A Coordinator at the education ministry, Max Sasu, has disclosed that over 516,000 students in the country have been placed in various senior high schools and TVET institutions under the Computerized Selection School Placement System (CSSPS).
According to him, for this year’s placements, the ministry dealt with some 917 schools on its portals and out of this, 218 were for TVET institutions. Out of these 917 schools, he revealed that the total vacancies that were declared totaled 705, 327 and the total number of candidates presented was 547, 329.
“So, if all these 547, 000 students get enrolled in the schools, we have some spaces left. So, we have about 188,782 – looking at these spaces that are left, no school should complain that they are overcrowded because we have 188, 782 spaces available. This year, the current [number of students placed] is 516, 454, the enrolment numbers is 412, 210, representing 80% as of now. Then, enrolment for boarding is 291, 305, those who have enrolled in day [schools] are 120, 881.”
Max Sasu
Mr Sasu revealed that considering the statistics of those successfully placed in senior high schools, he can confidently attest to the fact that placement has been very successful. He attributed the success of the placement to the minister of education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum.
“… The main reason why the honorable minister is here is to ensure that we achieve our target of 95% enrolment in schools. Honorable minister, with your good guidance, I’d like to assure you that the targeted enrolment you have earmarked will be achieved.”
Max Sasu
Speaking during the education minister’s visit to the ministry’s call center today, March 21, 2023, Mr Sasu stated that he is very happy to be witnessing a day like this. He stated that prior to the placement system there was a lot of pressure on his members, however, because of the hard work of his team and the minister’s guidance, they have been able to sail through.
“Since 2017 we started placements, no minister has ever engaged in placements and post-placement activities like this, and I would like to commend and appreciate the efforts of Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum. These placements actually preceded with test for confirmation – it’s for the parents and general public and candidates to confirm the choices that they made, and we earmarked about ten days for this exercise, and it was also completed successfully as a result of your cooperation and your hard work.
“Then we came to the placement exercise itself. I think the placement was actually released on the 17th of March and by His Grace and honorable minister’s guidance, we’ve been able to operate smoothly.”
Max Sasu
CSSPS call center addresses challenges with placements
Moreover, Mr Sasu explained that this year’s 50-seater call center was set up and for the first week, it received more than 7,000 calls per day, although the number has reduced due to the swift redress of challenges with placements. He noted that for the one month the center has been active, it has received over 300,000 calls and his outfit has been able to resolve more than 80% of the challenges that it experienced.
“The challenges were those who want to change from day to boarding, those who were not interested in the schools that they were given, and we had one or two visually impaired students who also complained and we’ve able to resolve all these problems.”
Max Sasu
On his part, the education minister thanked the team at the call center for their dedication in helping parents resolve the challenges confronting the placement of their children. He indicated that their tireless support has enabled the placements of thousands of students into schools.
Additionally, Dr Adutwum urged them to remain resolute in their dealings even as the ministry aids them when necessary.
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