NewzThe Head of Public Affairs at the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Ghana, John Kapi, says informal expressions commonly used on social media are increasingly finding their way into students’ examination scripts. Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, September 7, 2026, Mr Kapi said examiners had identified the use of contracted and informal expressions associated with platforms such as WhatsApp and text messaging. His comments followed a decline in candidates’ English Language performance from a pass rate of 69 per cent in 2025 to 62.40 per cent in 2026.
“What I’m saying is that these things that we find in the social media space also finds its way into the candidates’ writings.” Asked whether the increasing use of social media was directly responsible for the decline, Mr Kapi said WAEC had not conducted a study to establish a causal relationship. “I do not have evidence to support that, but what I am saying is that these things that we find in the social media space also find their way into the candidates’ writings,” he explained. “What we have seen in the scripts of the candidates can simply be related to the kind of language that we use on social media.” Mr Kapi said the 2026 Chief Examiner’s report also identified poor control of grammar, weak expression, concord errors and basic spelling mistakes as some of the major challenges confronting candidates.
He noted that spelling and concord difficulties were also highlighted in the 2025 report, suggesting that the weaknesses had persisted despite efforts to improve English Language teaching and learning. According to him, many candidates also lacked a proper understanding of the prescribed texts and were consequently unable to provide adequate literary analyses. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has attributed the decline in candidates’ performance in English Language in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) partly to persistent weaknesses in grammar, poor reading habits and the influence of informal language.
Head of Public Affairs at WAEC Ghana, John Kapi, said the pass rate in English Language fell from 69% in 2025 to 62.40% in 2026. Speaking on the Joy FM Super Morning Show on Monday, September 7, during a discussion on the provisional 2026 WASSCE results, Mr Kapi said the Chief Examiner’s report identified poor control of grammar, weak expression, concord errors and spelling mistakes among the major challenges. “When you look at the Chief Examiner’s report, it talks about the candidates’ poor control of grammar.
They also have an issue with expression,” he said. “The concord is always a problem, and their spelling, simple spelling errors occur in a lot of their writing,” he added. Poor comprehension and reading culture Mr Kapi also said many candidates struggled to understand and analyse passages in the English Language paper.
“I think then also the texts that they are supposed to read and analyse, most of them do not have a grasp of the texts and so they are unable to do a proper analysis of the text that they are supposed to have read,” he said. He said a declining reading culture could be contributing to the problem, noting that regular reading helps students develop vocabulary, sentence structure and comprehension skills. “There’s also this lack of reading culture.
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