By Grace Yayra Kagatse/ Lydia Baye, GNA
Accra, Sept. 9, GNA – The Ghana Education Service (GES) has defended the new Senior High School (SHS) selection system, insisting that it has not exacerbated placement challenges despite concerns raised by parents and other stakeholders.
Under the revised policy, candidates who sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) selected their preferred SHSs only after receiving their results, unlike the previous arrangement where school choices were made before the examination.
The Ministry of Education and the GES introduced the change to reduce cases where candidates with less competitive grades selected highly sought-after Category A schools and subsequently failed to secure placement.
However, long queues and complaints at resolution centres across the country have prompted some parents and stakeholders to question the effectiveness of the new system.
Some private schools have also urged the Government to collaborate with them in absorbing more students into private second-cycle institutions.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, Mr Daniel Fenyi, the Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service, dismissed claims that allowing candidates to select schools after receiving their results had worsened the placement process.
He said the priority should be ensuring that every Ghanaian child enjoyed the right to Senior High School education.
“A record 604,564 candidates qualified for placement this year, the highest number recorded so far,” Mr Fenyi said.
Despite the large figure, he noted that second-cycle institutions across the country had declared more than 800,000 vacancies, indicating that enough spaces were available to accommodate all qualified candidates.
He said about 87.3 per cent of candidates had been automatically placed, adding that even students who obtained Grade 9 in either Mathematics or English still had opportunities to secure admission.
“The challenge is not the availability of space but the overwhelming demand for Category A schools,” he explained.
Mr Fenyi disclosed that more than 300,000 candidates sought admission to approximately 94 Category A schools, which had declared about 76,000 vacancies.
He added that candidates placed in Category B and C schools had encountered few difficulties and were already reporting to their respective schools for registration.
Commenting on calls to introduce cut-off aggregates, such as six to 10, for admission into Category A schools, Mr Fenyi argued that the measure would not solve the problem, as the number of qualified applicants would still far exceed available vacancies.
Meanwhile, stakeholders, including private school operators, have appealed to the Government to partner with them to absorb some of the candidates, contending that private institutions had the capacity to accommodate additional students.
The GES, however, maintained that there was sufficient space for every qualified Ghanaian child to progress to SHS and urged parents to consider Category B and C schools during the self-placement process.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe