CSSPS TENSIONS STEM FROM PARENTAL CHOICES, NOT SHORTAGE OF SCHOOL PLACES – EDUWATCH

The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has attributed the yearly challenges with the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to parental expectations rather than the absence of sufficient school spaces.

In an interview on Channel One TV on Saturday, September 27, 2025, Mr Asare stressed that Ghana’s education system has the capacity to admit all qualified candidates. However, difficulties arise because the majority of parents and students prefer a small cluster of elite schools, leaving hundreds of others underutilised.

“Every one of the 590,000 candidates who qualified for Senior High School this year can be placed. The issue is not space. The challenge is that the government cannot provide education to the exact taste of all parents and students,” he explained.

According to him, although Ghana boasts over 700 Senior High Schools, fewer than 100 Category A and B schools are highly demanded, creating competition and frustration when candidates are placed elsewhere.

Mr Asare pointed out that resentment over placements has long existed and will persist unless the infrastructure gap is narrowed and resources are equitably distributed across schools.

“So long as parents and candidates chase the same few schools while the country faces resource limitations as a lower-middle-income economy, these tensions will recur,” he said.

He concluded that true resolution will depend on long-term investment to improve facilities and teaching quality in less-preferred schools, so that more families can embrace them as viable options.