Policy think tank Africa Education Watch has called for an immediate end to the practice of pupils writing examinations from blackboards in public basic schools, urging government to allocate dedicated funding for proper school-based assessments.
The group is advocating the creation of a specific budget line by the Ministry of Education to support examinations at the school level, arguing that the current arrangement leaves many institutions—particularly in deprived communities—unable to conduct standard written tests.
Speaking at a press briefing on education policy monitoring outcomes on Tuesday, April 14, Executive Director Kofi Asare expressed concern over the lack of financial backing for continuous assessment nationwide.
According to him, the absence of targeted funding has compelled some schools to resort to conducting exams directly from the blackboard, depriving pupils of essential experience with printed examination formats.
“The latent assumption that the capitation grant could finance school-based examination is unrealistic considering that parents were paying at least GH₵20 for examination, an amount higher than the per capita capitation grant of GH₵15.
The reality is that a lack of funds for school-based examination means many schools in deprived communities are writing examinations from the blackboard with zero exposure to printed paper examination.
This is unacceptable and must end. We call on the Ministry of Education to create a budget line for school-based examinations in public schools.”
Africa Education Watch warned that without urgent intervention, disparities in assessment conditions will continue to widen, ultimately undermining efforts to align classroom testing with the national curriculum and adequately prepare students for external examinations.
