John Kapi, the head of Public Relations at the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), has said the use of pidgin, social media language, weakened students’ WASSCE scripts in the 2025 exams.
According to John Kapi, the Chief Examiner’s report revealed that students used informal language, slang, and WhatsApp-style expressions in the 2025 English paper.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Friday, December 5, he explained, “If you look at the English report that came out, for example, the Chief Examiner indicated that there was a lot of pidgin in what the candidates wrote. They also referred to what they called ‘social media language’ or jargon things we normally use on WhatsApp, which are not formal.
“Especially in the English paper, some candidates could not use standard language, they could not spell properly, and they could not use the appropriate language to write their essays.”
“We need to look at it from home, from where the children grow up, and also examine whether the school system has enough support structures to help students learn. As a society, there is a lot we must address to put our children in a position to learn well,” he said.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has broken his silence concerning the poor performance of students in the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results.
According to Mahama, the poor WASSCE results are due to several years of neglect in basic education.
President Mahama described the situation as a serious concern for the government, parents, and the wider public.
He highlighted that it is mind-boggling that with the same teachers, the same factors in play, one batch of students passed their exams and the other failed.
Speaking at the launch of the STEMBox initiative for primary schools, John Mahama explained, “It has become an issue of great concern to governments, parents, and the public at large. I was speaking with the minister, and I’ve asked him to do an analysis of the examiner’s report to try and decipher what could have gone so disastrously wrong”.
“It is mind-boggling that with the same teachers, the same factors in play, just from one batch to another, one batch does so disastrously. And so we need to get to the bottom of it.”
“But it also emphasises the issue of foundational learning. One of the major things that has taken place in the last several years is the neglect of basic education,” he said.
“Inability to send the capitation grants, ensuring that we have quality teachers at a foundational level, at a basic level. Because it is that level that prepares the child for secondary and tertiary education.”
“And once you don’t get that level right, you will just send the child through a conveyor belt like a factory. And when it comes out at the end, it will be picked out by quality control and said that this one did not do well,” he explained.
Mahama added, “And so our focus must be on foundational learning. And foundational learning means that by the time a child leaves primary school, they should be able to read properly. By the time the child leaves primary school, they should be able to write properly. By the time the child leaves primary school, they should be able to do basic arithmetic”.
“If we are able to get our children to get these three things right—writing, reading, and arithmetic—then they have the foundation to continue into secondary education.”
President Mahama lamented, “Otherwise, it will be a factory that is just pushing them through and pushing them through. And at the end of it, you have the situation where a child finishes basic school and sometimes still finds it difficult to write his name”.
“Vigilance is not going to go away. Invigilation is not going to go away. And so we must make sure that the children are well prepared on their own to be able to study and pass the exams that are awaiting for them.”
“And so, I’ve asked the minister, and he’s told the director-general of the GES to study the examiner’s report, and let’s see what quick reforms we can carry out in order that our children get a quality education,” he stated.