In April this year, long before the 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) guidelines were released, the Minister of Education gave clear indications of the potential placement crisis ahead.
This was when he announced, on April 1, the decision to let students select their preferred schools only after their BECE results were released.
I cautioned against this move at the time, arguing that the challenges went far beyond the selection period, but my warnings fell on deaf ears.
Flawed Selection Criteria
Rather than refining the placement process, the Ministry of Education (MoE), alongside its key agencies—the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training Service (GTVETS)—introduced a guideline best described by the Akan phrase “ne ti, ne fo” (neither head nor tail).
Instead of streamlining admissions, it has created widespread public frustration, chaos and distress.
First, candidates were made to wait until their results were published, leaving them with just a week or two to complete a process that ordinarily requires at least three months.
This wait proved entirely needless. Unlike universities, which publish clear cut-off grades per programme to guide applicants, the CSSPS guidelines provided no such indicators.
While the Ministry likely left out cut-off grades to avoid accusations of setting rigid barriers, the stark reality remains: each year, qualified applicants for top-tier schools far outstrip the available classroom and residential seats.
Delaying selection until after results in effect, yielded no operational benefits; it merely compressed the timeline and amplified the frustrations of parents and students.
Hashmin Mohammed, Press Secretary to the Minister of Education, confirmed this intense competition when he revealed that 313,283 students competed for just 76,417 vacancies in Category A schools as their first choice.
Second, the new criteria required students to select programmes across eight different schools, formatted strictly as 5 Boarding and 3 Day options. The implicit objective is to reduce boarding intake and lighten the government’s fiscal burden.
However, a strict implementation of this rule risks undermining the operational stability of the Free SHS policy itself.
Third—and perhaps worst—was the requirement that candidates select two Category A schools: one as Boarding and one as Day. Out of 1,085 Senior High and TVET institutions nationwide, only 94 fall into Category A (55 SHSs, 5 SHTSs, and 34 TVETs).
It is difficult to understand the logic behind this rule, as Category A schools are not evenly distributed across our 16 regions and 216 districts. Yet, another official guideline explicitly states that “all day schools should be schools you can easily attend (catchment area).”
Consider the Eastern Region, which has only two Category A girls’ schools: Aburi Girls and St. Rose’s. If a female candidate living in Akyem Oda selects Aburi Girls as her boarding choice and St. Rose’s as her day choice, and she gets placed at St. Rose’s as a day student, how is she expected to commute 34 kilometers back and forth every single school day?
The Way Out
The long-term solution remains what I have argued previously elsewhere; to expand infrastructure and upgrade less endowed schools to match the standards of highly sought-after schools.
Unfortunately, public presentation slides from the MoE, GES, and GTVETS show that between 2025 and 2026, not a single new public school was constructed or upgraded. The only additions were 45 absorbed schools placed in Category C and 15 pilot private schools.
To resolve the immediate crisis, the government must temporarily revert to the double-track system, utilise undersubscribed schools and abolish the “Category A as day” requirement.
The government must eat humble pie and continue with the double-track system for oversubscribed schools. This would instantly double the 76,417 Category A vacancies to 152,834, easing immense pressure on families.
Contrary to claims that double-track compromises quality, WASCCE results prove otherwise: candidates under the double-track system consistently secured top regional spots at the WAEC International Excellence Awards from 2021 through 2024.
Approximately 162 schools currently operate below capacity. Students placed in these schools as day candidates should be converted to boarders.
Furthermore, students assigned to day choices far from home should be encouraged to self-place as boarders in these undersubscribed facilities.
Ending the compulsory single Category A day choice will instantly reduce distorted demand patterns and cut the initial 313,283 applicant scramble in half, allowing far more students to be placed smoothly.
By Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa
The writer, a professor, is the CEO of Dotles Education Services and former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service. Email: [email protected]
