GES Official: SHS Placement to be released this Sunday, February 21st

According to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, if all things go well, the SHS Placement for 2020 BECE candidates will be released on Sunday, February 21 2021.

He said that the placements, when released, will cover candidates, both school and private, who wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2020, as well as other re-entrants.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said that the GES had worked closely with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to release the results of the majority of the candidates whose results had been withheld, adding that there were currently less than 100 candidates whose results had still been withheld.

He also assured that there were enough vacancies for the candidates, for which reason there was no need for any candidate or parent to panic.

In all, about 525,000 qualified BECE candidates will be seeking placement into 721 senior high, technical and vocational schools of their choices which have declared about 535,000 vacancies.

The director-general explained that the challenge with the CSSPS had always been an issue of choice and not the availability of spaces.

Some schools have been oversubscribed

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said over the years, the number of candidates who qualified to be placed was always far below the vacancies available, “and every year when we do our placement, just as we get oversubscribed schools, we also get under-subscribed schools”.

He said only about 100 schools, out of the 721 were usually oversubscribed.

Arrangements on overcrowding and solutions – Call Centres

On the arrangements being put in place to address overcrowding of candidates and parents, he explained that unlike the previous years when the management of the GES had to set up solution centres where those with genuine issues could go for help, “this year, because of the COVID-19, we want to avoid the situation where people will rush to the Black Star Square and other places to gather”.

“So we are setting up call centres to receive and work on issues people may be coming up with,” he explained.

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained that at such centres they could address genuine technical issues and also the issue of a day student placed in a distant school.

Asked whether or not the double-track system for school attendance should be stopped, he said discussions needed to go on as to whether or not it should remain or be completely scrapped as advocated by a section of society.

Self-Placement Issues

He also explained that based on an analysis of issues by the service, “the major issue that creates a problem for us is the self-placement”.

“In the past, when you did the self-placement, chose a school and for any reason you wanted to change it, the system did not allow you to do so. You needed to come back to us, and that was why we got people massing up at the Black Star Square to do those changes,” Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained.

This year, however, he added, the candidates would be allowed some level of flexibility to effect changes on their own.

“For this year, candidates will be allowed to change schools a couple of times until finally, they enrol in them. So until you enrol in a school, you can continue to do changes up till the enrolment deadline, and once you have the opportunity to change, you do not need to come over here to seek any assistance or for someone to do that for you,” he told the Daily Graphic.

He was of the belief that the self-placement issue formed more than 70 per cent of the challenges the GES had concerning the placement and was optimistic that with this new module, the system would work smoothly.

Delays with CSSPS Placement so far

He explained that the placement of candidates under the CSSPS had, over the years, been done three weeks to the reopening of schools, and “this year’s is no different”.

“Usually we give them some three weeks to prepare to go to school and we wanted to keep to that,” he said.

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa also explained that there had been no delay in the placement, as some people were speculating, saying the same format that was used during the pre-COVID-19 era was what the GES had stuck to this year.

He said the period of waiting after the results were released afforded the GES to engage with the WAEC to ensure that majority of the candidates whose results were withheld had them released.

On December 16, last year when WAEC released the results, 977 candidates had their subject results withheld, pending the outcome of investigations.

What to do while you wait for Placements to come

Here are some preparations you should start making as you wait for the school placements to be out.

Get in touch with a Placements Card Seller so you can be among the first people to check

When the placements are finally released, there will be mad rush and the CSSPS system might even go down.

Some people might need to even do self-placement and might miss the schools they would have wanted.

To prevent these issues, it is good to know right now, who you will buy your placement checker for. We recommend buying from Sir Ike.

You can send them a WhatsApp message or Kindly call 0555475811 for inquiries.

Start buying things for school

First off, make sure you are enrolled on the National Health Insurance scheme with an active subscription, otherwise, renew your NHIS on your phone as soon as possible.

You need to start buying all the things needed for Senior High School. You need to do this fast because once placements are out, all the prices are going to shoot up.

Items that SHS students need to buy to school include a chop box, mattress, boarding shirts, some books and footwear.

These are items that all SHS in Ghana take as part of their prospectus.

Make a budget for first term/year at school

As a parent, you need to make sure that your ward has all the financial support they can receive while they are in school. It will be useful to have savings set aside for each term for all their needs.

This usually comes after you have bought everything needed for school.

Follow GES and other credible sources of information on the 2020 SHS School Placement

Also, remember to follow credible sources when the school placement comes out. You can send us a WhatsApp now and we will alert you when the placement drops.

Also, keep checking the official GES handles as they will announce once the placements are out.