The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has called on the government to permanently remove the F9 barrier to Senior High School (SHS) admission, arguing that every child who completes basic education should have the right to continue to secondary school.
Mr Asare said access to secondary education should not depend on whether a student passes or fails a particular subject in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
His comments come amid the ongoing 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) exercise, in which about 55,000 candidates initially failed to qualify for placement, largely because they obtained an F9 in either core English Language or Mathematics.
Eduwatch wants F9 rule removed permanently
According to Mr Asare, Eduwatch welcomes the government’s current decision to allow students with F9 grades to proceed to SHS, but believes the arrangement should not be left to the discretion of individual governments.
He wants the Free SHS policy document reviewed and amended to formally guarantee secondary education for pupils who successfully complete basic school.
Mr Asare argued that this would prevent the policy from changing from one administration to another.
“We must waive that F9 thing there,” he said, stressing that completing basic education should be sufficient qualification to progress to secondary school.
He said Ghana should avoid a situation where students and parents have to wait each year to find out whether government will relax the F9 requirement.
‘Every Ghanaian who completes basic school must enter secondary education’
Mr Asare maintained that students should not be denied access to SHS because of poor BECE grades, particularly when learning conditions differ significantly across the country.
He said the government has a responsibility to provide adequate teaching and learning resources before holding students solely responsible for poor academic outcomes.
“Every Ghanaian that completes basic school must enter secondary education regardless of their grades,” he said.
His position effectively calls for a shift from using BECE performance as a barrier to SHS admission towards a system that guarantees universal access to secondary education.
Poor learning conditions affect BECE performance
The Eduwatch Executive Director also linked poor examination outcomes in some communities to challenges within the basic education system.
He noted that students who record F9 grades are disproportionately found in deprived parts of Ghana, including the five northern regions, Oti and Western North regions.
Among the challenges he identified are teacher shortages, inadequate textbooks and insufficient furniture in some schools.
Mr Asare therefore argued that students should not be punished for academic outcomes when they may have been educated under conditions that are significantly less favourable than those available in better-resourced communities.
“Until government provides adequate facilities across urban, peri-urban and deprived areas, you cannot punish pupils for having F9 in Maths and deny them an opportunity to enter Free Senior High School,” he said.
Eduwatch backs wider access to secondary education
Eduwatch has therefore welcomed the current approach of allowing students who obtained F9 grades to continue their education, describing it as a step towards ensuring wider access to secondary education.
Mr Asare said Ghana should ultimately develop an education system in which no child is denied secondary education solely because of their performance at the basic education level.
The debate is likely to remain central to discussions around the future of the Free SHS programme, BECE grading and CSSPS placement as stakeholders consider how best to balance academic standards with universal access to secondary education.
