Former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has rejected suggestions that the grading system is responsible for the high number of students who failed or were unable to secure placement after the latest WASSCE.

He says the problem could instead be linked to weaknesses in the placement system or a deterioration in academic standards.

His comments follow the release of the latest West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, which showed worrying performance in some core subjects.

The results have renewed concerns about the quality of education and students' ability to meet the required standards for progression to the next level.

Prof Adei, however, cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from the performance of only one year.

“You can’t blame the grading system, though I think that is unnecessarily complicated, but since it has been the same grading system in the previous years, it becomes a common denominator.”

“So that cannot explain why many have failed or cannot be placed.”

He said the focus should instead be on the placement system and the possibility that academic standards are deteriorating.

“It’s either the system of placement or standards are deteriorating, but even then, we cannot use one year to determine the trend statistically.”

Prof Adei maintained that the consistency of the grading system makes it difficult to blame it for the latest poor results.

“But definitely it cannot be the grading system, since the same grading system was used in the previous years.”

He was also critical of the complexity of the current grading approach.

“I personally think that the grading system is unnecessarily complicated.”

He suggested a simpler approach based on direct marking.

“They should go for straight marking like the WASSCE and then use it.”

The former GIMPA Rector nevertheless acknowledged that the latest results could point to a broader concern about declining standards.

“But it remains a point to be made that the deterioration, even though one year cannot be a trend statistically.”