Fresh SHS students to report on September 11
All Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates who have been placed into senior high schools (SHSs) and technical institutes (TIs) are to report for school with the continuing students on September 11, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has said.
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The GES said the 2017/2018 academic year for all second cycle schools was expected to commence on September 11.
This was contained in a statement issued by the GES upon the release of the 2017 computer placement of BECE candidates into SHSs/TIs.
“Out of the total number of 460,941 registered candidates, 424,092 candidates (92 per cent) qualified to be placed, the statement signed by the acting Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, said.
It said a total of 36,849 candidates, which represents eight per cent of candidates who sat for the examination, failed to secure placement because they scored a Grade Nine in either English or Mathematics.
The statement added that during this year’s process of selection, 267,327 candidates secured places in schools of their choice, while 150,770 candidates could not be placed in any of the schools of their choice.
“They are being given the second chance of choosing a school. The qualified candidates who did not get a place of their choice should go online and select an option available within 48 hours from today,” the statement dated August 31, 2017, said.
It further stated that candidates could access their placements from September 1, 2017 by logging onto www.myjhsresult.net and following the online instructions.
A total of 468,060 candidates, made up of 241,154 males and 226,906 females, sat for the examination. The number of candidates for this year’s BECE was 1.53 per cent higher than that of the previous year.
The release of this year’s computer placement was received with mixed reactions from parents and candidates. While some parents were happy with the schools their children had been placed in, others were disappointed, claiming that the system had not been fair to them.
One parent, Mr Emmanuel Kwarteng, said he was happy that his son got Mfantsipim School, his first choice, adding that that had been his dream for his son.
Another parent, Mr Ahmed Ayubah, also lauded the system because his son “did not sweat” to get his first choice school, which was Pope John’s SHS.
However, some parents who were not happy with the placement were at the Ministry of Education offices to seek clarity on why their children had not been placed or why they were placed in schools they did not choose.
“My daughter did not select any school in the Ashanti Region, meanwhile she has been placed in Osei Tutu SHS. I don’t understand this and that is why I am here,” Mr James Amoah said.
Ms Ama Sakyiwaa, who was also at the ministry, said she did not understand why her son, with aggregate 11 did not get placement in any school.
Meanwhile, some Internet cafes were filled, at the weekend, with students who had not been placed in any school, searching for schools with vacancies. Candidates were told via text messages after texting to the short code 1060 to check their placements and that those who were not placed could go unto the internet to select from a list of schools with vacancies.
A resident of Kasoa, Mr Kojo Mintah, said he was happy with the list of schools with vacancies, and that schools such as Nsaba SHS, Boaponsem SHS and Breman Asikuma SHS were not bad at all.
“My sister who attended a public school had aggregate 29 and was not placed at all. However, because of the opportunity given us to choose from schools with vacancies, I was able to choose Nsaba SHS for her,” he said.
In a related development, the GES extended the placement of this year’s BECE candidates into SHSs across the country from September 1 to yesterday, September 5.
This was after the service discovered that nearly 150,770 qualified BECE candidates had still not been placed, 24 hours after the initial deadline expired.