Senior Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana Kofi Agyekum has said over exposure and addiction to social media is the cause of the current abysmal performance of candidates who sat for the 2014 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSSCE).

Speaking on Peace FMs morning show ‘Kokrokoo’ Prof Agyekum said students who use short hand in typing on these social media platforms tend to forget that short hand writing is not allowed during exams.

It has been reported that about 72 percent of candidates who sat for the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) did not get passes in all the papers they sat for.

Prof Agyekum said the greater part of the blame should be put on government for its back and forth attitude on whether to make senior high school education three or four years.

According to him five batches should have been allowed to complete the four year system which was initiated ex-president John Kufuor.

He said syllabuses have been reduced to theories while the role of extra-curricular activities in developing the child both physically and mentally have been completely neglected.

He accused students for taking their studies for granted and over exploiting the purpose of social media and typing with short hand which prevents them from writing words in full.

The Senior Lecturer also mentioned strikes by teachers which limit the contact hours to students. He cited the Polytechnic Teachers Association (POTAG) and that of UTAG strikes as examples.

He advised government to pay critical attention to education and roll out policies that can help improve upon education in the country.