- Nigerian students repeatedly fail to make WASSCE’s top three
Once again, a contest between Nigerian numbers and Ghanaian genius has ended embarrassingly for the self-acclaimed Giant of Africa.
At the 66th annual meeting of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) held in Banjul, Gambia, three Ghanaian students were honoured for being the best candidates in the 2017 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). This feat was achieved in spite of the fact that Nigeria contributed 81.67 per cent or 1.559 million of the 1.909 million candidates who sat for the exam.
It was not the first time that Ghana had beaten her much larger neighbour in such an educationally exemplary manner. Since 2008, it has enjoyed an unchallenged succession of similar triumphs, imperiously sweeping all three top positions in WASSCE with a disheartening regularity, leaving Nigeria and other WAEC member-nations like Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the scholastic shade.
Interestingly, the 2017 winners were all female: Miss Jochebed Adwoa Sutherland, Miss Audrey Emefa Awuttey and Miss Rachel Amaning Kwarteng. They were conferred with WAEC’s International Excellence Award and given scholarships, cash prizes and laptop computers.
It might be argued that the overall proportion of standard passes is much more significant than a few exceptionally brilliant performances, and that international comparisons like these are inherently inaccurate since the examinations taken are not exactly similar. However, it cannot be denied that this situation reinforces the sobering realisation that Ghanaian educational achievement is far more substantial than anything Nigeria can lay claim to.
Ghanaian schools are generally regarded as being much better than their Nigerian counterparts, and have benefitted richly from Nigerian patronage as a result of this perception. Last year, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, a former Minister of Youth Development, reckoned that over N300 billion was being spent annually by Nigerians on education in Ghana.
Although they are not immune to the wildcat strikes, dilapidated facilities and other challenges that are common in Nigeria, it does seem that Ghana still retains a reverence for education that appears to have all but vanished in its neighbour.
The country boasts several secondary schools and universities with decades-long records of outstanding achievement; Nigeria’s current Chief Justice, Walter S.N. Onnoghen, is an alumnus of Odorgorno Secondary School, Accra Academy and the University of Ghana, Legon.
Just as importantly, public attitudes to educational attainment in Ghana are very different from the prevailing norm in Nigeria. Whereas reality shows seem to occupy the attention of many young Nigerians, Ghana’s National Science and Maths Quiz is a hugely popular contest whose winners are celebrated like international sporting heroes.
Another critical difference between the educational systems of the two countries can be found in the comprehensiveness of government intervention in achieving positive educational outcomes in Ghana.
Free uniforms, exercise books and meals are provided in public schools under the Free and Compulsory Basic Education Programme (FCUBE). This was taken even further in September 2017 when the incumbent Akufo-Addo administration introduced its free Senior High School (SHS) programme, in which government undertakes to fully fund the cost of senior high school education for every Ghanaian student who qualifies for entry.
In contrast, Nigeria’s funding initiatives in education are often characterised by inconsistency and a troubling lack of commitment. Some N44.9 billion in counterpart funding for the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme was not utilised by the states in 2014. In the same year, only 30 per cent of the N10.052 billion set aside for research by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) was accessed by federal and state-owned tertiary institutions.
The lessons are clear: comprehensive planning, policy consistency and adequate investment will lead to marked improvements in the quality of education. Educational standards cannot be sacrificed to economic contraction and political expediency.
Nigeria can no longer complacently rely on its vaunted size and supposed wealth. As Ghana has shown so consistently, quantity is not synonymous with quality.
