ASSESSMENT OF MUSIC TEACHERS ON THE POOR PERFORMANCE OF WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL (WASSCE) MUSIC PRACTICAL TEST

Abstract

Music practical performance as examined by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is one of the areas that provide a rich domain for study of both cognitive and motor skills of the students and provide employable skills for them. Unfortunately, for the past two years, chief examiners’ reports indicate poor performance among the candidates. This study is an assessment of the views of Music teachers on this menace and how it could be checked. Through descriptive survey, 40 music teachers were randomly selected from 40 Senior High Schools offering Music as elective subject for the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) across Ghana. All the 40 teachers participated in the study. Hypotheses drawn indicated that there was no significance difference in the views of the Music teachers on all the research questions; however, Chi-square analysis revealed a constant variable with the need for practical music performance at the Senior High School. The paper then recommends that pragmatic measures are taken by not only the WAEC, but the headmasters and the government at large.