Private Schools petitions CHRAJ over ‘unfair’ SHS/TVET placement

Four Private School Associations have petitioned the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) against the government’s 30% priority placement system in Category ‘A’ second-cycle schools.

The Private School Associations are the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), the Ghana National Association of Private Schools, The National Council Of Parent-Teacher Associations of Ghana and the Private Education Coalition (PEC).

The Association’s petition comes after the Director of GNACOPS, Enoch Gyetuah, said his outfit would petition the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to invite the government on the unfair computer school placement issue.

“In the shortest possible time, you will hear that CHRAJ has invited the government to discuss this matter. We have finished writing our letter to petition CHRAJ over this matter to determine the way forward,” Kwasi Gyetuah said.

He indicated that 30% of computer placements in ‘Category A’ second-cycle schools are currently reserved for students in public Junior High Schools with the remaining 70% shared between public and private institutions.

“Since 2018, the government has introduced a policy allocating 30% of placements. This means that when students complete their exams and are due for placement, the government reserves 30% of the total allocation in Category A schools for government school students, against private school students,” Gyetuah said.

This year, a total of 603,328 candidates, comprising 297,250 males and 306,078 females, from nineteen thousand, five hundred and five (19,505) Junior High Schools (JHSs) entered for the school examination.

This includes seventy-two (72 ) candidates with visual impairment, two hundred and thirty-nine (239) with hearing impairment, and one hundred and sixty-one (161) candidates with other test accommodation needs.

The examination was conducted at two thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven (2,237 ) centers across the country. Out of the total number, two thousand, five hundred and twenty-six (2,526) candidates were absent.

The BECE for Private Candidates recorded a total entry figure of one thousand, three hundred and ninety (1,661) candidates. This was made up of eight hundred and fifty-eight (858) males and eight hundred and three (803 ) females.

Fifteen (15) centers, mostly in the regional capitals, were used for the BECE for Private Candidates. Out of the total number of candidates who entered for the examination, fifty-seven (57) were absent.

Relatedly, the Institute of Child Development (ICD), following its decision to challenge the allocation of a 30% school placement slot reserved for public schools at the Supreme Court, has asked the public to support the lawsuit against the Ghana Education Service.

In a statement sighted by Pretertiary.com, The Child Rights advocate said the above-mentioned percentage of placement slots into ‘Category A’ second-cycle schools reserved for only public school students is discriminatory and unfair.

“It looks as if there is a grand scheme by Ghana Education Service (GES) to weaken private education because of their quality education success at the pre-tertiary, which many Ghanaians believe and support strongly,” it said.

Following the school placement discrimination, the Institute of Child Development says a legal team has been constituted to challenge the constitutionality of the 30% SHS/TVET placement slot for public schools in court.

“This is to make sure that no Ghanaian child is discriminated against: whether from the private or public establishment, race, origin, colour gender, status and socio-economic background,” the Child Institute said in the statement.