The Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) Secretariat will release this year’s Senior High School (SHS) placement results on August 31 to pave way for the commencement of the 2026/27 Academic year.
This comes after the successful selection of schools by the over 620,000 candidates who sat for the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The Press Secretary to the Minister of Education, Mr Hashmin Mohammed, who disclosed this in an interview with The Ghanaian Times yesterday, said the placement results would be announced after the completion of the pre-placement exercise, which allowed candidates to select their preferred senior high and technical schools after checking their BECE results.
He said the pre-placement exercise, being conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), was expected to end yesterday, but indicated that the deadline could be extended if the need arose.
“So far, our checks show that many students, with the support of their parents and guardians, have completed their school selection. We have not received any major reports from the field, so the exercise is expected to end as scheduled,” Mr Mohammed stated.
He explained that after the exercise, WAEC would submit the candidates’ data to the CSSPS Secretariat, which would process the placements before the official release of the results.
To minimise the annual challenges associated with the placement exercise, Mr Mohammed said the Ministry had expanded placement resolution centres to all the 16 regions.
He said the decentralised approach would allow parents and candidates to resolve placement issues within their respective regions instead of travelling to Accra, adding that call centres would also be established to provide assistance and respond to complaints.
Mr Mohammed said the Ministry expected a reduction in placement-related complaints this year because candidates were allowed to select their preferred schools only after the release of their BECE results.
According to him, the arrangement followed recommendations made by a committee constituted by the Minister of Education after consultations with parents, students, guardians and other stakeholders following last year’s placement exercise.
He urged candidates to accept schools that they are placed in since it matched their strength and reflected their examination results, explaining that unrealistic choices often resulted in unsuccessful placements and avoidable appeals.
“The system can only place candidates into schools for which they qualify. If a candidate selects schools beyond his or her performance, the system will automatically consider other available options,” he said.
Mr Mohammed said although more than 620,000 candidates sat this year’s BECE, the exact number to be placed would only be known after WAEC submitted the final pre-placement data, noting that some candidates’ results had been withheld while others did not obtain the required grades for placement.
Touching on plans to expand Category A schools to accommodate more students, he said the initiative was still going through the required administrative and procurement processes.
Mr Mohammed expressed optimism that the expansion project would commence next year after all statutory approvals had been secured.
He appealed to parents and guardians to support their children in their school choices to ensure a smooth, transparent and efficient placement process.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
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