The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced that the results of this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will be released on or before July 31.
He said measures had been put in place to address the persistent challenges associated with the placement of students after the release of results.
As part of the reforms, Mr Iddrisu said the Technical Committee of the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) had been reconstituted to ensure a more transparent and efficient process.
He explained that under the new arrangement, candidates would select their preferred schools only after the release of their results.
“We intend to run an open and transparent system and that is why we have revised the CSSPS technical committee and requested that into this year, BECE students will only make a determination of their choice of school after results are declared.
“So parents, take note that on the strength of the grade of your son or daughter, you will know where that son or daughter belongs,” he said.
Mr Iddrisu made this known at the Presidency in Accra yesterday when he addressed the Government Accountability Series.
He indicated that the education sector currently lacked the infrastructure needed to adequately address placement challenges, a situation he attributed to limited resources.
To tackle the problem, he said government had concluded negotiations with the World Bank for a $300 million Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance and Results for Jobs (STAR-J) project.
The project, he explained, is aimed at expanding access to secondary education while improving its quality and relevance.
Under the initiative, 210 senior high, technical and vocational schools are expected to benefit from infrastructure expansion and upgrades.
This includes the rehabilitation and expansion of 150 schools through the construction of additional classrooms, dormitories and laboratories.
In addition, 30 Category ‘C’ schools will be upgraded to Category ‘B’, while 20 Category ‘B’ schools will be elevated to Category ‘A’, alongside further expansion of facilities in Category ‘A’ schools.
Mr Iddrisu appealed to parents for patience, indicating that the reforms would take time to fully address placement challenges.
“So parents, you may have to give me another one year to be better placed to address school placement issues,” he said.
He also called for a broader review of the placement system to assess whether it was based strictly on merit or influenced by favouritism.
The Minister further assured parents that following last year’s National Education Forum, the Free Senior High School policy had been reviewed to expand infrastructure, improve feeding and strengthen quality assurance to better meet the needs of a competitive labour market.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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