Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has raised concerns over the plight of more than 200,000 Ghanaian school children and young people facing uncertainty over their next educational pathways.
The party said 54,985 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates were initially not assigned places in secondary schools, while another 183,233 candidates who completed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) failed to obtain a credit in Core Mathematics.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party called on the government to take urgent steps to provide concrete educational opportunities for both groups instead of responding only after the challenges had become public.
The NPP particularly criticised the government’s decision to ask 53,887 of the affected BECE candidates to return to the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) for self-placement.
According to the party, reopening the placement portal does not guarantee that the affected candidates will secure places in schools and programmes of their choice.
“A portal is not a school place,” the NPP stated, arguing that by the time the candidates accessed the system, many of the schools and programmes they initially preferred would have been filled.
The party said parents and candidates would ultimately judge the government’s response by the number of affected students who actually secured seats in classrooms rather than the number who were allowed to access the placement portal.
The NPP further argued that the nation had sufficient secondary school capacity to accommodate the affected candidates, citing government figures showing 859,828 vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates.
It said the challenge was largely the concentration of demand in a limited number of schools, noting that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools had only 76,417 places available.
The party therefore urged the government to explore measures to expand capacity in schools that were in high demand, including the provision of teachers, laboratories and improved programmes.
It also called for the 85 private schools participating in the Free Senior High School programme to be utilised to absorb some of the affected candidates.
The NPP also demanded clarification on the pass mark and rules applied in this year’s BECE, including when those rules were approved.
It said parents and candidates were entitled to know the standards before their children sat the examination rather than after the results had been released.
Turning to the WASSCE results, the party expressed concern about the 183,233 candidates who failed to obtain a credit in Core Mathematics.
It said the absence of a credit in the subject could restrict access to many degree programmes, training opportunities and employment pathways.
The NPP argued that these school leavers also needed a clear route to further education, skills training or employment.
It cited existing initiatives, including academic intervention and remedial programmes in public senior high schools, Free Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) across 186 institutions, the National Apprenticeship Policy and the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project.
According to the party, the government inherited these programmes but had not deployed them on a scale commensurate with the number of young people requiring assistance.
The NPP also linked the challenge to declining performance in English Language and Core Mathematics.
It said the results in both subjects were below their 2024 levels, although Mathematics had improved from last year’s performance.
The party rejected the explanation previously given by the government that poor results were largely linked to stricter invigilation.
It argued that invigilation remained strict this year, with more examination cancellations, while results in three subjects improved.
The NPP maintained that academic outcomes were influenced by factors including teaching quality, learning time, instructional materials, attendance and student support.
It consequently called for proper funding of academic intervention and remedial programmes to improve performance.
The party also demanded that the government publish the number of TVET, apprenticeship and jobs training opportunities available to this year’s school leavers, broken down by region and trade, and match those opportunities against the 183,233 candidates who need alternative pathways.
The NPP said the government should place all 54,985 affected BECE candidates in schools and publish the final outcome to enable the public to know how many had eventually secured placements.
A Daily Guide Report