The Ministry of Education has cautioned parents and guardians against paying money to individuals who claim they can secure senior high school (SHS) placement for their wards through the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
“Placement is free. Do not pay money to anyone who claims he/she can help you with placement. Anyone who demands money in exchange for placement is a fraudster and should be reported to the police immediately,” Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Clement Apaak, emphasised.
Speaking ahead of the 2025 placement exercise, which begins today, Dr. Apaak reassured the public that the process would be conducted smoothly and transparently. He urged parents and guardians to trust the system.
“Our students who completed Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), whose results are out, will be placed through the CSSPS tomorrow (Wednesday).
We expect that the students will be placed according to the way the system has been programmed to place them,” he said.
According to him, lessons from previous years had been taken into account, and the current technical team had worked tirelessly to ensure the process runs without glitches or human interference.
On the recurring scramble for spots in top-ranked schools, Dr. Apaak appealed for calm and acceptance of placements.
“We have decided to allow the system to function and work, and we will not seek to interfere by manually manipulating the system. We want to eliminate the biased, sometimes financially induced manipulation of the system,” he stated.
He further stressed that student achievement was not determined by the prestige of a school.
“Success is not predicated on attending a Grade ‘A’ school,” Dr. Apaak said, noting that discipline, parental support, student effort, and the role of the school were more decisive factors. While acknowledging disparities in infrastructure, he maintained that such differences alone could not determine a student’s academic future.
To address any genuine challenges with placements, the Ministry has established a Resolution Centre at the GNAT Hall in Accra. The centre will handle cases such as gender misplacements or errors in school type selections.
Dr. Apaak said the centre, set up under the directive of the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, would operate under tight security to protect staff and the public.
“We expect to run a 24-hour resolution centre so that issues will be addressed as quickly as possible.
“By the time the students would be reporting to school in a month’s time, all outstanding issues would have been resolved,” he explained.
