Matthew Opoku Prempeh
The Ministry of Education is embarking on a nationwide sensitization tour to educate the public on the school selection guidelines for 2019.
The workshops, currently ongoing across the country under the supervision of the Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku-Prempreh, are meant to educate and sensitize personnel on the 2019 school register and selection guidelines which would eventually culminate in school placement for 2019/2020 academic year.
Speaking at one of the training sessions held at Somanya in the Yilo Krobo Municipal of the Eastern Region Kwasi Obeng-Fosu, the Deputy Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Ministry of Education, reiterated the commitment of the Minister of Education to ensure that they do not record a large number of parents and guardians at the various regional centers to seek assistance in the placement of their wards.
He disclosed that the participants at the workshops would further educate parents, students and the general public about the 2019 school selection guidelines.
At the forums, experts and representatives from GES, FSHS, CSSPS and the Ministry of Education discussed the issues and also educated the participants on the implementation of the 2019 BECE Placement into senior high schools.
The Computerized School Selection and Placement System was introduced in 2005 to replace the manual system of selecting students into the various senior high, technical and vocational schools.
It was aimed at fully automating the school placement processes in order to reduce human errors and promote efficiency and fairness in the selection and placement of students in senior high schools in the country.
Since its inception, lack of public education and awareness of the process have been identified as setbacks.
In 2019, the Ministry of Education has released new guidelines on how the schools are to be selected.
In accordance with the 2019 school register, candidates can select 1st – 5th choice schools from a combination of categories A, B, C, D, and E.
They can also choose five day schools which is the Category D compulsory day school in the catchment area.
This means that the compulsory day school is now restricted to candidate’s 5th choice.Â
From Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua