Education policy analyst and Executive Director of Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has expressed concern over the limited capacity of Ghana’s tertiary institutions, despite the improved pass rate recorded in this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Mr Asare said the improvement in students’ performance is encouraging but warned that the country’s tertiary education system does not currently have enough space to accommodate all eligible candidates.
According to him, public and private tertiary institutions can collectively admit only about 200,000 students, leaving an estimated 50,000 additional qualified candidates at risk of missing out on tertiary education due to limited admission spaces. “Regardless of this year’s improved WASSCE Core Subject pass rate, only around 200k students can be accommodated in the public and private tertiary system,” Mr Asare stated in a Facebook post on Saturday, September 5. “Another estimated 50k could have made it to tertiary, but for limited admission spaces,” he added.
Mr Asare welcomed initiatives by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to expand existing tertiary institutions and establish new ones, describing the efforts as a positive development that should receive greater priority. “Efforts by MoE to expand existing/build new tertiary institutions are positive. They deserve more priority attention,” he stated.
According to him, increasing the number of qualified students without a corresponding expansion in tertiary infrastructure risks creating a major challenge in the education system. Using an analogy, Mr Asare said: “When the doorway is too narrow, build another door.”
His comments come after the release of the 2026 WASSCE results, which showed an improvement in performance in some of the core subjects. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced the official release of the provisional results for the 2026 West African Secondary School Certificate (WASSCE).
This is contained in a press release issued by WAEC on September 4. WAEC said following investigations into examination malpractices, it has cancelled or withheld the results of 8,295 candidates. “A total of 7,434 candidates have had their subject results cancelled for bringing foreign material like prepared notes, textbooks, and printed material into the examination halls.
The entire results of 861 candidates have been cancelled for possession of mobile phones in the examination halls,” the press release said. According to the statement, the subject results of 957 have been withheld, and the entire results of 270 candidates have also been withheld for various suspected offences.
“In all, a total of 512,862 candidates from 1,022 schools registered for the examination across Ghana, representing an 11.07% increase from the previous year,” the statement further stated.
WAEC has also cancelled or withheld the results of 8,295 candidates. A total of 512,862 candidates, made up of 225,270 males and 287,592 females, from 1,022 schools entered for the examination. This figure represents an 11.07% increase over the 2025 entry figure Of 461,736. A total number of 5,049 (0.98%) were absent from the examination.
