The General Secretary of the National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA), Gapson Kofi Raphael, says Ghanaian parents are increasingly concerned about the quality of education and students’ performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

“And on behalf of Ghanaian parents, we are increasingly getting more that as we try to support and complement the efforts of government to give our children the best of educational quality, the outcomes in terms of what we see at the WASSCE, particularly the report from the chief examiner, this is clearly telling us that as a country we have more to do together to solve the situation,” he said.

Speaking on JoyNews on Friday, March 27, Raphael said parents are carefully examining the indicators in the report, including students’ strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations, to see how school-based PTAs can engage parents and support learning.

He highlighted a major challenge: inadequate contact hours.

“Sometimes the children go to school and within the space of a month they are back home because of this double-track and other complicated issues. So it’s a bigger issue beyond us that we think all of us must put our shoulders to the wall to see how we can improve upon the quality of educational inputs in the classroom,” he said.

Raphael also pointed to the need for better assessment tools and proper guidance in schools. “We parents, most of us are not professionally trained to teach. So, in terms of guidance, the only thing we can do is to encourage the students to learn. But if they’ve not been taught, they’ve not been given proper guidance in the school system, you face issues that are clearly constraints within the educational system,” he added.

He said this situation places an extra burden on parents to go the extra mile, engaging teachers outside normal contact hours to help students master critical areas. “Basically, every three, four, five years, these exams focus on areas where students have historically not performed well. WAEC will always look at these areas, so it’s very important that we step in to support,” Raphael explained.

The PTA official linked these concerns directly to the 2025 WASSCE results, which saw the Core Mathematics pass rate drop to 48.73%.

He said the decline stems from students’ inability to apply theoretical knowledge in practical situations, such as translating word problems into mathematical models, interpreting complex diagrams, or making logical deductions from real-life social and economic contexts.

“Rather than truly understanding the curriculum, many candidates relied on rote memorization and past questions, which left them unprepared for the exam’s new serialized format and stricter anti-malpractice measures. Coupled with poor English comprehension and systemic issues like overcrowded classrooms, students can perform basic calculations but struggle with applied reasoning needed for higher marks,” he said.

Raphael urged collaboration among parents, teachers, and the government to tackle these challenges.

He emphasized that engaging parents through PTAs, addressing classroom limitations, and improving instruction and assessment tools are critical steps toward ensuring better outcomes in future WASSCE exams.