Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) Executive Secretary Kofi Asare has called for a fundamental restructuring of Ghana’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), arguing that requiring Junior High School candidates to sit 10 subjects over five days is outdated and places unnecessary psychological pressure on young learners.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, May 7, 2026, Asare proposed reducing the examination to four core subjects: Mathematics, English Language, Science, and a General Paper. He said this slimmer framework would still provide a credible and fair basis for placement into Senior High Schools while aligning Ghana’s assessment system with modern educational practice.
The call comes in the middle of the 2026 BECE, which is currently underway nationwide. A total of 620,141 candidates from 20,395 schools are sitting the examination, organised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), with papers running from May 4 to May 11.
Asare argued that several countries have already moved beyond subject-heavy examinations and now use aptitude tests and continuous assessment to determine a student’s academic progression. He stressed that Ghana’s approach has not kept pace with global trends.
“This is 2026, not 1996,” he stated, making the case for immediate modernisation of how the country evaluates learners at the end of basic education.
His proposal aligns with growing public concern about the structure of the examination. A University of Ghana lecturer independently described the current format as cruel earlier this week, and Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has separately called for reforms to how examination materials are transported to centres after question papers arrived late at a centre in the Western North Region at the start of the examination.
The current sitting has also been marked by examination malpractice incidents, with more than 10 candidates and invigilators reportedly arrested since papers began. This follows a national crackdown in which eight examination officials were jailed for offences during the 2025 BECE.
Asare has a long record of advocacy on education reform in Ghana, with EduWatch consistently raising concerns about assessment integrity, equity in resource distribution, and learning outcomes across the country.
