The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), Justice King Essiel, has questioned the transparency of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) grading system, arguing that the continued use of norm-referenced assessment is inconsistent with Ghana’s current education reforms.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Tuesday, August 4, Mr Essiel said the existing grading model ranks candidates against one another rather than measuring them against fixed performance standards, making it difficult for parents, teachers and schools to determine students’ actual academic achievement.
He explained that Ghana’s assessment system was originally designed when progression to higher levels of education was highly competitive, with only the best-performing students advancing through stages such as the Common Entrance Examination and the O-Level system.
However, he noted that educational reforms “have become compulsory, and every child is expected to move on to the next level. But while the system has changed, the assessment method has largely remained the same,” he said.
According to him, under the current norm-referenced grading system, candidates are ranked against their peers instead of being assessed against predetermined performance benchmarks.
“They are comparing children with other cohorts. So, for example, even if a student scores 80 marks, that student may not receive Grade One if the score does not place them within the top-performing group,” he explained.
Mr Essiel argued that because only grades are released and not candidates’ raw scores, parents and schools are unable to accurately assess students’ actual performance.
He called for a standards-based grading system similar to that used at the senior high school level, where grade boundaries are clearly defined.
“We expect that if Grade One is awarded for scores between 75 and 100, then that should be made clear. If the quality of education is declining, stakeholders should be able to identify it and work together to improve it,” he added.
Mr Essiel maintained that greater transparency in the grading process would strengthen confidence in the examination system and provide educators with more meaningful data to evaluate learning outcomes.
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