GES reveals criteria for SHS/TVET placement disqualification

The Ghana Education Service says the criteria for Senior High/Technical School (SHS/TVET) placement disqualification is when a BECE student obtained grade 9 in English Language or Mathematics and also had a raw score of less than 200.

In a discussion with AcademicWeek, an official of the Service added that a Basic Education Certificate Examination student who did not sit for any of the core subjects or have his/her results withheld will not qualify for placement.

“The school placement disqualification criteria is based on a number of factors including the grade and raw score of a BECE student. Among others are if the candidate or student did not write any of the core subjects,” he said

Asked what prospective students who did not qualify for Senior High/Technical School (SHS/TVET) placement can do, the GES official said such students are to go back to their Junior High School to resit the national examination.

Frequently asked SHS/TVET placement questions

1. Can a student change residential status or programme of study after placement? GES says that students are placed based on their preferred programme and resident status they choose, thus the residential status nor the programme can be changed.

2. I missed out on all of my six choices, What do I do? GES says students who were not automatically placed in any of their selected schools are to visit the school placement portal to do self-placement or choose their school of choice.

3. Can a student with a good grade miss their first choice or all choices? It is possible since all spaces in the schools are competitively filled taking into consideration the available spaces in the school. (residential status and programme).

According to GES, qualified students are ranked from the highest score to the lowest and the total of vacancies declared for that programme determines the number of students to be placed at the computer school placement portal.

4. Is it possible for a student with an aggregate of 7 to not get his/her first choice but another with an aggregate of 10 can first choice school? Since the programme selected and residential status may differ it is possible that way.

5. Can I be enrolled in a school when I or a representative of mine is not present? For enrolment to be successful, the school will need the student’s unique ID, address and details of their parents or guardian and phone number.

Once a student or parent submits their forms to the school placed, the school uses the information provided on the form to enrol the student. Therefore it will not be possible for the school to get all the details without student or parent presence.

6. Can a student change school after enrolment? Changing school placement is not possible after enrolment because the placement process ends once a student begins the admission process by going to the school to complete the relevant form.

GES however says a student can seek a transfer to another school after one academic year. The movement from one school to another after enrolment is considered a transfer. A student can only transfer after one academic year.

7. Can I change a school selected through self-placement? A student who got placed through self-placement can change the school on the portal so long as the student has not been enrolled in a school.

8. Is it possible for a student to be placed in a school he/she did not select? The Ghana Education Service says there is no likelihood for such to happen however a student can get placed into a school through a protocol placement procedure.