BECE Candidates’ Weaknesses In Social Studies And Remedies | Extract From Chief Examiners Report For BECE 2023 Social Studies
Teachers preparing students for any examination are always worried about the potential weaknesses in answers that their students will provide during the examination. Fortunately, the main examining body, the West Africa Examination Council always provide BECE candidates’ weaknesses in Social Studies during the last held examination.
WAEC Summary of 2019 BECE Social Studies Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
The Chief examiner reported that majority of the candidates adhered to the rubrics of the papers and identified the following topic areas as strengths:
(i) Negative effects of colonization in Ghana and how the effects could be reduced.
(ii) Attitudes and values needed to prevent conflicts in the community.
(iii) Effects of conflicts in society.
(iv) List of peaceful ways by which conflicts can be resolved.
(v) Ways by which one can defend the integrity of the nation.
(vi) Examples of cases that can be reported to the DOVVSU of Ghana and the
functions of DOVVSU in Ghana.
(vii) Tourism and ways of promoting tourism in Ghana.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
The Chief Examiner identified the weaknesses of candidates to include difficulty in answering questions on the following areas:
(i) Explanation on how direction can be shown using the cardinal points but not with the compass.
(ii) The use of abbreviations in naming the cardinal points instead of the full tests.
(iii) Definition of national integrity.
(iv) Difficulty in expressing themselves in English Language.
(v) Inability to expound on points to attract full mark
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
Remedies for subsequent improvement of performance should include:
(i) Devoting time to the reading of relevant literature and novel to improve expression.
(ii) Social Studies teachers should cover all sections of the syllabus particularly the Social and Economic developments in Ghana.
(iii) Candidates must work towards expounding points where required to earn more marks.
WAEC Summary of 2018 BECE Social Studies Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
(a) Commendable features noted were as follows:
(b) The rubrics were generally followed
(c) Some candidates had good understanding of the following topics:
- Health needs of Ghanaians
- Natural disasters
- Effects of ethnic conflicts
(d) Most candidates had legible handwriting
(e) Majority showed good understanding of the questions.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
The weaknesses of candidates are varied. These include the following:
(a) Spelling errors.
(b) Most candidates did not understand the following instructional words in
the questions: Outline, Describe and State.
(c) Lack of knowledge and understanding questions on the following topics:
- Conflict management,
- Characteristics of the North East trade winds in Ghana,
- Effects of North – East trade winds,
- International co-operation.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(a) Candidates need to be helped to improve on their command of the
English language
(b) Teachers are to treat all topics in the syllabus before candidates write the examination.
(c) Candidates need to practice with past questions
(d) Candidates should be guided to write their answers in meaningful sentences and expound on them where necessary
WAEC Summary of 2017 BECE Social Studies Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
(i) A good number of candidates provided answers in good English language with accurate spelling.
(ii) A good number of candidates wrote legibly and arranged their points carefully which made marking comfortable.
(iii) Many of the candidates demonstrated clear understanding of the questions through the answers they provided.
(iv) Some of the candidates provided additional excellent information to attract very good marks
(v) Appreciable number of candidates adhered to the rubrics of the paper.
B. A SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
(i) Most candidates could not expand their points and merely provided one sentence answers. Little or no effort was made to expand points to attract additional marks.
(ii) The challenge of wrong spelling of words run through some candidates’ narratives.
(iii) Some candidates did not adhere to the rubrics of the paper hence lost marks.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(i) Candidates are advised to read relevant literature to get the right facts and information needed to answer Social Studies questions.
(ii) Candidates should first read the rubrics, understand and apply the rules governing the paper.
(iii) Teachers of the subject should run candidates through the rubrics of the paper especially final year candidates for them to be conversant with the challenge of not observing the rubrics.
( iv) More exercises should be given to candidates for practice and the use of past question papers would be helpful.
(v) Teachers should assist candidates to expound on points when required. This effort is rewarded by extra marks especially with questions that demand some amount of narratives. Mere points do not attract full mark
WAEC Summary of 2015 BECE Social Studies Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
(1) Majority of the candidates presented their answers in very good and legible handwritings.
(2) A good number of the candidates displayed satisfactory knowledge of the topics they attempted.
(3) Most candidates followed the rubrics of the paper and answered the required number of questions from each section.
(4) Some candidates expressed themselves comprehensively and organized their answers very well.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
(1) There were numerous grammatical errors in candidates’ answers.
(2) Some candidates did not obey the rubrics of the paper. They answered more than the required number of questions from each section and some even answered more than the required number of questions for the paper.
(3) Some of the candidates gave one-word or two-word answers to points that demanded explanation. They could not explain the points. E.g. afforestation, educating people etc.
(4) A good number of candidates deviated and presented irrelevant points to some of the answers. For instance, they took reasons for migration of different ethnic groups for rural-urban migration and gave answers like ‘for better jobs like white collar jobs’ and to run away from outmoded cultural customs such as witchcraft, child labour and female genital mutilation’. Some also wrote essays that had no bearing on the questions set.
(5) Some candidates made wrong use of such words as ‘avoid’, ‘prevent’ and ‘control’.
(6) Some candidates organised their answers poorly. They answered all the questions on the same page and some without question numbers.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) Teachers must encourage students to engage in reading many books to overcome the defects in their spelling and grammar.
(2) Teachers must stress the importance of the rubrics of question papers to candidates.
(3) Candidates need to offer simple explanation to the points they raise as required by the questions. Teachers must help candidates to understand the various concepts in the topics they treat with them.
(4) Candidates must ensure they read and understand the questions they choose to answer very well. They must provide only the required responses.
(5) Teachers must teach candidates to understand the different uses of such words as ‘avoid’, ‘prevent’ ‘lack of’ and ‘control’
(6) Teachers must stress the need to answer each question on a fresh page to the candidates. They must ensure they write down the question numbers first before proceeding to answer the questions.
It the hope of our team that candidates will perform better when teachers and candidates go through this summary of strengths, BECE candidates’ weaknesses in Social Studies and remedies and apply same
Source: waecgh.org
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