The Ministry of Education has indicated that the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) has so far posted over 69.24% of qualified students to various senior high schools across the country.

The spokesperson for the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng made these remarks on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday.

“This year for instance, the system was able to place about 69.24% through the automatic placement. So, what essentially it means is that for the remaining who were unable to match any of their schools, the system will not impose a school on them, because there are a lot of factors that go into making a determination into what school you will go.”

He has, however, taken note of the placement challenges raised by parents with the system and assures it will address them appropriately.

Explaining how the CSSPS system functions, he said “Some may want to have an association with certain schools, some may want to get closer to families and other variables.

So, what we do is give you an opportunity to go and select a school. When you miss your first choice, the system obviously would consider you for your second choice, but remember that at every point, your second choice is also somebody’s first choice so it is possible that the time the system brings you to your second choice, it may be full,” he said.

Mr Kwarteng’s comments come after some parents expressed their frustrations about the placement system.

According to the parents, some of their wards did not get placed in any SHS at all, although their wards had good grades.

Others also expressed their dislike for the SHSs their wards were posted to, hence the need to have it changed to the schools of their choice.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service (GES) says it will make a conscious effort to educate parents on the grading and placement system to avoid such challenges in the future.

The Head of Public Relations of the GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo urged parents to accept the placement into the various schools.

This, she says, is because there are qualified teachers in all the senior high schools across the country.

“If parents would allow their wards to attend the schools that they’ve gotten, it will solve the problem. I mean, we allow them to choose six schools on merit, you can fall into any of the six chosen schools, but if it is not the first choice then no school? – that is a problem. So we should come to a point where we would all agree that out of the 900 plus senior high schools that we have, if I choose six out of them and I get into any of them, I should accept it,” she said.