The Chair of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Upper East Region, Richard Akumbas Ayabilla, has raised concerns about challenges with this year’s senior high school placement, attributing them largely to changes in the placement system and student allocations.
Speaking on A1 Radio, Mr. Ayabilla acknowledged that while the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) has been completed, the process was not without flaws. “Because it is a human institution, definitely when they do the placement there will be some challenges,” he noted.
He explained that schools that previously ran the transitional double-track system have had their intake reduced as the Ghana Education Service (GES) moves to fully restore the single-track system. At the same time, some single-track schools were allocated far more students than they requested. “We don’t know what accounted for that. Maybe they thought they needed to distribute the students so that every child could get a school,” he said, adding that the excess intake is putting pressure on infrastructure.
A major issue this year, according to Mr. Ayabilla, is the requirement for students to select three day schools and three boarding schools among their six choices. In previous years, only one day school was compulsory. This change, he said, has resulted in many students being placed in schools far from their homes without accommodation arrangements.
“For example, in Zebilla, there are students placed at Zebilla Senior High Technical School as day students, but they come from Garu, Bongo, and even Sandema. They have no relatives nearby to stay with,” he explained. He warned that leaving such students to rent rooms on their own poses risks, as they would have no supervision to ensure they attend school or study during prep hours.
Mr. Ayabilla further clarified that school heads have little influence over the placement process, including whether students are placed as day or boarding, since those decisions are made in Accra. The only discretion granted to heads, he said, is the use of a small protocol allocation to cater for special or genuine cases.
He also cautioned parents against paying money for protocol placements, stressing that the allocation is free and strictly regulated.
Mr. Ayabilla urged authorities to review the current placement structure to prevent students from being pushed into unsafe and inconvenient learning environments.
Source: A1Radioonline.com | 101.1 MHz | Moses Apiah | Bolgatanga
