When the ‘Average’ Schools Beat the Giants: What Volta Region's 2024 WASSCE Results Reveal

When Ghana introduced the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy in 2017, it was hailed as a landmark reform. For the first time, financial barriers were dismantled, and children from poor families gained a genuine chance to pursue secondary education. The nation applauded the boldness of the initiative, and enrolment figures soared. Classrooms that had once been half-empty were suddenly filled with students eager to learn, and parents who previously struggled with school fees breathed a sigh of relief.

But nearly a decade later, questions about quality have become unavoidable. Access has been expanded, but at what cost?

Recent examination results from the Volta Region reveal that some schools once regarded as “average” are now outperforming historically prestigious institutions. For alumni and parents, this trend is baffling. For policymakers, it is a wake-up call. Ghana must ask itself whether it is levelling the playing field upwards or allowing standards to fall across the board.

Access versus quality
There is no doubt that Free SHS has expanded opportunities. Official data show that enrolment rose from about 800,000 students in 2016 to over 1.32 million by the 2023/24 academic year. By the end of 2024, the Ministry of Education estimates that around 3.5 million young people have benefited from the policy since 2017, a historic expansion in access to secondary education.

This rapid growth, however, has placed heavy pressure on facilities. Studies have documented overcrowded classrooms, with many schools hosting far more than the standard 40 students per class, sometimes well above 70. Laboratories and workshops are also overstretched, forcing some schools to rotate students in groups for practical lessons. These challenges strike at the heart of quality learning.

Teachers have not been spared. The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and other unions have consistently warned that Free SHS has increased class sizes without a matching rise in teacher recruitment and resources. They argue that the workload leaves teachers overextended and undermines their ability to give students the individual attention needed to sustain real educational gains.

The changing face of “top schools”

For decades, Ghana’s senior high school hierarchy was dominated by a select group of elite institutions: Achimota, Mfantsipim, Prempeh College, Bishop Hermann, Wesley Girls’, St. Augustine’s, Adisadel, Opoku Ware, and Holy Child, among others. Their reputations rested on strong alumni networks, superior infrastructure, and a strict culture of discipline. These schools fed the nation’s universities and leadership ranks, building a legacy of prestige and performance that shaped Ghana’s educational imagination.

Yet in recent years, that narrative has been disrupted. Examination results, particularly from regions like the Volta, show that schools once dismissed as “average” are increasingly outperforming the so-called giants. This shift challenges long-held assumptions about where excellence resides and suggests that academic success is no longer the preserve of a handful of traditional powerhouses.

The Volta case
The Volta Region’s 2024 WASSCE results make this shift impossible to ignore. Mawuli School, long considered one of the giants, produced the largest number of successful candidates, with 946 students qualifying for tertiary education. Yet its efficiency rate stood at only 61 percent. Keta SHS followed with 871 students qualifying, but its pass rate was just 63 percent. OLA Girls contributed 780 students, while Bishop Herman had 610, each falling below the stellar efficiency of some lesser-known schools.

By contrast, Agate SHS, a school rarely mentioned in the same breath as the giants, saw 149 out of 157 candidates qualify, making an astonishing 95 percent. Vakpo SHS followed closely with 357 out of 399, or 89 percent, while Ziope SHS and Awudome SHS recorded 88 percent and 86 percent, respectively. These “average” schools did not produce the largest numbers, but they ensured that nearly all of their students crossed the threshold to tertiary.

The statistics tell a powerful story. For families, the lesson is that a child’s success does not depend exclusively on gaining admission to a so-called elite school. Smaller and less celebrated schools are proving that they, too, can nurture excellence and prepare their students well for tertiary education.

For policymakers, the results underscore the need to support struggling schools that are failing to deliver, some of which posted single-digit qualification rates despite high enrolments, while also identifying and learning from the practices of these efficient, high-performing “average” schools. For the giants themselves, the message is equally clear: prestige and reputation alone are not enough to sustain dominance, and there is an urgent need to reinvest in quality teaching and student support to remain competitive.

The shift also poses a fundamental question for Free SHS: should Ghana measure success by the total number of students qualifying, or by the proportion of students who succeed within each school? If the latter, the Volta Region offers a glimpse of the future, one in which reputation and size may no longer determine educational excellence.

But what explains this shift? Several interlinked factors, grounded in the realities of Free SHS, help provide answers.

Urban saturation versus rural community engagement

Urban saturation is one part of the story. Elite schools, mostly located in urban centres, have absorbed the brunt of the Free SHS enrolment surge. Classrooms designed for 40 students now host 70 or more, leading to overcrowding, teacher burnout, and diluted learning experiences. Meanwhile, some “average” schools, especially those in less congested or rural areas, have managed to absorb students more gradually, preserving a more conducive learning atmosphere.

