The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rejected the government’s decision to allow 54,985 unplaced Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates to access the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) for self-placement.

The party is demanding that the government secure actual school placements for all affected candidates, arguing that access to the self-placement portal does not guarantee a seat in a classroom.

‘A portal is not a school place’

In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party said many preferred schools and programmes could have reached capacity by the time affected candidates accessed the portal.

“A portal is not a school place,” the statement said, stressing that the government should be measured by the number of candidates who eventually secure placements rather than the number who successfully access the online system.

The NPP said parents and candidates were primarily interested in securing places in schools, not merely gaining access to the placement platform.

859,828 vacancies

The party also questioned why 54,985 candidates remained unplaced when government figures indicated that there were 859,828 vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates.

It argued that the problem was not necessarily an overall shortage of places but the concentration of demand on a limited number of highly preferred schools.

According to the NPP, 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, although those schools had only 76,417 places available.

NPP proposes alternatives

The opposition party is calling for alternative measures to accommodate the affected candidates, including the use of the 85 private schools participating in the Free SHS programme.

It also wants the government to improve facilities, staffing and academic programmes in schools that still have unfilled capacity, so that more candidates can be accommodated.

The NPP further demanded that the government publish the final placement outcome, showing how many of the 54,985 initially unplaced candidates ultimately secured school places.

It said the success of the placement exercise should be judged by the number of candidates who obtain actual seats in classrooms, rather than the number who gain access to the self-placement portal.