Head of Public Relations at the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), John Kapi, has raised concern over the increasing use of pidgin and social media language in students’ WASSCE scripts, warning that the trend is undermining candidates’ performance in English.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Friday, December 5, he said the Chief Examiner’s report revealed widespread use of informal language, slang, and WhatsApp-style expressions in the 2025 English paper.
He noted that many candidates struggled to express themselves using standard English, which significantly affected scores in essay writing.
According to him, markers detected “a lot of pidgin” in scripts, alongside shorthand forms, jargon and casual expressions commonly used on social media.
These, he stressed, have no place in a formal examination setting and indicate a worrying decline in students’ adherence to academic writing standards.
“If you look at the English report that came out, for example, the Chief Examiner indicated that there was a lot of pidgin in what the candidates wrote. They also referred to what they called ‘social media language’ or jargons things we normally use on WhatsApp which are not formal.
“Especially in the English paper, some candidates could not use standard language, they could not spell properly, and they could not use the appropriate language to write their essays.”
John Kapi explained that beyond the language used, many candidates were unable to spell correctly or construct coherent sentences an issue he believes reflects challenges not only at the school level but also within homes and the wider society.
He called for a holistic response, urging parents, teachers and education authorities to work together to reinforce correct language use from an early age.
“We need to look at it from home, from where the children grow up, and also examine whether the school system has enough support structures to help students learn. As a society, there is a lot we must address to put our children in a position to learn well,” he said.
His comments come against the backdrop of one of the steepest declines in WASSCE performance in recent years. A1–C6 passes in Core Mathematics dropped by more than 96,000, falling from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025.
The subject recorded an overall pass rate of 48.73%, leaving more than half of candidates without the grades required for tertiary admission.
Further analysis shows that nearly one in four candidates failed both Core Mathematics and Social Studies, signaling widespread academic challenges beyond English language alone.
