Despite appeals to delay the reopening date, first-year senior high school students across the country are set to return to their respective institutions today.
Parents and other key stakeholders have requested an extension of the reporting deadline for a variety of reasons, but the Ghana Education Service (GES) has insisted on the December 4 deadline.
Parliament also requested that the Minister of Education reconsider moving the reopening date to the first week of January, rather than Monday, December 4.
In a press release, the Parliamentary Service said that “due to the short notice with its attendant inconvenience to students, parents, teaching, and non-teaching staff, the House proposes for the consideration of the Hon. Minister of Education the first week of January 2024 as a more convenient and appropriate time for parents, students, and teachers to adequately prepare for academic work.”
The GES, however, voted down Parliament’s request. In a press release, GES said that “it is the expectation of management that schools begin registration and orientation of students from the 4th of December 2023.”
The Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) placed 585,797 students out of a total of 598,839 candidates in various Senior High Schools and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Schools (TVET) across the country.
The Deputy Spokesperson of the Educational Ministry, Yaw Opoku Mensah, asked parents suffering placement issues to visit specific specialised locations around the nation to have things rectified.
“It has been a system by the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education that whenever placement results are released, students will come with a lot of issues, change of status.” So, if you have such a problem, you may walk to the national office in Adabraka and all 16 administrative areas; we also have it there. “We also have a command center that is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said.
