Source: Africa Publicity
The Center for Education Policy and Management (CEPM), a policy think tank operating under The Orpington Group, has issued a stark warning about what it calls a collapse in secondary education management after Ghana’s 2025 WASSCE results showed a dramatic downturn.
A year-on-year comparison between the 2024 and 2025 examinations reveals that nearly 250,000 fewer candidates achieved the A1–C6 passes required in all four core subjects for entry into tertiary institutions. CEPM has described the situation as an unprecedented national education emergency.
Core Mathematics recorded the most troubling decline, with the number of A1–C6 passes falling from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025—a drop of more than 96,000. With the current pass rate at 48.73%, the think tank notes that more than half of candidates failed to obtain grades needed for university admission.
Social Studies suffered a decline of over 77,000 passes, while Integrated Science and English Language also showed major reductions of 47,266 and 28,028 passes, respectively.
CEPM argues that the cumulative loss across the four core subjects represents “a quarter of a million futures restricted,” warning that the consequences for the country’s human capital development could be severe.
“This crisis is not a failure of access but a fundamental failure of execution and management,” CEPM stated.
“The data confirms that systemic administrative lapses over the past year have severely undermined the quality of teaching and learning under the Free SHS framework.”
According to CEPM, the dramatic fall in performance stems from chronic mismanagement, including the withdrawal of Academic Intervention Grants, the absence of specialised continuous professional development for teachers, and funding delays that disrupted feeding, logistics, and the supply of essential teaching and learning materials.
The organisation further pointed to rising examination malpractice as evidence of a system under pressure, with thousands of subject results cancelled and several individuals facing prosecution for undermining examination integrity.
In urging swift reform, CEPM called on the Ministry of Education to secure a dedicated quality enhancement fund, improve the consistency of school funding, and expedite the completion of unfinished educational infrastructure to ease overcrowding.
“Ghana cannot celebrate years of gains only to mourn mass academic failure this year,” the think tank said. “The government must shift from political promotion to professional management to safeguard the future of the children who depend on this vital policy.”
