The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the 2026 WASSCE results, accompanied by a substantial set of disciplinary findings.
WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, is quoted by Citi News as saying that the Council had cancelled the entire results of 861 candidates for possessing mobile phones in examination halls.
It has also cancelled the subject results of a further 7,434 candidates for bringing unauthorised materials, including prepared notes, textbooks and printed matter into examination halls.
A further 270 candidates had their subject and entire results withheld, pending investigation into other suspected offences.
Mr Kapi further told the radio station that the results of candidates from 169 schools have been withheld over alleged collusion.
According to him, the mobile-phone rule applies regardless of whether the device was used and that the outstanding investigations are expected to conclude by October 30, 2026. Set against this, performance in English Language declined even as overall results improved.
Mr Kapi said the proportion of candidates obtaining grades A1–C6 in English fell from 69 per cent in 2025 to 62.40 per cent in 2026. Core Mathematics, by contrast, improved, with 60.75 per cent of candidates achieving A1–C6.
He attributed the English decline to persistent weaknesses identified in the Chief Examiner’s report; poor concord, weak spelling, faulty grammar and difficulty with comprehension and summary writing, along with declining engagement with prescribed literary texts.
Examiners also reported observing informal, contracted forms of language of the kind common on WhatsApp and SMS appearing in candidates’ scripts.
Though Mr Kapi was explicit that WAEC has not conducted a study establishing a causal link between social media use and the decline in English performance, the caveat does not, in The Chronicle’s view, dispose of the underlying question.
The presence of informal digital language in formal examination scripts is a legitimate signal worth public attention. English is not Ghana’s indigenous language, but it remains the language of instruction, of government business and of the WASSCE itself.
A student who struggles to write Standard English is, in practice, disadvantaged across every subject assessed in that language. On that basis, we believe the state, schools and parents have good reason to treat reading habits and screen use among school-age children as a policy priority, independent of how the social-media question is eventually resolved.
Other jurisdictions are already legislating. France’s National Assembly passed a law in January 2026 banning social media accounts for children under 15 years, with new account creation blocked from September 2026 and existing under-15 accounts affected from January 2027.
The law also bans mobile phones in French high schools. Several other European states including Denmark, Slovenia, Greece and Sweden have proposed comparable restrictions, while Spain is reportedly considering a threshold of 16.
The Chronicle is not aware of any equivalent legislative proposal before Ghana’s Parliament, and we make no prediction as to whether one is warranted in the same form adopted by France. What we do urge is that the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, Parent-Teacher associations, faith-based organisations, civil society groups and Parliament treat this year’s results as an occasion for open, evidence-led conversation about children’s reading habits and their exposure to digital platforms.
On the disciplinary findings, we take a firmer view that the scale of exam malpractice, cancellations affecting more than 8,000 candidates and 169 schools under investigation, is a serious indictment of examination integrity, whatever its cause.
We note, separately, that malpractice allegations have also been reported in connection with examinations administered by religious and missionary institutions; if substantiated, this points to a wider problem of examination integrity that extends beyond any single sector.
The Chronicle, therefore, urges WAEC to complete its investigations promptly, publish its findings and apply sanctions proportionate to the offences established.
For more news, join The Chronicle Newspaper channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBSs55E50UqNPvSOm2z
