Dennis Miracles Aboagye, aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has called for a more fact-based national discussion on the sharp decline in the 2025 WASSCE results. He is urging policymakers, educators and the public to move away from blaming the Free Senior High School policy and instead investigate the real drivers behind the poor performance.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, December 3, Aboagye argued that Free SHS has no influence on teaching quality or classroom delivery. He maintained that the system’s core instructional structures have remained unchanged, with the only major shift being the removal of school fees for students.
“Teachers still teach the same way, the academic environment is the same. The fact that students don’t pay fees does not affect teaching and learning,” he said.
Aboagye insisted that the conversation must be redirected toward the technical and academic factors that caused the disappointing outcomes—particularly in Core Mathematics and Social Studies, which recorded some of the steepest declines.
“Anybody who says Free SHS is the reason for these failures is not being intelligent. It is an ill-informed comment and does not hold water. We need to stop politicising this issue,” he stressed. “Let us identify, technically, what caused the poor performance and work towards fixing it.”
This year’s WASSCE results show one of the most significant drops in recent years. Passes in Core Mathematics (A1–C6) fell by more than 96,000—down from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025. The overall pass rate stands at 48.73%, meaning more than half of candidates did not secure the grades needed for tertiary education. Nearly a quarter failed both Core Mathematics and Social Studies.
Despite the nationwide concern, the University of Ghana has announced that it will maintain its existing cut-off points for the 2025/2026 admissions cycle, raising fresh questions about how many applicants will be able to secure university placement.
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