The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has defended the current structure of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), cautioning that proposals to reduce the number of examinable subjects could undermine the quality and balance of basic education in Ghana.
The Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John K. Kapi, said the BECE is designed to expose pupils to a broad range of knowledge areas and that narrowing the curriculum could limit their academic development.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, May 7, he argued that learners at the basic level are still developing cognitively and therefore benefit from being assessed across multiple subjects.
“If you look at the level at which we are assessing these children—their maturity level and all of that—if we are limiting them to just a few subjects, I believe that what we’re going to do is simply to be limiting the children to just a few things that they pay more attention to,” he said.
Mr Kapi cautioned that reducing examinable subjects could also lead students to ignore areas they consider less important, particularly subjects like general papers that are essential for holistic learning.
He noted that some learners may focus only on subjects they believe carry greater weight in examinations, a situation he said could distort learning outcomes.
“I’ve heard you asking whether it should not be the case where the children will not pay too much attention to a general paper because they think that it’s really not going to be assessed… it’s not going to be anything big to be assessed,” he added.
His comments come amid growing debate over possible reforms to the BECE, with education think tank Africa Education Watch calling for a reduction in examinable subjects to ease pressure on candidates.
The group argues that the current structure is overly demanding and stressful for students, proposing a focus on four core subjects instead.
WAEC, however, maintains that any such reform must carefully consider the risk of narrowing foundational learning at the basic education level.
