Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum
Three hundred and seventy two thousand, seven hundred and eighty pupils have been placed in senior high and TVET schools across the country.
The Computerised School Placement exercise results were released yesterday and parents were subsequently advised to visit the portals to see where their wards had been placed.
It was a joint exercise under the aegis of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana TVET Service prior to which negative stories about anomalies regarding the placement made the rounds.
Yesterday’s release represented 69.24 per cent of the 538,399 candidates who qualified to be placed.
According to the authorities, 165, 619 qualified candidates representing 30.76 per cent who could not be matched with any of their choices are expected to do self–placement to select from available schools.
The foregone were released during a joint press conference between the GES and the TVET Service yesterday.
Dr. Eric Nkansah, Director General of the GES, who addressed the press, said everything possible was being done to ensure that those who could not be placed would get the opportunity to do self-placement.
The Director General asked candidates who were not successful with the automatic placement to follow due process that has been put in place to ensure that they get placed in the available schools.
He urged parents to take a keen interest in the placement of their children and should not leave it in the hands of internet café operators who might end up placing them at schools they may not like.
Continuing, he emphasised on the need for parents and candidates undertaking the self-placement option to comply with the instructions made available for the purpose.
The GES Director General explained that the self-placement portal has been fashioned out in such a manner as to ensure that candidates who could not get placed can change as many times as possible on the portal until they enroll in a school.
Dr. Nkansah announced that as per the 2023 Academic Calendar, first-year students are expected to report to school on February 20, 2023, so from February 20, 2023, students can report to the schools for registration and possible orientation for academic work to commence on February 27, 2023.
The Deputy Director General of the GTVET Service, Mr. David Prah, on his part, cautioned parents to be on the alert for unscrupulous individuals who may approach them to pay any amount of money for their wards’ placement, and advised parents to report such persons to the GES or police for action.
He also advised heads of all the schools to stick to the approved prospectus, and urged parents to also cooperate with the school authorities during and after the admission process.
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) released the BECE results on January 25, 2023, and as has been the norm, preparation of the placement has been done leading to yesterday’s announcement.
By A.R. Gomda