Education Experts Call for Urgent Reform of BECE to Align with Standard-Based Curriculum
Two prominent educationists in Ghana are urging a complete overhaul of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), citing its misalignment with the country’s newly adopted standard-based curriculum.
In separate interviews, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, a former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), and Dr. Peter Anti Partey, Executive Director of the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST-Ghana), emphasized the need to reform the BECE to reflect the principles of the new educational framework.
According to Prof. Opoku-Amankwa, the continued use of the BECE’s current norm-referenced assessment model is fundamentally incompatible with the standard-based system. “I believe it is time to say goodbye to the BECE. Once the curriculum has changed, the mode of assessment must also change,” he stated.
He explained that the BECE currently employs a stanine grading system — a norm-referenced model where students are assessed in comparison to one another rather than against defined learning standards. “While the stanine system can be used in educational settings, it’s not typically suitable for standard-based assessment, especially for certification or selection purposes,” Prof. Opoku-Amankwa stressed.
In contrast, standard-based assessment is criterion-referenced. It evaluates student performance against pre-defined learning outcomes rather than against the performance of peers. Prof. Opoku-Amankwa warned that using the old system risks producing results that do not accurately reflect students’ competencies as outlined in the current curriculum.
Dr. Peter Anti Partey shared similar concerns. He described the BECE in its current state as “incompetent in measuring the standards in the standard-based curriculum,” arguing that it remains tailored to the objective-based curriculum, which was replaced in 2019.
“The BECE was well-suited for the old objective-based curriculum, which relied on norm-referenced assessments. But the new standard-based curriculum requires a different approach — one based on criterion-referenced tests,” Dr. Partey explained.
He further noted that the new curriculum outlines specific content standards and general competencies each student must acquire. Yet, six years into its implementation, no significant changes have been made to the BECE format, raising questions about the validity of the current assessment in measuring the new standards.
“The question is: how do we know students are meeting the new competencies when the BECE is still structured under the old framework?” Dr. Partey asked. “A comprehensive reform of the BECE is not only necessary — it is urgent.”
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Despite these calls, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) maintains that the BECE still holds relevance. WAEC’s Head of Public Relations, Mr. John Kapi, acknowledged the evolving nature of the exam but said the Council had already begun implementing changes to align with the standard-based curriculum.
“We are now doing a lot more in terms of assessing application, critical thinking, and competencies — the very pillars of the standard-based system,” Mr. Kapi said. He also emphasized the importance of the BECE in placing students into senior high schools and assessing what they have learned throughout their basic education.
However, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa countered that while some adjustments may have been introduced, the fundamental structure of the BECE still does not reflect the criterion-referenced nature of the new curriculum. He proposed that placement into senior high schools be based on diagnostic assessments rather than fixed subject choices.
“In a standard-based system, students shouldn’t be choosing their SHS programs arbitrarily. Instead, a diagnostic test should guide them based on their proficiency and mastery of subjects,” he argued.
Such a system, he said, would not only offer more reliable indicators of student ability but also support career guidance and educational planning.
Dr. Partey also criticized the slow pace of reform, especially as the country prepares to review the curriculum from kindergarten to Basic Six. “We cannot continue to implement new curricula while clinging to outdated assessment methods,” he noted.
The consensus among the education experts is clear: if Ghana wants to fully realize the benefits of its standard-based curriculum, it must urgently review and reform the BECE.
Failing to do so, they warn, undermines the integrity of the new curriculum and leaves critical questions unanswered about whether students are actually acquiring the skills and competencies required in the 21st century.
As the government and stakeholders prepare for another round of curriculum review, the question remains: will the assessment system evolve to match, or will it continue to lag behind?
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