Every year in Ghana, thousands of Junior High School students walk into examination halls carrying not only pens, rulers, and mathematical sets, but also fear, anxiety, pressure, and emotional exhaustion. For many of these young students, the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) has become more than just an academic assessment. It has become a battle of survival.
The reality is frightening when one carefully looks at it. Children between the ages of 13 and 16 are expected to write almost ten papers within just five days, with some writing two demanding papers in a single day. The question Ghana must honestly ask itself is simple: are we testing intelligence, or are we testing endurance?
This issue has become one of the most ignored problems within Ghana’s educational system. Every year, students complain about the stress, teachers speak quietly about the pressure, and parents watch helplessly as their children struggle through sleepless nights during examination week. Yet the system remains unchanged, as though the emotional and mental well-being of children does not matter. But it doesn’t matter. Children are human beings, not machines programmed to absorb pressure without limits.
Imagine a 15-year-old student waking up before dawn after sleeping for only a few hours. Imagine that child revising notes under intense pressure because Mathematics is scheduled for the morning. After writing one mentally exhausting paper, the same student is expected to prepare immediately for another paper in the afternoon or the following morning.
This cycle continues almost every day throughout the examination period. Many students barely eat properly. Some suffer headaches, emotional breakdowns, panic, and extreme fatigue. Others lose confidence halfway through the examinations because they are already mentally drained.
This cannot be healthy for children. Education is supposed to shape lives positively. It is supposed to build confidence, discipline, creativity, and understanding. Unfortunately, the current pressure surrounding the BECE is gradually turning education into something many children fear rather than appreciate. Today, many students no longer study simply to understand concepts. They study mainly to survive examinations.
The focus has shifted from learning to memorization. Students try to force large amounts of information into their minds within short periods because they are desperate to perform under pressure.
That is not the true purpose of education. A good educational system should develop critical thinking, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving abilities. However, a system that constantly pushes students into fear and exhaustion risks producing students who are academically tired instead of intellectually curious.
Some students forget most of what they learned immediately after the examinations because their focus was simply to “pass and move on.” This should worry every serious policymaker in Ghana.
Sadly, some adults dismiss these concerns by saying, “We also went through it.” But surviving a difficult system does not automatically make that system right. If previous generations suffered under certain conditions, the goal should be improvement, not repetition. Education should evolve with time.
The world is changing rapidly, and educational systems across the globe are changing with it. Ghana cannot continue holding onto outdated structures simply because they have existed for many years.
Across Africa, some countries are beginning to rethink how they assess students. Kenya, for example, has introduced reforms through its Competency-Based Curriculum, which focuses more on continuous assessment, practical learning, creativity, and skill development instead of relying heavily on one stressful examination period.
Rwanda has also invested in reforms that encourage student-centered learning and reduce unnecessary academic pressure on children. South Africa combines different forms of assessments throughout the academic year and spreads examinations over more manageable periods.
These countries are beginning to understand something Ghana must also understand quickly: education should challenge students, but it should not emotionally destroy them.
One dangerous consequence of excessive examination pressure is the growing problem of examination malpractice. In recent years, Ghana has recorded several reports of cheating during BECE and WASSCE examinations. While cheating can never be defended, society must honestly ask why students feel increasingly desperate during examinations. A child under extreme pressure may begin to believe that failure in BECE means failure in life. That fear alone can push some students toward unhealthy shortcuts.
The emotional burden associated with BECE has become too heavy for children of that age. Many students complete their basic education mentally exhausted before they even enter Senior High School. Instead of feeling inspired about the future, some simply feel relieved that the suffering is over. That should concern every parent, teacher, religious leader, and government official in Ghana.
Children should never feel broken because of an examination timetable. Interestingly, Ghana itself has already seen signs that reducing examination pressure can improve student wellbeing. During the 2025 BECE, adjustments in the timetable due to the Eid holiday created a short break within the examination period.
Many students and teachers observed that the break helped candidates feel more relaxed, refreshed, and mentally prepared for the remaining papers. This experience revealed something important that policymakers cannot continue ignoring: rest improves performance.
A tired mind cannot function effectively. Even adults working in offices receive weekends, leave periods, and breaks because human beings naturally need recovery. If adults struggle with stress and burnout, why do we expect children to comfortably write ten papers in five days without emotional consequences?
This conversation is not about making examinations easy. Nobody is asking for academic standards to be lowered. Ghanaian students are intelligent and capable. What many people are asking for is balance, fairness, and humanity. Examinations can remain credible while reducing unnecessary pressure on students.
WAEC and the Ghana Education Service can spread papers across a slightly longer period. Major subjects can be separated properly to give students enough mental recovery time. Continuous assessment methods can also be strengthened so that students are not judged mainly based on one stressful week.
The truth is that education must never become a source of suffering for children. A nation that truly values its future must also value the emotional and mental well-being of its young people. Ghana cannot continue pretending that everything is normal when students are visibly exhausted during examinations.
Parents, teachers, civil society organizations, psychologists, and education experts must all begin speaking louder about this issue. Silence will not solve the problem. The educational system exists to serve students, not to punish them. Children deserve quality education, but they also deserve rest, dignity, care, and emotional protection.
Ten papers in five days may have become normal in Ghana, but normal does not always mean right. Some traditions deserve reform, especially when they place unnecessary pressure on children. The time has come for Ghana to rethink the structure of the BECE and create a system that measures intelligence without exhausting young minds.
At the end of the day, BECE candidates are not examination machines. They are children.
By: Dominic Ebow Arhin
Senior Fellow
Institute for Strategic Governance, Policy and Innovation
CitiNewsRoom
