The Minister of Education, Prof. Jane Nana Opoku Agyeman has attributed the abysmal performance of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to what she describes as overcrowded curriculum.
According to her, students are compelled to learn too many subjects since the curriculum is overcrowded.
“My own hunch is that sometimes we overcrowd the curriculum. We teach too many things too soon as if in year one the whole subject can be covered. It doesn’t have to be that way.” the Minister said.
The 2013/2014 WASSCE results released by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) shows that over 70% of the candidates who wrote the exams failed to get the required grades to enable them get admissions into tertiary institutions.
The results has generated public outcry, with others attributing the abysmal performance to loopholes in the educational sector.
Speaking at a colloquium organized by the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in conjunction with Citi FM on Quality Education, the Minister also revealed that mathematics and science continues to be a major problem for most students in the country.
She said the revelation was part of a study carried out by the ministry last year of which mathematics and science dominated the study.
“What became obvious in a study we conducted last year going back and forth into WAEC results as far as we could go was that only two subjects were their main problem –mathematics and science,” she indicated.
She further asked why mathematics and science continues to be a problem for the students and gave the assurance that measures are being put in place by government to address the problem.
By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana