The National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations has called on the Ministry of Education to urgently address severe infrastructure deficits and quality disparities in senior high schools, stressing that the ongoing Computerised School Selection and Placement System crisis stems from capacity constraints rather than software failure.
Parental frustration has mounted over the past week as Regional Resolution Centres and the National Centre at GNAT Hall became overwhelmed by families dealing with day and boarding mismatches, categorisation confusion, and students placed as day scholars up to 200 kilometres away from their homes.
In a press release issued on Thursday, the association acknowledged positive policy developments, including post-results school selection, digital admissions, and the approval of the 300 million US dollar World Bank-backed STARR-J facility meant to upgrade school facilities. However, the council emphasised that structural bottlenecks continue to undermine placement outcomes.
“CSSPS is not the disease. It is the symptom. The disease is capacity and quality concentration in the few Category A schools. We must fix the schools, not just the software,” the statement signed by General Secretary Gapson Kofi Raphael noted.
Statistics highlighted in the statement underline the severe imbalance in parent preferences, revealing that 313,283 candidates chose Category A schools as their top choice, despite only 76,417 vacancies existing within that tier. Although 859,828 vacancies were made available nationwide across all categories, the vast majority remain concentrated in Category C schools, which account for 468,652 places.
To resolve the recurring placement bottlenecks, the association urged government to enforce strict geo-referenced catchment boundaries to ensure day students are not placed more than 10 kilometres from home, publish verified vacancy data in advance, and decentralise resolution centres to district help desks using USSD and WhatsApp platforms.
“CSSPS is the software. Our schools are the hardware. Let’s fix the hardware. When you mend a torn cloth, you start from where it is torn,” the statement concluded, while appealing to the Ministry of Education to convene an emergency stakeholder meeting with NCPTAs, CHASS, and GES before enrolment closes.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
