System of education in Ghana

hana operates on a 6-3-4-4 System
Primary School - 6 years
Junior Secondary/High School - 3 years
Senior Secondary School - 3 years
(Senior High School entrants 2007-
2009 – 4 years)
University Bachelor's Degree - 4 years
: The sole official language of instruction
throughout the Ghanaian educational system is
English. Students may study in any of eleven local
languages for much of the first three years, after
which English becomes the medium. Students
continue to study a Ghanaian language as well as
French as classroom subjects through at least the
ninth grade. All textbooks and materials are
otherwise in English.
Language
:
375,000 Ghanaian students take the Basic Education
Certificate Examination (BECE) at the end of JHS
Form 3 (ninth grade) in seven subjects. Admission
to Senior Secondary/High School is competitive:
only 150,000 students can be admitted into the 500
public and 200 private national secondary schools.
The vast majority of Ghanaian students attend
public boarding schools, many of which are highly
competitive; there are only half a dozen
international private secondary schools in the
country, collectively graduating about 300 students
a year and offering the IB or A-level curricula.
Senior Secondary School/Senior High School
The Senior High School was introduced in 2007,
expanding the system to four years but not
otherwise changing the curriculum, a policy that
was reversed after three years, as a result of which
there were no graduates in 2010, and two cohorts
graduating in 2013. In the public national schools,
all students take a Core curriculum consisting of
English Language, Integrated Science, Mathematics,
and Social Studies. Each student also takes three
or four Elective subjects, chosen from one of seven
groups: Sciences, “Arts” (social sciences and
humanities), Vocational (visual arts or home
economics), Technical, Business, or Agriculture.
The secondary school transcript should contain a
letter or percentage grade for each subject, for each
of three terms, for the three (four) years of senior
secondary school, equivalent to the tenth through
twelfth (thirteenth) grades. Students’ Term Reports
(report cards) contain rank in class for each subject
as well as grades for classwork and end of term
exams. The grading system is tough: 80-100% is
usually an A, a grade rarely awarded.
At the end of Senior Secondary/High School
(twelfth/thirteenth grade), all students take the
West African Senior Secondary Certificate
Examination, or WASSCE, (SSCE through 2005;
WASSCE beginning in 2006) in each of their seven
or eight subjects. These exams are given
nationwide in April-June each year, but the results
are not available until the following August.
Grading is exceptionally tough: 4% of grades are
A’s, and while 80% of grades are passes, only 53%
of grades are credit passes of A1-C6. C’s can be
quite competitive grades.
SSCE Grading
System
WASSCE
Grading
System
Points Frequency
Credit Grades
A A1 1 4%
B B2 2 4%
C B3 3 14%
D C4,C5,C6 4 32%
Pass Grades: not
acceptable for
tertiary admission
E D7,E8 Pass-
no
credit
27%
Failing Grade
F F9 Fail 18%
The minimum university standard for admission to
post-secondary education is a ‘C-’ average on the
SSSCE or WASSCE, with credits (A-D or A1-C6) in
all subjects. U.S. universities should not admit
Ghanaian students who have not attained at least
this level. Students are expected to retake exams
in subjects they have failed. Colleges should
require a photocopy of the WASSCE Statement of
Results bearing an original signature and stamp
from the headmaster or headmistress, as well as the
transcript. You are strongly encouraged to verify
these documents at source, through the West
African Examinations Council’s online system at
. The student provides
you with a PIN number that they purchase for the
equivalent of $3 (available at post offices or WAEC
regional offices), that is used to retrieve a printable
copy of their WAEC results. This is the fastest and
most reliable way of verifying a student’s results
from Ghana. All results from all WAEC exams dating
back to 1993 can be verified through WAECDirect.
www.ghana.waecdirect.org
: Ghana’s tertiary institutions
enroll over 300,000 students in undergraduate,
graduate, certificate and diploma programs in a full
range of academic and professional fields. The
National Accreditation Board ( )
lists 140 accredited institutions, both public and
private, offering four-year degrees as well as two
and three-year diplomas, which are not equivalent
to Bachelor’s degrees, but undergraduate transfer
credit can be awarded. Twenty-six percent of
tertiary students are enrolled in private institutions.
University Education
www.nab.gov.gh
Ghanaian university admission is highly
competitive, especially in fields such as medicine,
engineering, law, business and pharmacy. The
quality of education is considered reasonably high,
evidence that human resources are more significant
than material resources. In an effort to attract
international enrollment, all Ghanaian universities
operate on a modular, semester system. The
University of Ghana is committed to 10%
international population and attracts significant
numbers of American students, as well as students
from Africa and Europe. The United Nations
University operates several programs on campus in
fields of health and development.
: 2,863 Ghanaians
are enrolled in over 600 U.S. institutions in all 50
states. Their influence is significant: each year,
newly enrolling Ghanaian students are awarded
over $5 million in financial assistance for study in
the United States. Ghanaian public secondary
school and university graduates regularly attain
admission to the most competitive universities in
the United States.
Ghanaians in the United States
The SAT and ACT are offered on all test
dates, in both Accra and Kumasi. The GRE, GMAT
and TOEFL are offered at least weekly at computer-
based test centers in Accra; IELTS and PTE-A are
also available. Although we want students to
demonstrate their commitment and
competitiveness, we advocate the use of testing
only as warranted, and discourage institutions from
requiring the TOEFL of students who can adequately
demonstrate their English proficiency by other
means.
Testing:
: The EducationUSA Advising
Centers in Accra and Kumasi, sponsored by the
Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy,
serve over 20,000 students per year in a wide range
of programs designed to strengthen students’
applications and their readiness for U.S. higher
education. We are eager to work with you to make
it possible for more Ghanaian students to enroll in
your institution. Please contact the Educational
Advisors, in Accra or Kumasi, and refer your
Ghanaian applicants to us for any assistance that
we can provide.