 2016, while 60.39 per cent had A1 to C6 in English, compared to 51.6 per cent in 2016.”
In reply to the data presented, Dr. Clement Apaak said the number of students who sat for the 2016 WASSCE was less than the students who sat for the 2022 WASSCE so comparing the two batches is like comparing appls to oranges.
“The data the President used before coming out to do this comparisons is like comparing apple to oranges, he should know better that the Free SHS is now a National Policy as we are using National funds to finance it” he told Citizen Kofi Owusu on Adekye Mu Nsem.
Exams body the West African Examination Council (WAEC) released the provisional results of the 2022 WASSCE on Thursday December 1.
The Council said it had hosted the results online.
Candidates who so desire may access their results at the Council’s website www.waecgh.org.
Following a request from the Ghana Education Service (GES), the results of 8,486 candidates who failed to return learning support materials supplied to them and/or destroyed school property cannot be accessed online at the Council’s website.
The affected candidates are advised to visit their schools for their results.
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh / Ahotoronline.com
