Former Manhyia South MP, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has criticised the Ghana Education Service (GES) for what he describes as an unfortunate and misleading response to the sharp decline in the 2025 WASSCE results.
Speaking in a one-on-one interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Dr. Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as Napo, said the GES “got it totally wrong” in its commentary on the performance of students.
“I’m sorry for the GES boss, but he got it totally wrong on the WASSCE results commentary. When you talk about integrity, he missed it completely,” Napo stated.
According to him, the Service’s response was both inaccurate and damaging; especially after the NDC administration suggested that the improved results recorded under the NPP government were due to exam malpractices.
“The NDC claimed that when students passed during our time, it was because we cheated. So now that they are in power and the results have dropped, they are saying it’s because they invigilated well — which is not true,” he said.
Dr. Opoku Prempeh defended the use of past questions under his tenure, stressing that the practice is common across the world and not a form of cheating.
“There is no examination board anywhere that doesn’t use past questions. When you go to the law school, they use past exam questions to prepare. Even outside the country, past questions and examiners’ reports are published in bookshops for students to buy and learn from,” he explained.
He added that his decision as minister to provide all final-year SHS students with past questions was to create fairness and equal opportunity.
“What I decided as the minister then was that we won’t allow only the rich to get past questions. The poor should also have access. So, we supported schools and made sure every student got copies of the past questions to help them prepare better,” he noted.
His comments come after the GES issued a statement on December 1, signed by its Head of Public Relations, Daniel Fenyi, rejecting former minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum’s claims that management lapses within the Service contributed to the poor performance.
The GES described Dr. Adutwum’s assertions as “misleading,” insisting that the 2025 WASSCE results reflect students’ true academic ability.
ALSO READ:
Prof. Jane Naana began past questions training before I became Education…
I’m the only Education Minister who added Frafra to Ghana’s language…
I’ve guided the Minister, and he’s doing well – Opoku Prempeh…
