The Ministry of Education says concerns over the use of “social media language” by students in the classroom are not being overlooked, although the issue has not yet formally come before the Ministry.

Press Secretary to the Minister for Education, Hashmin Mohammed, said the Ministry is awaiting the Chief Examiner’s Report from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which is expected to provide a broader assessment of factors influencing students’ performance.

His comments follow the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) attributing the decline in candidates’ performance in English Language in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) partly to persistent weaknesses in grammar, poor reading habits and the influence of informal language.

Head of Public Affairs at WAEC Ghana, John Kapi, said the pass rate in English Language fell from 69% in 2025 to 62.40% in 2026.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Pulse on Monday, September 9, Mr Mohammed explained that the Ministry believes Mr Kapi was referring to observations contained in the Chief Examiner’s Report.

"It is when we are able to get hold of the Chief Examiner's report that we will be able to look at the general perspective, why some of the students did well and then others couldn't do well. So we want to get hold of the Chief Examiner's report and then we will be able to look at all these issues that have been raised by WAEC. But issues of social media is not something that is on our blind side," he said.

He noted that the Ministry last month organised a national conference on stemming indiscipline in schools, adding that participants at the conference identified social media as one of the factors contributing to indiscipline among students.

Hashmin Mohammed added that if the Chief Examiner’s Report establishes a link between social media language and students’ academic performance, the Ministry would not be surprised.

"So if students are not performing very, very well and then the Chief Examiner's report is pointing to that, it is something that will not be surprise to us. But we want to look at the whole issue holistically and see how best we can approach the issue and find solutions to it."