MoE asked to cancel SHS/TVET protocol placement in 2026 CSSPS

A former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Charles Aheto-Tsegah, has called on the Ministry in Charge of Education (MoE) to cancel protocol placement in the computerized school placement system.

In an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, the former GES Director-General said that extra-system admissions—popularly known as ‘protocol placement’ have fundamentally destabilized the merit-based electronic placement system.

Mr. Aheto-Tsegah appointed as the Ghana Education Service Director-General in 2015, oversaw the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) implementation during his tenure.

Speaking on the Big Issue on Channel One TV, Mr. Aheto-Tsegah argued that the technology of the computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) introduced in 2005 is outdated

“We didn’t even know how to manage protocol in the system, even though we knew that it was an ever-present issue in that process, so we could manage it, and we have lived with that system right from the beginning,” he stated.

He described protocol placement as the immense pressure exerted by parents and influential figures on Headmasters and GES officials to admit students, often those with lower qualifying grades, into highly coveted schools outside the official, computerized placement list.

The past GES Director-General pointed out that every single extra-system admission effectively displaces a student who qualified strictly through the computerized school placement electronic merit mechanism.

“The protocol has actually been expanding, and that is what we have to deal with. If we want to be very fair and equitable, we need to kill that small elephant in the room called protocol,” he argued.

The former Director-General also urged the government and school authorities to implement a zero-tolerance policy—backed by stringent auditing of school admissions registers and decisive penalties for non-compliance.

He indicated that the annual chaos and congestion witnessed at the school placement resolution centers will continue to undermine public faith in the CSSPS process if the protocol placement system is not abolished.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has said school protocol placement is officially not recognized in the Computerized School Placement System, which is regulated by the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) Secretariat.

Speaking in an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, the Head of Public Relations at Ghana Education Service (GES), Daniel Fenyi, said no such system is associated with the computer school placement.

“The reality is that protocol is not officially recognized in the placement process, but in schools that still have vacancies, we give head of schools the opportunity to enroll people who have physically walked in they are interested in their school. They have access to enroll them and notify GES,” Daniel Fenyi stated.

Asked if government officials, including Members of Parliament, can not secure admission into a particular school for a student, the GES spokesman said that it is not possible this year in the school placement.

“If you speak to the Members of Parliament (MPs) and a politically exposed person, they will tell you it is extremely difficult to get access because we want to make the process as merit-based as possible,” he said.