SHS placement: Most 2023 Free SHS students not in school – GES

Almost a month after the computer school placement of Junior High School students who sat for the 2022 BECE was released, the Ghana Education Service says most of the 2023 Free SHS students have still not reported to school.

A spokesman for Ghana Education Service in the Ashanti Region, Mark Ofori in a discussion with Kumasi-based Oyerepa FM monitored by AcademicWeek said the region has recorded low school enrollment despite the placement.

“The fact is that some students have reported to their placed schools but there are still most of them who haven’t reported yet. This is becoming an annual routine as some have also not heard of it,” the GES official told Oyerepa FM.

Meanwhile, the Free SHS Secretariat under the auspices of the Ministry of Education has said the resolution centres established across the country to resolve Senior High/Technical placement issues would be operational for six weeks.

Speaking in an interview, Nana Afrah Sika Mensah, the Deputy Coordinator of the Free Senior High School said his outfit will address all challenges confronting the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

The Free SHS official disclosed that the Secretariat since the release of the school placement had received over 5,000 cases and resolved over 4,000 issues, saying “we are confident of addressing all challenges with the placement issues”.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the Deputy Coordinator of Free Senior High School (Free SHS) said the exercise had gone smoothly and stated that the Category “A” and “B” schools were filled and had no vacancies available.

“Category “A” schools are regarded as the best in the country, followed by “B,” “C,” and “D,” and have the highest grades, best academic performances, and adequate facilities,” the Coordinator told the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

Asked what school placement issues the Secretariate is addressing, Nana Mensah said the Secretariat was working on issues related to change of school, change of programme, self-placement, change of residential status, and others.

Out of the 547,329 BECE graduates who sat for the 2022 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE), a total of 538,399 students qualified for this year’s CSSPS in Senior High and Technical and Vocational Schools.

A total of 372,780 students have been automatically placed in one of their school choices, while 165, 619 candidates, who could not be matched with any of their choices, are to do self-placement to select from available schools.

The Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) became operational in September 2005 to address challenges from the manual system of selection and placement. The Ministry later 2017 introduced self-placement.