Improved invigilation is exposing true performance of Ghanaian students — Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has stated that improved invigilation and the reduction in examination malpractice are now helping Ghana to see the true academic performance of its students.

He said the development had curtailed the practice where some students allegedly benefited from examination malpractice and progressed to higher levels without mastering basic concepts.

President Mahama made the remarks on Saturday, September 12, during his Resetting Ghana tour of the Upper West Region.

“We are seeing our children’s true results. That time when connivance took place between head teachers and other officials to cheat the system, give up all to our young people to go and write exams, they will write the exams, and somebody will…” said the President.

The President said the situation had previously created a false impression of students’ academic abilities, with some gaining admission to universities despite lacking basic knowledge in areas such as algebra, trigonometry and geometry.

He said the stricter examination arrangements were also helping to address a culture of entitlement among some students, including instances where teachers were allegedly assaulted for preventing them from cheating or failing to meet their demands.

The President said the focus must now be on ensuring that students learn, teachers teach and examination results accurately reflect what candidates have learnt in school.

“The children must learn, the teachers must teach them, and when they write the results, they must write it because they have learnt it in school. And so, we’re seeing the true results of our children now," the President stressed.

His comments come amid renewed public debate over Ghana’s education system following the release of the 2026 BECE and WASSCE results.

The 2026 WASSCE results showed improvement in three of the four core subjects compared with 2025.

Core Mathematics increased from 48.73% to 60.75% for candidates obtaining grades A1 to C6, while Social Studies rose from 55.82% to 78.04%; Integrated Science also improved from 57.74% to 62.08%.

English Language, however, declined from 69% to 62.40%.