The annual rush for Senior High School placements has begun two days after the Ghana Education Service released the list of successful candidates.
This year’s rush has been compounded by the re-opening of school for freshers in the next four days.
The Ghana Education Service announced placement for the over 580 thousand Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) students who sat for the exam. However, only 81.56% of the students were automatically placed in one of their choices.
The consequence is the race by parents and guardians of the remaining 108,025 students to carry out self-placement before the December 4 reopening date for first years.
School placement presents unique challenges for parents and children, leading to complaints at the National Resolution Center in Accra and the other regional centers.
The issues presented include; changes in school, programs, and residential status.
Parents and students expressed frustration and uneasiness, highlighting the challenges faced in this year’s placement.
“I live in Accra, but my child was given a day school in Kumasi, and that is not realistic, so we came to change it”, said a parent.
“My daughter chose Wesley Girls, but did not gain admission, so I am here to see what I can do to get her a school “, another parent lamented.
Some of the students were at the centre on their own to resolve their concerns.
“I had grade 31, and I didn’t get any school placement, so I am here to select a school,” according to a female student.
A male student who got his first-choice school, Labone, said his grandfather had advised him to change from the school he was posted to, to a technical school, hence his presence at the centre.
An officer with the placement secretariat, who spoke on anonymity, advised parents to guide their wards in the selection of schools.
“The main problem here is that the students choose schools that their grades do not qualify them for. So, parents should guide their wards during the school selection. The fact that your friend has chosen a school, does not mean, you should do same”, he advised.
These challenges were not expected this year, because candidates were allowed to make eleven school choices.
Parents say they are diligently working to meet the 72-hour deadline for students to report to school.
Candidates for the self-placement module are to select a school from the portal by providing their region, residential preference, school, and programme of choice, click on submit, print the form, and visit the school to begin the admission process.
The Ghana Education Service noted that schools selected on the self-placement portal can be changed as many times as the candidate wishes on the portal until they enroll in a school.