Are Ghanaian Children Really Getting Worse at English and Mathematics?

Analysis consultation: Research Analyst K. S. Kuffour of iSearch Consultancy Services.

Whenever examination results disappoint, Ghana returns to a familiar conclusion: educational standards are falling. English and Mathematics are foundational, so the concern is justified. But can one BECE year be compared casually with another and treated as proof that children are learning less?

Official historical data suggest a more complicated answer.

What the long series shows

The Ghana Statistical Service’s National Education Report provides national BECE pass rates for core subjects from 2002/03 to 2020/21. Explore the English and Mathematics series below. Select a subject and point to—or tap—a year to see its value.

The pattern is not a smooth decline. Before 2014/15, rates mostly sit around 58–61%, interrupted by sharp one-year rises. In 2014/15, English jumps from 60.8% to 77.0%, while Mathematics rises from 59.9% to 77.6%. Unlike earlier spikes, both remain around the mid-70s afterwards.

This resembles a structural break between two periods more than a steady improvement curve. It does not prove why the break occurred; it tells us that drawing one straight trend line through all the years would be misleading.

The pass rate is not a fixed ruler

WAEC says BECE uses the Stanine Grading System and does not apply fixed grade boundaries like an ordinary classroom test. Boundaries for each subject can vary by year according to candidate performance. The same numbered grade in two different years therefore need not represent precisely the same raw-score threshold.

Historical comparisons remain useful—but they must not be mistaken for a perfectly standardised test of learning across time.

Comparability became more complicated again in 2024. WAEC stated that school candidates would be examined under the Common Core Curriculum, while private candidates would follow the old syllabus. Curriculum, questions, cohort composition and continuous assessment can all change what an annual result means.

Four related measures—not one

These indicators influence one another, but they are not interchangeable. A headline about Grade 9, a subject pass rate and a school-placement rate may all be important while measuring different outcomes.

National averages also hide gender shifts

In Mathematics, boys led girls by 6.6 percentage points in 2002/03; by 2020/21, the gap had narrowed to 2.8 points. English moved differently: boys held a slight lead in 2002/03, but girls were ahead by 2020/21. Even when the national line appears stable, the experience underneath it may be changing.

So, are standards falling?

From this dataset alone, the most defensible answer is: we cannot confidently say. The comparable GSS series does not show a continuous collapse; later recorded pass rates are higher than much of the 2000s. But it would also be wrong to claim that underlying abilities improved by the same amount, because examination outcomes are shaped by grading, curriculum and assessment conditions.

Ghana needs longitudinal assessments using stable instruments or statistically linked scales. Until then, annual BECE results should trigger concern and investigation—not sweeping conclusions based on one number.

The numbers matter. The yardstick matters too.