2018 WASSCE Results Released By WAEC
The release of the May-June WASSCE results by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) this year was done earlier compared to the time it was released last year.
The good thing about early release of results is that it helps educational authorities at the tertiary level to plan and execute their admission processes in time. It shows that this time around, compared to last year, examination officers at WAEC conducted the marking and release of results with greater efficiency. However, one unfortunate thing is the withholding of the entire results of 26,434 candidates for various reasons.
Usually, results are withheld as a result of malpractices such as bringing unauthorised materials to examination centres, copying from each other or not obeying examination rules, a situation that gives unfair advantage over other candidates who go strictly by the rules. The withholding of results occurs every year and this shows that school authorities have a duty to ensure that as much as possible, examination candidates strictly obey the rules laid down for them to ensure fairness to all. With regard to the core subjects, namely, English and Mathematics, performance this year declined compared to that of last year, but other core subjects such as Integrated Science and Social Studies saw improvement in performance this year compared to last year. All the core subjects are very important and constitute good foundation of studies for second cycle candidates for which reason they must take them serious. The improvement in the performance of candidates in Integrated Science and Social Studies could be attributed to the extension of the third term by the Ministry of Education which enabled the candidates to have enough time for the preparation of the examination. The drop in the performance in English and Mathematics this year compared to last year is possibly due to the fact that people take the study of English Language for granted, not realising that they need to study it well and pay attention to construction, grammar, punctuation and spellings through the reading of supplementary English books. When it comes to core Mathematics, the assumption by many students is that it is a difficult subject, so right from the beginning they do not make any effort to study it well. Also, some of the teachers who handle Mathematics ought to make the teaching of the subject interesting so as to make its learning easy and interesting.
Examination anxiety often involves apprehensions of performing at levels below expectation or being threatened with failure. This type of anxiety may be a product of underestimation of one's abilities to perform well or inadequate resources available to the country to perform to the desired levels in examinations. Conversely, examination anxiety may be a natural reaction to insufficient examination preparation.
There are a number of things students can do to help reduce examination anxiety. To begin with, students must always work hard by constantly studying their books on the basis of a tight study schedule. They must also take balanced diet and have enough sleep every night before the following day. They must avoid wasting their time until the last minute when lack of time forces them to rush through their lessons. Such rush does not help students because it does not ensure adequate preparation in a manner that will help them to understand what they are studying. With regard to adequate preparation, the country needs to reflect again on the duration of the SHS programme: whether three or four years. WASSCE candidates must not see examination as a torturing experience in their lives but as a means of finding out how much they have learnt in preparation for the new life ahead of them. For this reason, they must always work hard and put in their best to ensure great success in their lives. What is more, WAEC and all its stakeholders must also come together to ensure that they put in the desired requirements for examination candidates to put in their best and come out with flying colours.
BY: DR. KOFI AMPONSAH-BEDIAKO, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION, GHANA STANDARDS AUTHORITY.
The good thing about early release of results is that it helps educational authorities at the tertiary level to plan and execute their admission processes in time. It shows that this time around, compared to last year, examination officers at WAEC conducted the marking and release of results with greater efficiency. However, one unfortunate thing is the withholding of the entire results of 26,434 candidates for various reasons.
Usually, results are withheld as a result of malpractices such as bringing unauthorised materials to examination centres, copying from each other or not obeying examination rules, a situation that gives unfair advantage over other candidates who go strictly by the rules. The withholding of results occurs every year and this shows that school authorities have a duty to ensure that as much as possible, examination candidates strictly obey the rules laid down for them to ensure fairness to all. With regard to the core subjects, namely, English and Mathematics, performance this year declined compared to that of last year, but other core subjects such as Integrated Science and Social Studies saw improvement in performance this year compared to last year. All the core subjects are very important and constitute good foundation of studies for second cycle candidates for which reason they must take them serious. The improvement in the performance of candidates in Integrated Science and Social Studies could be attributed to the extension of the third term by the Ministry of Education which enabled the candidates to have enough time for the preparation of the examination. The drop in the performance in English and Mathematics this year compared to last year is possibly due to the fact that people take the study of English Language for granted, not realising that they need to study it well and pay attention to construction, grammar, punctuation and spellings through the reading of supplementary English books. When it comes to core Mathematics, the assumption by many students is that it is a difficult subject, so right from the beginning they do not make any effort to study it well. Also, some of the teachers who handle Mathematics ought to make the teaching of the subject interesting so as to make its learning easy and interesting.
Examination anxiety often involves apprehensions of performing at levels below expectation or being threatened with failure. This type of anxiety may be a product of underestimation of one's abilities to perform well or inadequate resources available to the country to perform to the desired levels in examinations. Conversely, examination anxiety may be a natural reaction to insufficient examination preparation.
There are a number of things students can do to help reduce examination anxiety. To begin with, students must always work hard by constantly studying their books on the basis of a tight study schedule. They must also take balanced diet and have enough sleep every night before the following day. They must avoid wasting their time until the last minute when lack of time forces them to rush through their lessons. Such rush does not help students because it does not ensure adequate preparation in a manner that will help them to understand what they are studying. With regard to adequate preparation, the country needs to reflect again on the duration of the SHS programme: whether three or four years. WASSCE candidates must not see examination as a torturing experience in their lives but as a means of finding out how much they have learnt in preparation for the new life ahead of them. For this reason, they must always work hard and put in their best to ensure great success in their lives. What is more, WAEC and all its stakeholders must also come together to ensure that they put in the desired requirements for examination candidates to put in their best and come out with flying colours.
BY: DR. KOFI AMPONSAH-BEDIAKO, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION, GHANA STANDARDS AUTHORITY.
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