Effect of Use of WAEC Syllabus on the Mathematical Achievement of WASSCE Candidates in Ghana

Abstract

Teachers in Ghana seem to have been persistent in complaining about the voluminous state of the Senior High School teaching curriculum and how impossible it is to complete it within the stipulated time of 3-years.There is yet another claim that the 3-year duration is only a cliché and that it is actually about 2 years (taking out statutory holidays, sporting activities, and vacation periods).This study, therefore, seeks to investigate the use of WAEC syllabus (which only considers the examinable components of the GES syllabus) on the mathematical achievement of WASSCE candidates in Ghana. The researcher adopted a convenience sampling technique comprising a sample 64 WASSCE candidates in Ideal College School in Ghana. Four groups comprising of two core mathematics WASSCE private candidates’ classes and two regular core mathematics WASSCE candidates’ classes were used. Each category comprised of an experimental and a control group. All four classes were chosen out of six classes of final year students as they passed a homogeneity test (pretest which was their mock examination).The posttest used was the actual final WASSCE in core mathematics for private and regular candidates. A questionnaire instrument was also administered to 42 mathematics teachers in 4 different randomly sampled schools. Among the findings showed that private candidates treated with the WAEC syllabus outperformed those taught with the traditional GES syllabus. Also, regular candidates treated with the WAEC syllabus outperformed those taught with the traditional GES syllabus. Again, 91% of the mathematics teachers were oblivious to the examinable components of mathematics curriculum. The large class size was the greatest contributing factor to the perennial mass failure in core mathematics. It was recommended among others for Government of Ghana to as a matter of urgency set up a committee to develop a policy to regulate the class sizes acceptable in all schools of Ghana.