Communications Officer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dennis “Miracles” Edward Aboagye, has taken President John Dramani Mahama to task over his comments on the performance of candidates in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Mr Aboagye, a former Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation, accused the President of sending a troubling message to Ghanaian students by describing recent examination outcomes as the “true results” of candidates.
In a sharply response, he questioned whether the President’s position meant that poor performance should be accepted as genuine while exceptional results are viewed with suspicion.
“Mr. President, when you stand before your citizens, look them in the eyes and say we are now seeing the ‘true results’ of our BECE and WASSCE candidates, do you hear what you are saying to the child in Bimbilla who studied under the tree, without a washroom in his school?” he asked.
Mr Aboagye said students cannot be blamed for outcomes produced under difficult learning conditions, particularly where schools lack basic infrastructure and essential learning resources.
“You are telling her that when she fails, she is authentic. And when she passes, she is a suspect,” he stated.
The NPP communicator challenged President Mahama to accept responsibility for the conditions under which Ghanaian children are educated.
He argued that the President cannot oversee the education system and then distance himself from its outcomes.
“But there’s a genuine question you need to answer: whose job was it to teach them?” Mr Aboagye asked.
“You are not an observer, you are not just an advocate. You are the President. The teachers are on your payroll. The curriculum is under your direction. The textbooks, or their absence, are your responsibility.”
He further cited inadequate school infrastructure and power interruptions as challenges that could affect students’ preparation for national examinations.
“The power that goes off at 8pm in Yendi and Tamale while candidates are revising is your responsibility,” he said.
According to him, the government’s priority should be to address the factors affecting academic performance rather than use examination results as a political argument.
Mr Aboagye also took issue with what he described as the celebration of poor results as evidence of an honest examination system.
“A President who celebrates poor results as proof of integrity has quietly given up on the only thing that matters, which is making them better,” he argued.
He stressed that behind every examination candidate is a family whose sacrifices and expectations are tied to the child’s education.
“Every candidate who walked into that hall carried the hopes of a mother selling at Makola, a father driving trotro, a grandmother who has never read a page but who prays over their books anyway,” he said.
“They did not sit that exam for your politics. They sat it for their lives.”
Mr Aboagye further challenged the President to explain how his administration would interpret improved examination results in the future.
He questioned whether strong performances under the Mahama administration would also be treated with suspicion if similar results were previously attributed to examination malpractice.
“Say it plainly, Mr. President: is it your submission that our children should keep failing? Is it your submission that the moment they excel, we must go looking for a cheat?” he asked.
He added: “Imagine, next year, these kids come up with great results like they did before you came to office. Would it be as a result of cheating and connivance between teachers and students?”
“Or, is it your case that, when students do well under your tenure, it’s as a result of hard work, but under any other president, it’s cheating?”
Mr Aboagye insisted that Ghanaian students have the ability to compete academically with their peers anywhere in the world, arguing that shortcomings in the education system should not be used to diminish their capabilities.
“Ghanaian children are not less capable than any children on this earth,” he said.
“What they lack is not intelligence. What they lack is a government that sees improving their results as its duty rather than its debating point.”
He therefore called on the government to focus on improving school infrastructure, electricity supply, teaching and learning materials and other conditions necessary for effective learning.
“Fix the schools, fix the lights, fix the shortages. Then come and talk to us about ‘true results’,” Mr Aboagye said.
“Until then, stop insulting the children.”
By 1960news.com
