President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described this year's West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), results as the best in the last eight years.
President Akufo-Addo said he was proud of the Free SHS policy and its results so far six years after its implementation, which gave access to a minimum of 1.7 million Ghanaian children.
Delivering an address at the 70th Anniversary Celebration of Opoku Ware Senior High School, last Saturday, the President said the 2022 WASSCE results, which is the third since the implementation of the Free SHS policy, shows 60.39% of students recording A1-C6 in English, as opposed to 51.6% in 2016."
In Integrated Science, he indicated that 62.45% recorded A1-C6 in Integrated Science, as opposed to 48.35% in 2016, even though the results were a slight regression from the 2021 pass rate of 65.70%.
61.39% of students recorded A1-C6 in Mathematics, as compared to 33.12% in 2016 and 71.51% recorded A1-C6 in Social Studies, as compared to 54.55% in 2016, he added.
"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," he said.
In the 2022 results, which are the best of the last eight years, the President stated, "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."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
With the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and the Chairperson of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Sriboe II at the gathering, President Akufo-Addo said that guided by the history and experiences of developed nations, the most efficient way to create opportunities and guarantee the future of the country was by investing in education and skills training of the youth.
That, he said, was because "it is the people of Ghana, Ghanaians like you and I, and especially the youth of today, who are going to build Ghana. Without an educated populace, we cannot transition from the status of a developing to a developed nation."
President Akufo-Addo said despite the economic difficulties confronting the nation, "the government has devoted even more resources for the running of the Free SHS policy. From a budget of GH¢2.3 billion in 2022, a 28.6% increase has been applied to this year's budget for Free SHS, i.e., GH¢2.96 billion."
The President called on all Ghanaians, in these difficult times, to support the fiscal measures that the government has proposed to enable it to achieve the goal of restoring macroeconomic stability and promoting inclusive growth, whilst protecting the poor.
"I am optimistic the policies outlined in the 2023 budget will go a long way to address the economic challenges with which we are faced," he added.
