Can Assessment Be a Panacea for All Education’s Ills? The Case of an Entrance Examination to Ghana School of Law

The 2019 entrance examination of the Ghana School of Law (GSL) recorded an unusually high failure rate which sparked a vibrant national discourse. This study sought to throw light on the reasons for the mass failure and unsuccessful students’ understanding of this experience using documentary sources and interviews. The study found that there was concern about the rising cases of unprofessional practices among legal practitioners and the authorities decided to stop the decline with the entrance examination. The entrance examination was purposefully used to restrict the number of entrants to the professional legal training institution. Also, the students who did not pass the examination felt being treated unfairly but were cowed by the fact of their failure in the examination. The study concluded that the entrance examination was used in a unique way primarily because of the notion of merit inherent in assessment which is also seen as the embodiment of acceptable standard. Keywords: External uses of assessment; Assessment and merit; The appeal of assessment; Entrance examination; Assessment as policy tool. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-2-01 Publication date: January 31st 202