Over 500,000 spaces available for SHS 1 students – CSSPS

Candidates who sat for the 2020 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) have been assured of a guaranteed place in Senior High School.

National Coordinator for the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), Mark Sasu Mensah, says that there are enough spaces in schools to accommodate 2020 BECE candidates.

“The spaces that we have for now are a little over 500,000. Because of the way we have structured the system this year, the Form 2s and Form 3s will be in the schools while the Freshers are home. When the Form 2s and 3s vacate, the freshers will be in school. So there are a lot of spaces for the Form 1s,” he said.

Mr. Sasu Mensah further added that a lot of education has taken place regarding the selection of schools this year.

“One of the things we have educated the students about is to ensure that when they are choosing the schools, they would be more meticulous. You have to access yourself before you choose your school. And again, the placement is done program by program. You might perform very well, but if you choose very competitive programs, it becomes very difficult for you to get them. Parents should also ask themselves and their wards if the wards would be admitted to the schools that they are choosing,” he stated.

He added saying: “I have gone round to educate the public and students on how to choose the schools. When choosing the schools, the programs are in codes. The computer does not recognize the individual programs. For example, 502 is Arts, so if you go and choose 506, it’s Science. So the students should be able to ensure that they have chosen the right codes for the right programs. The data that we get from WAEC is encrypted, so we can’t change it.”

The Computerized School Selection Placement System(CSSPS) was initiated in 2005 to computerize school selection and placement.

A specific date is yet to be set, for the release of the placement of students to their various schools, however, this would be before 10th March, since it is the date set for school to resume for these students.