Akufo-Addo’s free S.H.S must not suffer at WAEC’s expense – Dr. Adutwum

Deputy Minister for Education in charge of Pre-Tertiary Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum says the efforts of President Akufo-Addo and beneficiaries of the free Senior High School policy must not be downplayed because of WAEC’s mistake.

His comment follows the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) publication of a list of contact details of examiners for the 2020 WASSCE on social media.

According to him, “the children have done a fantastic job in the face of Covid-19, and their courage and determination should be celebrated as well as the fearlessness of President Akufo-Addo.”

“Let’s not use WAEC inefficiency to dampen the spirit of anyone, the fierce determination of students has allowed them to prevail, making this country better,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo on November 24, 2020, applauded the first batch of beneficiaries of the Free S.H.S policy for their excellent results in the 2020 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

According to available data, about 60% of the 342,500 candidates who wrote the WASSCE, representing over 200,000, scored between A1 and C6 in their best six subjects, including English and Mathematics, which qualifies them for tertiary education.

In an interview with JoyNews’ Evans Mensah on PM Express, he advised WAEC to take a leaf from other educational institutions in finding more effective ways of doing their job without exposing students to leakages and the issue of cheating.

“It’s been done in other jurisdictions, even here in the University Of Cape Coast and other universities.

“There is a way to stop this madness from reoccurring,” he said.