Dear Head Teacher,
I hope this letter finds you well. There are several reasons why students fail in Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). According to an examiner and a Ghanaian Language Tutor Mr. Tikya Eric Wireko, most BECE candidates adopt wrong practices before, during and after each paper leading to their failure in the Examination1. Some of these practices include copying down of whole passages as answers to questions especially the comprehension (Ghanaian Language and English Language), presenting more than one alternative answer to one question, one of which is either correct or wrong2.
Other factors that contribute to poor academic performance of students in Ghana include lack of effective supervision and monitoring at school, lack of motivation for teachers and inadequate number of qualified teachers to fill empty classrooms3. Factors such as intellectual ability, poor study habit, achievement motivation, lack of vocational goals, low self-concept, low socio-economic status of the family, poor family structure and anxiety have also been identified as contributing to educational performance3.
I hope this information helps.