BECE candidates to choose six schools

04-02-08
Spead Lead

BASIC Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates will henceforth choose six senior high schools (SHS) or technical institutes, instead of four, to increase their chances of being placed in schools of their choice under the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that beginning from the 2008/09 academic year, the placement exercise would be done only once.
“Henceforth, there will not be second, third and fourth placements,” he said, adding that the move was to ensure that all students reported at the beginning of the academic year to ensure smooth academic work.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah said the arrangements were part of steps taken by the service to address earlier challenges that came with the placement exercise.
He said candidates who would be writing the BECE this month would be given the opportunity to choose two more schools and programmes, in addition to the four already selected.
According to him, the exercise would be carried out from April 7-12, 2008, adding that “all heads of junior high schools (JHS) are to assist and guide their respective candidates in making informed choices” from a given list of SHS.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah said heads of JHS were to prepare the minds of their candidates for the exercise and that district directors and district examination officers were to ensure that all schools participating in the 2008 BECE were informed and prepared adequately for the exercise.
“Heads of participating JHS and their candidates are to note that the choices are additional to the choices already made during the batch registration for the 2008 BECE carried out by WAEC in November/December 2007,” it added.
The statement indicated that heads of JHS, parents and candidates were to co-operate with the GES officers in the exercise, since it was the wish of the GES that all qualified candidates were placed before school re-opened for the 2008/09 academic year.
The Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Andrew Akuoko, told the Daily Graphic that vacancies still existed in some SHS, saying that they were due to health and transfer reasons.
He said the service was determined to carry out a smooth placement exercise.