Return CSSPS to old module instead of review – EduWatch to MoE

Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) has called on the Ministry of Education (MoE) to revert the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to its original module rather than review the second-cycle school placement system entirely.

EduWatch’s comment comes after the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, said the Computerized School Selection and Placement System is not working well for the country, calling for its review.

“It means that the computerized placement system is not working well for the country, and I’m happy to review it, and I will review it,” he disclosed this during his visit to Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC), Legon, on Monday, October 20, where he inspected facilities and assessed the school’s admission procedures.

Speaking to the authorities of the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, the Education Minister said he will put together a committee to review the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS)  to make it fairer and more efficient.

“I’ll put in place a committee to review its performance over the decade, and then give me a credible alternative. What we need is meritorious admission. Nobody would accept that you get an Aggregate 6, and you can’t get the spot of your first choice. That’s unfair, and we’ll look very closely into that,” he said.

But, in a social media post sighted by Pretertiary.com, the Executive Director of EduWatch, Kofi Asare, stated that many issues blamed on CSSPS actually stem from inadequate school facilities, not the CSSPS itself.

“The 2024 CSSPS was fine; no need for another major review; just audit the 2025 performance and lessons. MoE should reschedule school selection to happen after BECE results and focus on expanding infrastructure in line with the direction of demand. We should be fine with effective implementation,” he said.

Speaking in an interview, he said the system should be restored to the 2024 module, which he described as superior to the current one, except for issues relating to the percentage of protocol allocation for public basic school students.

“We have not been calling for a review of the current placement system; what we have been calling for is a reversion to what existed prior to 2025. We believe that CSSPS, as existing per the 2024 module, was good except that the ministry announced a reduction in the protocol allocation for public basic school students from 30%.

That was the only thing that needed to be changed. Apart from that, we believe that the CSSPS is good, and the challenges that we raised about the system are normally issues related to the enforcement of existing protocols rather than reviewing the placement mechanism,” he said.

Mr. Asare further noted that the challenges associated with this year’s second-cycle school placement are not new, explaining that similar problems were addressed between 2019 and 2020.

The African Education Watch (EduWatch) Director, therefore, has urged the Ministry in Charge of Education (MoE) to conduct an audit to determine why those issues have resurfaced.

“New challenges we have seen this year: students have been placed in schools, students have been given programs they didn’t select, students have been given a status day or boarder contrary to what they selected, and students being made day students in other districts from where their junior high schools were located are very new challenges.

They existed in the past; they were resolved by 2019–2020. And we don’t understand why they resurfaced. We are in favour of an audit to ascertain the reason why problems that were solved in the past resurface this year, not a review,” he noted.