Ministry of Education investigates CSSPS infiltration
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has launched investigations into reports that some students who were placed at various institutions such as the Wesley Girls High School (WGHS) have been denied admission because of lack of accommodation facilities.
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According to the Ministry, some miscreants have infiltrated the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) and have managed to alter information on placement sheets.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Mr Francis Gbadago, “CSSPS is the only body that is supposed to place these students. What we do understand however is that there are some people in the system that are using technology to change their placement information.”
Mr Gbadago revealed that “When it comes to a raw score the highest raw score one can get is 600 and that is over 600 and it’s very difficult for someone to get such a raw score. This year for example, the highest raw score is 502 but as I speak to you, I have a placement information sheet here which sought to suggest that somebody has gotten 661. So these are the very people we are talking about.”
He said placement of students were done in accordance with the vacancy and strengths of the various SHSs across the country.
“The Ghana Education Service (GES) and CSSPS know the very vacancies, strengths and capacities of all these schools across the country and so if they post any particular student to any school, they know very well that they are capable of admitting these students. So, if CSSPS has placed any student legitimately in a particular school, that particular student should be given admission at the end of the day,” Mr Gbadago said.
He was speaking on Accra-based Citi FM in the wake of discrepancies in the placement and admission of students into their various SHSs.
The Wesley Girls High School (WGHS) in the Central Region on Wednesday turned away scores of students who had been offered placement at the school due to lack of accommodation facilities.
The students who were accompanied by their parents had with them their placement sheets which indicated that they had been placed at WGHS.
However, the Assistant Headmaster of the school, Mr Gabriel Kumasah, said the students were asked to go back home because their names were not on the school’s list.
But the PRO of the MoE explained that the current problem could be that the schools facing those problems may have under-declared their vacancies.
Mr Gbadago however, denied that there was any such list as “protocol list” which gave preference to certain students to be placed in particular schools.
He said “I am not aware of any protocol list that you are referring to. If anybody has any material to support that claim, why not, the person has the liberty to do so”, adding that, it was odd that the list the Wesley Girls SHS had differed from that of the Regional Office of the GES.
According to Mr Gbadago, the CSSPS system has worked very well and that “in the manual system, after the examinations you’ll be forced to go round and look for schools for your ward but in this system we have everything put in the computer and according to merit you are rated and given a school. It’s basically based on merit.”
He therefore asked parents facing difficulties in getting their wards admitted to contact the Ministry of Education or any of its regional offices.
“If you have any particular concern kindly reach the Ministry of Education for redress on 0303931897 or 0303931898,” he added.