Private Schools to sue govt over unfair SHS/TVET/SHTS placement

The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has threatened to sue the central government for discrimination against private Junior High School students in this year’s computerised second-cycle school placement.

In an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, the Director of the Council, Enoch Gyetuah said his outfit would petition the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) 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 placement to ‘Category A’ second-cycle schools currently are 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.

Speaking on Abusua 96.5 FM’s AbusuaNkommo with host Kojo Marfo, the Private Schools Council Director said the 30% allotment is discriminatory, arguing that it undermines the efforts and resources invested by private schools.

“Considering that a private individual can establish a school, pay teachers, and provide all necessary teaching and learning materials, yet the government claims that its students in (public schools) will be disgraced and their students will fail exams, it’s alarming,” he noted.

He further disclosed that discussions with government officials and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education on the unfair placement system have not yielded satisfactory results, prompting consideration of an injunction against the placement system.

“We have met with the government on this matter, and with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education. We’ve also held numerous press conferences about this issue.

Having reached this point, we’re now considering placing an injunction on the school placement system and taking the government to court to determine if they have the right to take the actions they’re taking,” the GNACOPS official said.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) released the second-cycle school placement results of public and private Junior High School (JHS) students who sat for the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) on October 29, 2024.

In a statement sighted by Pretertiary.com, it said, “Out of the 563,339 results received from WAEC, 553,155 candidates qualified to be placed. A total of 447,698 (80.93%) qualified candidates have automatically been placed in one of their choices.

However, 104,918 qualified candidates could not be matched to any of their choices. Out of this number, 73,390 (13.27%) qualified candidates have been placed in schools similar to those they selected, and such students are at liberty to accept or reject the offer.”