CSSPS will be guided by meritocracy, transparency and equity – Haruna Iddrisu

Government will overhaul the SHS placement system to ensure fairness, transparency, and predictability, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has announced.

Addressing the media, the Minister said reforms to the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) are aimed at correcting long-standing challenges that have affected students, parents, and schools.

“I want to hereby report that government is completely overhauling the CSSPS system in order to ensure that meritocracy, transparency and equity, and more importantly, predictability, guide the placement process,” he stated.

Mr. Iddrisu acknowledged that some of the challenges within the system are partly due to human actions, particularly the registration of unqualified candidates for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

“In many instances, we have seen registration of unqualified BECE students. You can imagine somebody in Primary 6, Form 1 or Form 2 being encouraged by their parent to write BECE. That is not acceptable under our GES practices,” he said.

He warned of strict enforcement going forward. “Any student or parent caught will be dealt with decisively. The students must go through the full course of Primary School to Junior High School 3 before writing BECE,” he added.

The Minister further revealed that the government will reintroduce the catchment area policy to improve access to secondary education for local communities. “Accordingly, we will restore the policy of the catchment area in the process of BECE student placement at the secondary level,” he noted.

He also disclosed that a technical working committee will be established to supervise the placement system, alongside the reintroduction of a displacement algorithm to enhance fairness in school placement.

Mr. Iddrisu cautioned against abuse of special placement considerations, revealing that about 60,000 protocol requests were recorded last year. “I pray that this will not be abused, just like the protocol is often abused,” he said.

The reforms form part of broader efforts to restore confidence in the placement system and ensure that every qualified student is placed based on merit and clearly defined criteria.