Community engagement in rural schools also matters. In many rural areas, parents and local leaders contribute directly to school upkeep, provide additional classrooms, and hold students accountable. This sense of ownership fosters pride and discipline, often translating into better academic performance. Urban schools, by contrast, can be too large and impersonal, making parental or community oversight more difficult.

Urban youth also face additional pressures. In city environments, students are more exposed to distractions such as social media, nightlife, and, in some cases, drug abuse. Teachers in urban schools increasingly complain about declining discipline and concentration. By contrast, rural schools, with tighter community ties and fewer distractions, can sometimes provide a more focused learning environment.

Uneven quality investments
Finally, the uneven quality of investments has played a role. While Free SHS expanded access everywhere, infrastructure improvements have not kept pace, and resources remain unevenly distributed. Rural schools still struggle with shortages, but some benefit from close-knit community support.

Urban schools, on the other hand, suffer from severe congestion, which no amount of prestige can mask. Both contexts reveal the cracks in the Free SHS system, but they also show how schools with stronger community involvement and less overcrowding can quietly outperform those resting on old reputations.

This performance shift reflects more than just prestige and reputation. It is a symptom of Free SHS’s structural consequences. Expanding access is essential, but without targeted investments in infrastructure, teacher support, and community partnerships, quality becomes uneven.

Elite schools in the cities have become victims of their own success, while some rural schools are quietly rising on the back of resilience and local commitment. At the same time, social pressures such as youth drug abuse threaten urban institutions, showing how broader societal challenges intersect with education.

Structural strains
The double-track system, introduced in 2018 to manage overcrowding, was a temporary fix. Splitting students into alternating shifts reduced congestion but disrupted the academic calendar, cut contact hours, and placed further strain on teachers. Without long-term investment in infrastructure, it risks undermining educational quality.

The real challenge of Free SHS lies not in the idea of free education, but in weak implementation. Overcrowded classrooms, congested dormitories, and poorly equipped laboratories are standard across the country.

Teachers, too, are overstretched. Larger classes and heavier workloads have left many demoralised, with little support for professional growth. Instead of inspiring, Free SHS now risks exhausting the very workforce it relies on.

Curriculum limitations compound the problem. Still dominated by rote learning, it rewards memorisation rather than critical thinking or creativity. This leaves students ill-prepared for today’s demands of innovation, digital literacy, and problem-solving.

Equity is also uneven. Rural schools remain under-resourced, while urban schools struggle with overcrowding. Access has expanded, but real opportunity is still shaped by geography and circumstance.

Towards a balanced future
The current NDC government has made it clear that Free SHS will not be abolished but reformed. To ease congestion, the policy has been extended to accredited private schools, providing thousands of students with access to less crowded environments. Officials have acknowledged that the real problems lie in implementation, overcrowding, resource shortages, and uneven quality, and have pledged urgent reforms.

There are also discussions about giving Free SHS legislative backing to secure its future beyond partisan politics. At the same time, the government has highlighted the need to reduce inequities between urban and rural schools, recognising that uniform solutions have not addressed more profound disparities.

To fulfil its promise, Free SHS must evolve into a framework that balances access with quality. This means urgent investment in infrastructure, better support for teacher welfare, and curriculum reforms that promote critical thinking and creativity rather than rote learning. Partnerships with alumni, civil society, and the private sector are also essential to share the burden and build national ownership of education reform.

Choosing between numbers and quality
Free SHS is one of Ghana’s boldest social policies in decades. It has delivered access on an unprecedented scale, giving hope to thousands of families. Yet unless the quality question is addressed, this success could become hollow.

Reforms such as extending Free SHS to private schools and seeking legislative backing are steps in the right direction, but their success will depend on sustained commitment.

Most importantly, the Volta Region results remind us that excellence in education is no longer the monopoly of a few celebrated institutions. Senior High Schools like Agate, Vakpo, Ziope, and Awudome, with pass rates above 85 percent, are proving that excellence can emerge outside the giants, even as schools like Mawuli and Keta struggle with efficiency despite their size.

If this trend spreads, Ghana may witness a reordering of its educational hierarchy. The future of Ghana’s secondary education will therefore depend not only on the continued performance of the traditional powerhouses but also on the rising strength of schools that are steadily rewriting the script of what counts as success.

The challenge is to ensure that every school, 'giant' or 'average', becomes a place where young people can truly thrive.

Acknowledgment
I am grateful to my former classmate, Dr. Selete Kofi Avoke, retired Senior Program Specialist at the US Department of Education, for our discussions on the results shared on the KOSA 79/81 WhatsApp platform.

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