Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy, a stalwart of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), is urging the government to launch a comprehensive investigation into alleged examination malpractices in the country.
Following the release of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, the increase in failures in three core subjects has sparked a national debate, with both the NPP and National Democratic Congress (NDC) weighing in on the issue.
While the NPP claim the current administration should be blamed for the unimpressive performance of the students, the governing NDC says the poor foundation given by the previous government led to the decreased pass rate, and should be blamed for the development.
Former Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has attributed the poor performance to poor management of schools by the Ghana Education Service (GES), citing lack of proper supervision as a major factor.
In response, the GES accused Dr. Adutwum of attempting to deflect attention from his own alleged mismanagement of the education sector and allowing cheating to occur in order to boost the credibility of the Free SHS programme.
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After the Free SHS was introduced, concerns came up that the increased enrollment without recourse to entry requirements, was going to compromise quality. According to some school of thought, the government at the time allowed examination malpractice to perpetuate to dismiss the claims that the quality would be compromised under the Free SHS programme.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, Dr. Kennedy called on President Mahama to establish a full-scale investigation into the allegations, emphasising that the claims, if true, undermine the integrity of the nation’s education system.
He stressed the need to clear the air on whether students were allowed to cheat for political gain or otherwise, as long as the nation’s education integrity is at stake.
“Until we clear the air about whether people acted with integrity or not, we cannot have an honest, inclusive discussion about education. Mr. President, respectfully, we need, more than new policies, a clearing of the air. I urge you to consider a Presidential commission that will look at education since the 2007 reforms and question people under oath to establish the truth of whether or not government and education officials helped children cheat,” Dr. Kennedy stated.
WASSCE 2025: Chief Examiner outlines causes of failure in core subjects
