School Placements: Parents Besiege GES Complaints Centre

Barely three weeks into the start of the academic year, some potential Senior High School (SHS) students are still having challenges with the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

There is confusion at the Ghana Education Service's Complaints and Solutions Centre set up at the Independence Square in Accra, as parents and guardians struggle to rectify challenges with posting of their wards into Senior High Schools (SHS).

When Citi News’ Naa Shika visited the area, parents had joined long winding queues to ensure that their wards are placed.

One parent who expressed her frustration to Citi News said: “I was here before 5: 00am, and till now (12 noon), none of them have started working. The workers are there. We are just crowded here, and nothing is working.”

A student also lamented that, “I went to Ebenezer Senior High which is near my place of residence, and I was asked to come and change my school, and that is why I was here. I thought it was something straight forward but seeing the number of people here, I am becoming a bit discouraged.”

They appealed to the GES to address these challenges.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has cautioned parents against attempting to change schools or statuses of their wards. He says the challenges have arisen because some parents want to change the schools for their wards at all cause even without any valid reasons.

Speaking to Citi News, Assistant Public Relations Officer of the GES, Anthony Kwaku Amoah, asked parents to send their wards to school, as lessons have commenced in schools selected to run the Double Track System.

“In all of our schools, teaching and learning is going on seriously, so once your ward is placed in a school in the green track, our appeal to all of them is that let us just encourage them to go instead of moving them from one place to the other. We are just wasting our time and the time of the children” he said.

“We will encourage them to go through what their friends have started so they will not have to wait for a month or half before reporting at school. My request is that let parents just accept schools given to their wards.”

Double Track system
The implementation of the double track system in some 400 Senior High Schools in Ghana commenced on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. Those on the Green Track are in school, with those on the Gold Track expected to start school in November.

The new system, which was created due to an increase in enrollment is expected to create space to accommodate more students, reduce class size, increase contact hours and increase the number of holidays.

The government adopted the double-track system to cater for increased enrollment due to a deficit in infrastructure.

The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa in a Citi News interview earlier, indicated that they were ready to ensure the success of the double track system.

Despite these assurances, the programme was fraught with challenges as some parents in the Brong Ahafo Region were accused of altering the admission letters of their wards into Senior High Schools in a move to get them into boarding.

In an interview with Citi News, the Assistant Headmaster In-Charge of Academics at the Sunyani Senior High, Micheal Osei Banso, said some parents deliberately altered the admission letters but were found out and nearly arrested.

–
By: Marian Ansah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana