The Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) will open its doors to the public to observe the selection and placement of this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates. This is to ensure transparency and to give the public some insight into the operations of the system. The National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Samuel Oppong, made this known when the Minister of Education, Mr Lee Ocran, paid a working visit to the CSSPS Secretariat. The visit was to enable the minister acquaint himself with the procedures of the selection and placement of qualified BECE candidates into senior high schools (SHS), vocational and technical institutes. Mr Oppong said the media would be allowed to monitor and report on the various processes and outcomes of the selection when results of the examinations were released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Mr Oppong refuted the notion that the secretariat or its personnel recieved money from parents in order to place their children in schools of their choice. “When the results come to us, we deal with index numbers and not names or faces. Besides, there are laid-down procedures that do not make way for such manipulation”, he explained. He said it was important for parents to take interest in their children’s BECE registration process. He advised that factors, including the academic performance of children, geographical settings and other socio-economic issues had to be considered when choosing schools for them. The national co-ordinator confirmed that this year’s process would be more efficient than the previous ones, owing to efforts aimed at ensuring transparency and involving the general public in the process. The secretariat, had, therefore resorted to public education through documentaries on national television, fliers, radio jingles and carreer guidance and counselling for students at the basic level, to create the needed awareness of the system. Mr Oppong said fresh students would be admitted in time into various SHSs around the country to avoid the interruption of classes due to late placement of students, as occurred last year. He said the list for 30 per cent placement allocation for candidates from the catchment areas would be ready by July, this year, to allow enough time to sort out the other placements. This is in respect of the presidential directive to allocate 30 per cent vacancies of various SHSs, public and private, to locals within the area of the schools. Mr Ocran, for his part, commended the CSSPS Secretariat for its efforts to minimise irregularities in the system. He said the adoption of transparent practices would clear the perception of corruption in the system by sections of the public. “It will restore credibility of the CSSPS and the Ghanaian educational system as a whole”, he said. He urged parents to take keen interest in the matters that affected their children, especially their education and contribute to their development in the best way possible.