Avoid last year's SHS computerized placement flaws

Kumasi, Aug 10, GNA - Ms Benedicta Naana Biney, acting Director-General, Ghana Education Services (GES), has asked coordinators of the Computerized School Selection Placement System (CSSPS) to ensure more transparency and efficiency in this year's exercise. They should do everything to avoid flaws that characterized the 2010 placement of students into the Senior High Schools (SHS). She was opening a two-day meeting of regional coordinators of the CSSPS in Kumasi.

It is meant to provide a platform to address problems encountered during last year's implementation of the programme. Ms Biney asked them to exhibit high sense of discipline and honesty in the performance of their assigned job.

They should also operate within the national policy guidelines, and give special attention to the 30 per cent catchment area allocation, re-entry admissions of foreign students and the use of scratch cards to get to know placement and declaration of vacancies from heads of endowed schools.

She identified scratch card errors, over declaration of vacancies in deprived districts and refusal of parents to accept admission of their ward= s into some schools as the main challenges they had to contend with in year 2010. Added to these, were under declaration of vacancies by some heads of endowed schools, influence and complaints from traditional rulers, old students and other powerful groups, Ms Biney added. These notwithstanding, it was a remarkable improvement over the previous years, the GES boss said.