Speaking at the Doha Forum 2025 on Saturday, the President said the country must return attention to foundational learning to correct the gaps that have made progress at the secondary level difficult.

“There’s been a bit of neglect at a basic level and so we are going to return to foundational learning, getting the children to master the three Rs, reading, writing and arithmetic,” President Mahama said during the panel on Economic Empowerment in Africa, Pathway to Inclusive Prosperity.

He said spending at the secondary level has grown at the expense of basic schools, adding that the imbalance has weakened the foundation many pupils need to succeed.

“One of the places that has taken most of our funding in education is the secondary level,” he explained. “We are going to look at foundational learning again.”

His comments followed the release of the provisional 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results by the West African Examinations Council on November 29, 2025. The figures show a sharp decline in performance across the core subjects.

Core Mathematics recorded 48.73 per cent of candidates scoring between A1 and C6, compared with 66.86 per cent in 2024. Social Studies fell from 71.53 per cent in 2024 to 55.82 per cent in 2025. English Language stood at 69 per cent compared with 69.52 per cent the previous year.

Referring to the data during a panel discussion, Mr Mahama said, “I am beginning to see it in the results that are coming out. There is weakness in maths. There is weakness in writing and constructing sentences properly.”

He added that pupils who lack a strong foundation struggle to adjust when they reach the secondary level. “If you have a weak basic foundation, when you get to secondary school it is difficult for the child to catch up,” he said.

The President also spoke about the need to improve technical and vocational training.

He said industry leaders in Ghana continue to request middle-level technicians while universities produce more graduates in business administration, marketing and the humanities.

“Today if you speak to captains of industry in Ghana and ask what skills they are looking for, they are looking for middle-level technicians,” Mr Mahama said.

He added that the country inherited a grammar school tradition that “puts a lot of value on speaking very good English” but gives limited attention to practical skills and hands-on work.

Mr Mahama warned that Africa faces an estimated 230 million digital jobs by 2030 and young people without the needed skills may be exposed to criminal networks.

“By 2050, one out of every three children will be an African. If we don’t equip our children with the skills to thrive in this digital age world, it is going to be a problem,” he said.

“We have so many young people ready to be hired by bad guys, the drug people, the terrorists and these criminals. This is the reality.”

The President called for progress that the public can verify and urged government agencies to provide clear and accessible data on outcomes in the education sector. “We must have measurable progress in every single sector,” he said.