Modify Computerised System of Selecting Schools - Chiefs

The Gomoa Akyempim Traditional Council has appealed to the government to modify the Computer Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to make room for day students. In a resolution passed at a meeting at Apam, the chiefs alleged that the CSSPS had been thwarting the efforts of children from poor homes to further their education. Obrifo Ahunaku Ahor Ankobea II, Omanhene of the area, explained that under the old selection system, 30 per cent of admissions were reserved for children from the locality of the Senior High Schools, which enabled them to have secondary education as day students. However, Nana Ankobea said the CSSPS had abolished the quota for the locals, which means that students can no longer have secondary education as day students. The CSSPS was introduced in 2005 as a result of public outcry against the malpractices involved in the old selection system. The Omanhene said though the students were made to select schools in their districts or nearer to their districts, the CSSPS in most cases, placed them in schools which were very far away from their regions. For instance, he said, at Apam Senior High School now, one would not find more than 20 out of the about 1,500 student population who were residents of Apam and its environs. He explained that this was not because students in the town did not like the school but it was the CSSPS that denied them their choice. Obrifo Ahor Ankobea expressed concern that if the CSSPS was not modified to create room for day students, the nation would be creating �a class society� soon. He pointed out that encouraging day school education would help in the government�s poverty reduction strategy. The Omanhene said the CSSPS had compelled the day institutions to arrange for hostel facilities which, according to him, could compound the problems of indiscipline and moral decadence. �Please consider the poverty level in the rural communities and help them also to educate their children,� he stressed.