Former Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, has criticised the decision to allow students to select two Category A schools in the 2026 Senior High School (SHS) placement exercise.

According to him, the policy significantly increased demand for schools whose available places were already limited, contributing to the difficulties surrounding this year’s placement process.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 12, Dr Tandoh, who is also spokesperson for the NPP Policy Committee on Education, said the change was one of several policy decisions that put additional pressure on the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

He explained that under the previous arrangement, students could select only one Category A school alongside their choices from Categories B and C.

However, allowing each student to select two Category A schools effectively increased the number of applications competing for a limited number of places.

“If four of us were choosing a Category A school,” he explained, each student previously represented one demand on the school. With two Category A choices, the same number of students could generate significantly more demand across the limited places available.

Dr Tandoh said the imbalance should have been anticipated before the new selection model was introduced.

Demand far exceeds Category A capacity

He said the pressure was particularly evident in the figures for Category A schools.

According to Dr Tandoh, about 313,000 students selected Category A schools, while only approximately 76,417 places were available.

He argued that the figures showed a significant mismatch between demand and capacity in the most sought-after schools.

The former GES official stressed that choosing a school does not guarantee admission, as placement has always been determined by a combination of student choice, merit and available capacity.

Using Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (Presec) as an example, he said a school could have about 1,300 places overall but only 200 places for a particular programme such as Science.

If 5,000 candidates selected Science at Presec as their first choice, he explained, only the top 200 candidates based on merit could be admitted to that programme.

The remaining candidates would then be considered for their subsequent choices under the placement system.

Aggregate 6–10 message raised expectations

Dr Tandoh also questioned the decision to communicate to students and parents that candidates obtaining aggregates between six and 10 could access Category A schools.

He argued that such communication could create expectations that the system could not guarantee, given the limited number of places available in Category A schools.

With about 76,000 Category A places, he said it would be unrealistic to expect every candidate within that aggregate range to secure a place in a Category A institution.

He said students who selected Category A schools based on such expectations could therefore be confused or disappointed when the placement results did not meet their expectations.

Capacity exists, but not where demand is highest

Dr Tandoh said the wider placement challenge should not simply be attributed to a shortage of SHS infrastructure.

He cited figures indicating that Ghana had approximately 859,828 available SHS places, compared with about 623,000 candidates requiring placement.

In his view, the figures suggested that the country had considerable capacity overall, but that available places were not necessarily in the schools or programmes most sought after by students.

He also cited claims that 1,132 infrastructure projects had been undertaken between 2019 and 2025 to expand SHS capacity.

The key challenge, he argued, was therefore the mismatch between where students wanted to attend and where places were available.

Changes to placement rules

Dr Tandoh also linked the Category A issue to broader changes made to the placement system in 2026.

He said the eligibility rules were altered after several years in which the number of students unable to progress to SHS had remained relatively stable.

He cited 10,184 students in 2024 and 13,919 in 2025 as examples of candidates who failed both English Language and Mathematics and could not qualify under the previous arrangement.

According to Dr Tandoh, the 2026 changes were introduced without adequate communication and consultation, contributing to the initial classification of 54,985 candidates as disqualified.

He noted that the Ministry of Education subsequently adjusted its position and allowed the affected students to use the self-placement process.

Dr Tandoh argued that the combination of changes to eligibility, selection procedures and Category A choices created additional pressure and uncertainty in this year’s placement exercise.

Choice, merit and capacity

The former GES official said the current controversy should be viewed within the broader history of secondary-school admissions in Ghana.

He said the introduction of the Computerised School Selection and Placement System in 2005 largely automated a selection process that had previously been handled manually by schools.

However, he maintained that the fundamental principles of choice, merit and capacity remained relevant because schools could not admit more students than their facilities could accommodate.

For Dr Tandoh, allowing students to select two Category A schools without a corresponding increase in capacity at those institutions placed additional pressure on the most competitive schools.

He said future reforms to the placement system should therefore ensure that student choices, school capacity and admission criteria are properly aligned.