No Deals in BECE Placements -Software Designer

Front Page Lead
5-10-09

THE company which designed the software for the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) has defended the electronic mode of selection, saying it cannot be manipulated for any underhand dealings in the placement of candidates.
Reacting to the stampede in many senior high schools (SHSs) for admission and the anxiety among parents whose children did not get their first choice schools under the (CSSPS), the programme designers said the placement exercise was transparent and that candidates were placed on merit according to the programmes and vacancies available in schools.
There is intense uneasiness among students and parents as this year’s placement reports are expected to get to the senior high schools by Tuesday, October 7.
And to calm nerves, Dr Harriet Somuah, the Chief Executive of Somuah Information Systems Company (SISCO) Limited, which designed the programme, told the Daily Graphic that one of the policies that guided the placement was the raw scores, not the grades or aggregates of candidates.
According to her, the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) served two purposes — the award of certificates and placement into SHSs.
She said for the award of certificates, the grades and aggregates obtained by candidates at the BECE were used, while, with respect to the placement of candidates, the grades and aggregates obtained did not give enough detail and so the modified raw scores were used.
“When we say modified raw scores, we mean the scores of a candidate in the BECE plus his/her continuous assessment marks,” she explained, adding that schools that failed to provide continuous assessment records of candidates created problems for their students.
Dr Somuah explained further that the range of marks that made up a grade differed from one year to another and from one subject to another.
Giving a scenario to explain the point, she said in one particular year, for instance, a candidate, Ama, could score English 65 (Grade 1), Social Studies 70 (Grade 1), Mathematics 63 (Grade 1), Science 64 (Grade 1), Pre-Tech 70 (Grade 1) and Ga 70 (Grade 1).
Another candidate, Adjoa, could also have English 83 (Grade 1), Social Studies 90 (Grade 1), Mathematics 81 (Grade 1), Science 88 (Grade 1), French 88 (Grade 2) and Religious and Moral Education 81 (Grade 2).
Dr Somuah said from the scenario created, although Ama had Grade 1 in all subjects, Adjoa would be placed above her because Adjoa’s total raw scores of 511 was higher than Ama’s 402.
“Placement does not understand grades or aggregates; it deals clearly with raw scores because there are big differences between the grades and aggregates,” she explained.
She cited another instance when a candidate who obtained English, Grade 1; Social Studies, Grade 2; Religious and Moral Education, Grade 1; Mathematics, Grade 4; Science, Grade 1; Agriculture Science, Grade 2; Pre-Technical Skills, Grade 1; French, Grade 1; Ghanaian Language, Grade 2, and Catering, Grade 4. Under the BECE, the aggregate for the best six subjects would be 07.
But under the CSSPS criteria for placement, the aggregate would be 10 because the four core subjects, English (1), Mathematics (4), Science (1) and Social Studies (2), as well as two other best subjects — French (1) and Religious and Moral Education (1) — added up to 10.
“The computer does not know anybody and candidates are placed on merit,” she maintained, adding, “If your child did not get a particular school it means other children did better than your child when you look at their raw scores.”
Dr Somuah, however, agreed with suggestions that placing the raw scores on the results slips of candidates, along side the grades, would help explain things better to both parents and candidates and address their anxieties.
The raw scores are sent to the SHSs and the junior high schools of candidates.
She noted that programmes offered by schools were also used in the selection process, saying that a candidate with not so high raw scores but who chose to offer Visual Arts or Home Economics in a top school could get placed in that school ahead of a candidate who might have similar raw scores but who chose to do Science or Business in that school as a result of the competitive nature of those programmes.
“Even if two candidates have the same raw scores and chose the same school, one may get the school while the other may not because of the programmes they chose to offer,” she further explained
She, however, indicated that a candidate who did not get his/her first choice school could displace other candidates in his/her second choice school because his/her raw marks might be higher than those candidates, irrespective of the fact they might have selected that school as their first choice.
Dr Somuah said another policy used in the placement exercise was the scaling up factor meant for schools in deprived areas.
Under the policy, she said, deprived schools, based on their level of depravity, “have their scores increased by a certain percentage so that they can compete favourably with those from well-endowed schools”.
She said students were placed in schools they themselves chose, explaining that with this year’s first batch of placement, nobody was placed in a school he/she did not choose.
She said some students also picked the wrong codes of schools, resulting in their being posted to schools other than those they opted for.
“I can understand the frustrations of the candidates. They must, however, know that those placed above them did better than they,” she emphasised.
She said the CSSPS was better than the manual system, as children who could not have otherwise gained admission to certain popular schools were now in those schools.
“I hear some parents even went to PRESEC, Legon, to dance in front of the gate, saying that they too were going to have their children in that school,” she said.
Dr Somuah underscored the need for more education on the CSSPS to enable parents, teachers and students to understand it better.
Meanwhile, some parents whose children did not get their first choice schools have expressed their displeasure at the way the placement exercise was carried out.
They said although their children performed well and were more than qualified, they did not get the schools of their choice.
They, therefore, called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to review the system, since it was creating so much tension and psychological trauma in many homes.
Anita Adjei, a parent whose daughter had nine grade ones, with a grade two in Twi, did not understand why her daughter did not get her first and second choice schools of Wesley Girls’ High School and Mfantsiman Girls’ High School but was rather sent to Chemu Senior High School.
For his part, Mr K.A. Debrah said although his child had grade one in all her subjects, she could not be selected for admission to Wesley Girls’, which was her first choice, to pursue a science programme.
“I don’t understand how this system works,” he said.
Another parent with a similar problem, Madam Stephanie Mensah, said her daughter could not get Holy Child School with her 10 grade ones and questioned what went into the selection process, stressing the need for the current system to be reviewed.
One parent, Mr Kweku Atta, was very angry because his child was not placed in any of her six chosen schools and questioned the wisdom in the CSSPS for putting the child in a school far away from where she attended JHS.
He explained that while his daughter had chosen schools in the Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam District, she was placed in a school in the Awutu-Senya District.
“How do they expect the child to go to school?” he asked.
Earlier, the Head of Public Relations of the Ministry of Education, Mr Paul Krampah, had explained to the Daily Graphic that the placement had been done on merit based on the raw scores of candidates.
He explained that obtaining grade one in all subjects (or 10 ones) did not mean that a candidate should get his/her first choice school at all cost.
Mr Krampah said every year the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) had a range for the grading system of candidates and that the grade one range could be between 75 and 100 per cent or 70 and 100 per cent.
For instance, he said, in the placement exercise, a candidate who had grade one with a raw score of 80 per cent would be placed ahead of a candidate who had grade one with a score of 70 per cent. The same, he said, applied to the other grades.
Apart from that, he said, candidates’ programmes were also considered in the selection process.