Breaking the cycle: Reforming entry standards for Colleges of Education

By Dr. Josephine Adusei-Poku

Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible. Every professional – whether in the vocational, technical, academic or corporate sectors in Ghana – was once a student sitting in a classroom, looking up to a teacher for guidance. The hard truth facing our education system is that the quality of a nation’s education can never exceed the quality of its teachers so who we let into our training colleges shouldn’t be an afterthought. It must be an urgent national priority.

Currently, Ghana allows candidates who score a minimum of 50% in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to train as teachers. The current entry requirement for a College of Education is a credit pass (grades A1 to C6) in six subjects. While “credit” sounds positive, a C6 represents the absolute lowest boundary of passing which is a 50% to 54%. According to WAEC’s own description, this score does not fall under the category of good, very good or excellent scores.

We are entrusting the minds of the next generation to future teachers who are starting their own professional journeys on a weak and insufficient academic foundation.

Shaky Foundations: A Six-Year Timeline of Core Math Performance

The low entry standard is clashing with unpredictable student exam results. A six-year trend in Ghana’s WASSCE Core Mathematics pass rates from 2020 to 2025, tells a revealing story.

Looking at WAEC data from 2020 through 2025, we can see that the academic foundation of senior high school graduates fluctuates from year to year. The percentage of candidates achieving a credit pass (Grades A1 to C6) in Core Mathematics, for instance, highlights this instability.

Figure 1: WASSCE Core Mathematics Pass Rates in Ghana (2020–2025). Source: Compiled by Education Quality Ghana (EQG) using provisional statistics from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), 2020–2025.

The latest data exposes the fragility of our educational progress. In 2025, the pass rate plummeted by over 18 percentage points from the previous year, and more than 250,000 students failed to hit the C6 benchmark. The most alarming of all of this is that the national F9 (fail) rate surged to 26.77%, meaning more than 114,000 candidates failed the subject outright.

Whether a graduate cohort hits a high watermark (like 2024) or drops below the halfway mark (like 2025), the structural flaw of our teacher recruitment remains completely unchanged. Any trainee admitted at the current minimum threshold enters teacher training on the weakest possible academic footing which is a score of just 50% to 54%.

The data also reveals a compounding crisis which is: the entry bar is low, yet fewer candidates are clearing it. We still expect the same trainees to graduate and miraculously improve Ghana’s learning outcomes.

The Cycle of Low Quality

The above creates a cycle of low quality in Ghana’s education system, as depicted in the image below and it is a persistent cycle which remains unaddressed. Weak secondary performance produces low entry grades into teacher training; and low entry grades produce poorly prepared teachers due to weak academic foundation. The poorly prepared teachers will enter classrooms and produce another generation of poorly prepared secondary students. The recent increase in examination malpractices is another product of this low-quality cycle. This is a cycle that perpetuates itself, and Ghana’s learning outcomes remain significantly low

Diagram 1: The Cycle of Low Quality in Ghana’s Education System. Source: Education Quality Ghana / Education Quality Ghana (EQG) Analysis, 2026.

Data from the National Teaching Council (NTC) proves how deeply this cycle runs. While the average teacher licensure examination (GTLE) pass rate between 2018 and 2024 stands at 68%, recent cohorts paint a much bleaker picture. In 2023, only 52.6% of candidates passed the GTLE 2&3 exams, and among those resitting the test, a staggering 83.5% failed. Back in May 2021, even after the NTC lowered the pass mark, a meagre 23% of first-time candidates passed all three required subjects.

These are the individuals we are sending into Ghanaian classrooms as qualified teachers.

Lessons from High-Performing Systems

High-performing education systems across the world operate on a different philosophy. They believe that the quality of a nation’s education cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. They know that to get the best results, you must recruit the best minds. This massive gap isn’t just about statistics; it is a direct reflection of how little we value the teaching profession in Ghana.

Data Source: McKinsey & Company. (2007). How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top [Interactive Data Dashboard].

A Proposed Path Forward

To break this cycle, Ghana must immediately raise the minimum entry requirement for Colleges of Education from A1-C6 to A1-B2. This requirement would change the landscape by:

1. Filtering teacher trainees from the top 15% to 20% of each cohort.
2. Signalling that teaching is a prestigious, competitive, and respected profession.
3. Attracting candidates with the strong academic foundations required to teach others.
4. Drastically improving licensure examination pass rates and cutting down on resits.

There is a legitimate concern that raising the bar could disadvantage students from rural and deprived districts. The appropriate response is not to maintain a low standard for all. Rather, Ghana can implement targeted bridging programmes and scholarships for high-potential candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds who are passionate about becoming teachers. We should raise the bar with accompanying support that benefits the entire system.

Some may also argue that raising entry requirements will reduce the number of applicants. The goal is not to fill classrooms with warm bodies. The goal is to fill classrooms with competent teachers so the objective should be quality over quantity. The fewer but better-prepared trainees are likely to produce excellent students, experience lower attrition, improved retention and a greater likelihood of remaining in the profession.

Conclusion and Call to Action

Higher entry standards cannot stand alone. They must be paired with improved conditions of service – better pay, clear career progression, and proper working environments. It is contradictory to demand top talent while offering conditions that drive them away.

Education Quality Ghana (EQG) calls upon the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, and the National Teaching Council to act on four fronts:

1. Raise the bar: Shift the minimum College of Education entry requirement from A1–C6 to A1–B2.
2. Support equity: Implement bridging programs and dedicated scholarships for rural and deprived districts.
3. Value teachers: Improve teacher conditions of service in parallel with higher standards.
4. Measure progress: Closely monitor the impact of these changes over a three-year period.

Teaching is the profession that shapes all others. It is time for our entry requirements to reflect that truth. Let’s elevate the profession, respect our teachers, and transform Ghana’s future.

: Dr. Josephine Adusei-Poku is a higher education quality specialist and the founder of Education Quality Ghana (EQG), a consultancy focused on tertiary quality assurance. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education quality assurance, and she is a long-time advocate for raising standards in Ghana’s Colleges of Education, and hosts The Education Deep Dive podcast.

Phone: 00 233 59 376 0797

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.educationqualitynetwork.com

Social Media: Search Education Quality Ghana on Facebook, X, & LinkedIn

Podcast (TEDD GH): Available on Spotify, YouTube, & Podbean

 Sources & Data Benchmarks

WASSCE 2025 Data: West African Examinations Council (WAEC) provisional results. Core Math pass rate (A1-C6) fell to 48.73% (209,068 of 461,736 candidates), with 26.77% receiving an F9 grade (a sharp decline from 2024’s 66.86% pass rate).

Admission Requirements: National Conference for Principals of Colleges of Education (PRINCOF) 2025/2026 guidelines.

Licensure Data: National Teaching Council (NTC); historic data verified by NTC Registrar Dr. Christian Addai-Poku. 2023 GTLE 2&3 pass rate stood at 52.6%, with June 2023 resit passes at just 16.5%.

International Benchmarking: McKinsey & Company, “How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top” (2007); UNESCO International Bureau of Education.

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