Head of Psychology at the University of Ghana, Prof. Joseph Osafo, has kicked against the culture where students get pass grades but are said to be inadequate to qualify them into their respective choice of Universities or courses.

The WASSCE results have been released and, according to the West African Examination Council (WAEC), a total number of 1,339 subject results and the entire results of 174 candidates who sat the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Ghana, “have been cancelled for various examination malpractices such as bringing foreign material including mobile phones into the examination hall, tearing off parts of question papers and collusion”.

This set aside, those who pass their exams too find it difficult getting their right course or University choices for various reasons and one of which is for instance a student may not be enrolled into the school of medicine because he or she didn't get A1s but rather made C4s in some of his or her subjects.

This, to Prof. Joseph Osafo, is very disturbing and needs to be checked.

He noted that, although competition in the education sector is good, it however sometimes become inimical to the students saying "the competition in our education, on the level of mental health, we are harming our children''.

"Competition is good. There's nothing wrong with that but we are making it reach an extent where even when one passes, we say the person didn't pass well'' just because he or she didn't get the expected higher grades, he told host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Monday morning.

He also cautioned parents who force their children to pursue courses they want for them and not what they (children) want for themselves to desist from such act.

"Most parents are trying to live their vision through their children," he said but warned it doesn't help the children.

He called for the unhealthy competitions to end stressing "competition at a point should not jeopardize the opportunities for any competitor. It shouldn't but what is happening now is that the competitions are gradually jeopardizing lives''.