The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has called for a renewed reading culture among students and improved teacher training to address declining performance in English Language in Ghanaian schools.

Head of Public Affairs at WAEC Ghana, John Kapi, said regular reading was essential to helping students build their vocabulary, improve sentence construction and develop the ability to understand and analyse texts.

Speaking on the Joy FM Super Morning Show on Monday, September 7, Mr Kapi said the lack of a strong reading culture was contributing to students’ difficulties in English Language.

“There’s also this lack of reading culture. See, reading is one of the major areas where you can pick up language, whether you like it or not,” he said.

He said schools could encourage reading by giving students regular exercises based on texts they had read, including writing summaries of the passages.

“If we are able to reintroduce a reading culture, we're able to probably just ask candidates or students, ‘Read this text and write just a single page, a kind of synopsis of whatever you've read,’” he said.

According to him, such exercises would help teachers assess students’ reading habits while giving them regular practice in expressing themselves in English.

“The more they do this, the more they are able to build their language better,” he added.

Teacher training

Mr Kapi said improving English Language performance could not be left to students alone, stressing the need for properly trained teachers, particularly in the teaching of grammar.

He said effective language teaching required more than simply knowing the language.

“It is not just a matter of going out there, and once you can rattle the language, you are also able to teach it to other people to use it the way you are using it,” he said.

Mr Kapi therefore called for stronger teacher preparation, particularly in grammar, to ensure that students were taught how to apply language rules rather than simply memorise them.

“The training of teachers is very, very important, especially in the teaching of grammar, so that we stop teaching rules but teach application of the language,” he said.

English performance declines

His comments come against the backdrop of a decline in candidates’ performance in English Language in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Mr Kapi said the pass rate fell from 69% in 2025 to 62.40% in 2026.

He said the Chief Examiner’s report identified weaknesses in grammar, expression, spelling and candidates’ ability to understand and analyse texts.

Mr Kapi stressed that addressing these challenges would require a shared effort involving students, teachers and schools, with greater emphasis on reading and the practical use of English.