The President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has remarked that his Free SHS policy is working very well, adding that the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) candidates churned out impressive results compared to the last eight years.
The 2022 WASSCE results, the President, described as the best in the last eight years, alluding it to the policy which has proved to be successful.
“The 2022 results are the best of the last eight (8) years. Surely, there can no longer be any controversy about the validity of the Free SHS policy and its consequential measures. It is working, and working well,” the President said.
President Akufo-Addo made these remarks during the 70th Anniversary Celebration of Opoku Ware Senior High School (OWASS) over the weekend in Kumasi.
He cited that 61.39% of students recorded A1-C6 in Mathematics, as compared to 33.12% in 2016, whereas 62.45% recorded A1-C6 in Integrated Science in 2022 as against 48.35% in 2016 and 71.51% recorded A1-C6 in Social Studies, as compared to 54.55% recorded in 2016.
He stressed that though the double track system was criticised, the results of 2021 batch of students were also commendable.
“Lest we forget, the 2021 batch of students, who also obtained very commendable results, were the pioneers of the double track system, which elicited a lot of vilification and unfounded criticism on its introduction,” the President stated.
The President pledged his commitment to sustaining the policy for the benefit of brilliant students whose parents are not able to afford their fees.
A total number of 422,883 candidates made up of 203,753 males and 219,130 females from 977 schools sat for the examination.
This figure is 5.25% lower than the 2021 entry figure of 446,352. A total number of 2,818 (0.6796) of the candidates who registered were absent from the examination.
Data from WAEC shows the candidates performed better in Social Studies over a three-year period (2020-2022).
The Free SHS policy is a government initiative introduced in the 2017 September.