ACCRA, Sept 30 (The African Portal) – More than 52,000 students in Ghana have so far secured admission into second cycle schools through self-placement, bringing the total number of candidates placed this year to 534,672, the Ghana Education Service (GES) said on Monday.
At the start of the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) exercise on Sept. 17, 483,800 candidates were placed into senior high schools and technical institutions. Resolution centres were later set up across the regions to address placement concerns.
Complaints
As of Friday, the centres had received 9,000 complaints, with Greater Accra accounting for about 4,000, officials said.
“The difficulty is that there are limited spaces in Category ‘A’ schools, which have been filled up. Again, a candidate placed in a particular school cannot be changed except under circumstances of health grounds or relocation,” said Daniel Fenyi, head of public relations at GES.
He added that most complaints involved requests for transfers from lower-tier schools to top-tier schools or changes from day to boarding status. “For instance, where a candidate is placed from Wa to Tamale as a day student, we are compelled to change the residence to boarding,” he said.
Fenyi also said re-entry candidates from 2022, 2023 and 2024 who did not previously take up their placements would be considered this year.
“We expect to resolve issues before students report to school. Parents must remain calm and resist paying money to have their issues resolved. Anybody demanding money for placement or changing of school should be reported,” he said.
Students placed under the system are due to report to school on Oct. 18.
This year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) was taken by 603,328 candidates, of which 590,309 qualified for placement. Of those, 82% were placed in public senior high schools, senior high technical schools and technical and vocational institutes.
Piloting
The GES said the Free SHS Programme is piloting 70 private schools this year, in addition to 724 public SHSs and 233 technical and vocational institutes, to expand options for students.
Parents, however, continue to throng resolution centres. One parent, Stephen Badu, told the Daily Graphic he sought a transfer after his niece selected a school outside Accra without consulting him.
“When we asked her, she said her friend told her to select the school in the Eastern Region. So, that’s why we have come here,” he said.
The West African Examinations Council in August released the results of the 2025 BECE, though it cancelled or withheld results for more than 2,000 candidates over malpractice.
This story was written with additional files from Daily Graphic, Ghana.
