Social Media, Poor Reading Habits Fuel 2025 WASSCE Decline – Vanderpuye
Vanderpuye Links Falling Exam Results to Social Media Distractions and Poor Reading Culture
- Vanderpuye links the 2025 WASSCE decline to social media and digital distractions
- Exam performance dropped sharply
- Calls for national action have been made to manage technology use in schools and homes
Nii Lante Vanderpuye, National Coordinator for the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), has attributed the sharp drop in 2025 WASSCE results to students’ increasing distractions from social media and digital technology.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday, December 4, Vanderpuye said modern trends have shifted young people’s focus away from academic discipline.
“I am not surprised by the result. As a nation, as parents and guardians, we have been taken in by modern trends and technical innovations. Our children are not concentrating on what will truly benefit their education,” he said.
He warned that the growing obsession with tablets, social media, and other digital devices is eroding reading culture and study habits among students.
“One of the things we must critically address is how to redirect their focus from media and gadgets, because it is making children lazy,” Vanderpuye cautioned.
The remarks follow a troubling decline in this year’s WASSCE performance, which has raised alarm among education stakeholders. Nearly 6,295 candidates had their results cancelled due to possession of unauthorised materials in examination centres. Another 1,066 candidates remain under investigation, while results for 908 candidates were withheld for specific subjects, and 158 candidates had all subjects withheld.
Core Mathematics recorded the steepest drop, with passes falling from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025, a decline of over 96,000. With a pass rate of 48.73%, more than half of candidates failed to meet the minimum requirements for tertiary education, underscoring the scale of the problem.
Vanderpuye has called for a national reassessment of how technology is managed in schools and homes, emphasizing that deliberate interventions are essential to prevent further declines in academic performance.
