PTA Blames MoE, GES For Placement Chaos

The National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (NCPTAs) has laid blames at the doorsteps of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) for the woes parents and students have to endure in this year’s Computerized School Selection Placement System.

In a statement, it said the MOE and GES are to blame for the chaos that characterised the process and implementation of the CSSPS.

“Nonetheless, we trace footprints of this unfortunate fiasco of the process to the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES). The blame squarely lay at their frontage. GES' lacklustre implementation of the placement process and underhand dealings have cumulatively resulted in the unfortunate situation we are all witnesses to both locally and international," the statement noted.

Read full statement below:

17 th September, 2019

To All Media I-IDüses

PRESS RELEASE

THE 2019 SHS COMPUTERISED SELECTION AND PLACEMENT CHALLENGES. RID THE PROCESS OF RECURRING CHALLENGES PERMANENTLY - NCPT As

The National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (NCPTAs) has noted with grave concern the ordeal that parents are going through particularly at the Independence Square in Accra for the simple reason of seeking placement for their children/wards. The challenges arising from this year's placement process is worse and mind-boggling which the authorities ought to be worried too.

The NCPTAs believes that these problems inter alia include:

l. Non-placement,

2. Self-placement,

3. Mal-functional placement modules put In place by the Computerised School Selection and Placement Centre (CSSPC),

4. Changing of courses, schools, day to boarding status,

5. Deletion of placed or admitted students' names from school list after sighting same on their school's notice boards, thereby being turned away by school Heads, among others.

These challenges and more have always characterised the placement process since its inception over a decade ago and continues to recur, yet no known or proper solutions have been found to either ameliorate or completely wean parents and their children/wards off what is fast becoming an annual ritual.

It saddens our hearts that innocent parents and students are being subjected to this psychological trauma under the scorching sun for which reason some have collapsed. The NCPTAs shares the pain and frustration with parents and students especially those who collapsed.

While we stand by parents in this trying times, we would like to advise them to assess their children/wards' academic strength when choosing schools for them in order to avoid this unpleasant situation being grappled with at the moment. All parents must be aware that the era where human involvement in school selection was rife is over. Let the choice of schools involve parents, teachers and candidates and not be left to teachers alone to do so. This will go a long way to avert such frustrations.

Nonetheless, we trace footprints of this unfortunate fiasco of the process to the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES). The blame squarely lay at their frontage. GES' lacklustre implementation of the placement process and underhand dealings have cumulatively resulted in the unfortunate situation we are all witnesses to both locally and internationally.

We therefore, call on the Ministry of Education and GES to take urgent steps to rid the placement process of these Vasily solvable problems associated with it. Anything short of clean and stress-free placement process next year forward would not be countenanced.

(NATIONAL PRESIDENT)