The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has directed heads of Senior High Schools (SHSs), Senior High Technical Schools (SHTSs), and Technical and Vocational Institutes (TVIs) to strictly adhere to the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) and refrain from admitting students outside the approved process.
The directive, communicated through the Directors-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana TVET Service, cautions heads of second-cycle institutions against manually admitting students or exceeding the number of students allocated to their schools through the CSSPS.
“Any head of school found to have admitted students outside the CSSPS, upon confirmation through enrolment data validation, shall be sanctioned in accordance with the applicable regulations and the Code of Ethics,” the directive stated.
According to the Ministry of Education, the directive forms part of efforts to improve access to secondary education while strengthening the integrity and credibility of the placement and enrolment processes.
Schools warned against exceeding approved vacancies
The Ministry said strict adherence to approved vacancy declarations and enrolment thresholds was critical to achieving the objectives of the World Bank-funded Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance and Results for Jobs Project (STARR-J).
The project seeks to expand and improve teaching and learning infrastructure across the second-cycle education sector.
The Ministry noted that previous placement exercises, particularly last year’s, recorded significant discrepancies between the number of students placed through the CSSPS and the number actually enrolled in schools.
It said the discrepancies suggested that some heads of schools had admitted students outside the approved placement system.
“The Ministry has observed that in previous placement cycles, particularly last year, there were significant discrepancies between the number of students placed through the system and the number of students actually enrolled on the ground,” the directive stated.
The Ministry warned that the practice of under-declaring vacancies and subsequently admitting students outside the CSSPS undermined the integrity of the placement system, created inconsistencies in enrolment data and distorted education planning.
It also affected budget projections and created challenges for the timely and accurate disbursement of funds to schools.
CSSPS enhanced with enrolment component
The Ministry said the 2026 placement cycle has been enhanced with an integrated enrolment component designed to provide an end-to-end system for placing and enrolling students.
Under the new arrangement, once vacancies have been declared, validated and confirmed on the system, schools will not be permitted to increase their approved vacancies.
“Accordingly, once vacancies are declared, validated, and confirmed on the system, there shall be no further expansion of vacancies,” the directive stressed.
It added that the exact number of students placed through the CSSPS would constitute the approved enrolment figure for each school.
“No school head is permitted to admit any student outside the CSSPS,” the directive stated.
Mixed reactions to 2026 placement
The directive comes days after the Ministry of Education released the 2026 senior high school placement for qualified Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) graduates.
The release on Friday night triggered mixed reactions from parents and guardians.
While students who secured admission to their first-choice schools expressed excitement, others who obtained good grades but failed to secure their preferred schools voiced disappointment and called for changes to the placement system.
Students required to undertake self-placement on the CSSPS also reported challenges.
Another concern raised by parents was the placement of some students in day schools located far from their places of residence, creating potential transportation and accommodation difficulties.
New approach introduced for 2026 placement
This year’s placement exercise included a new measure introduced by the Ministry of Education, allowing BECE candidates to access their examination results before selecting their preferred second-cycle institutions.
The initiative was intended to give students a clearer understanding of their performance before making their school choices.
The 2026 BECE was conducted from May 4 to May 11, 2026, across the country.
A total of 620,141 candidates, comprising 304,349 boys and 315,792 girls, sat for the examination. The candidates came from 20,395 schools, representing an increase of almost 2.7 per cent over the previous year.
Education Minister to address placement concerns
Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu is expected to hold a press conference today to provide further details on the 2026 placement exercise and outline measures to address concerns raised by students, parents and other stakeholders.
The engagement is expected to provide clarification on placement challenges and the way forward for students who have encountered difficulties with the system.
