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The Head Public Relations Unit at the Ministry of Education, Larry George Botchway, has cautioned the public not to fall prey to unscrupulous persons to part with any money in an attempt to secure placement of their wards into senior high schools (SHS) and technical vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.

He said following the release of placements for candidates of the 2022 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE), under the Computerised School Selections and Placement System (CSSPS), parents should be wary of people who would ask them to pay money to influence the placement of their children in schools of their choice.

Candidates

Mr Botchway, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, stated that a total of 372,780 candidates, representing 69.24 per cent, had been successfully placed out of the 538,399 candidates who qualified.

However, 165, 619 qualified candidates, representing 30.76 per cent, who could not be matched with any of their choices, are expected to do self-placement to select from the available schools, as per their aggregate.

“This is where people normally take advantage of unsuspecting parents and convince them to pay huge sums of money to enable their children to get admission into the category ‘A’ schools.

“The ministry frowns on this because it is criminal and so, both the giver and the taker of the bribe are held equally responsible for the act of bribery and corruption,” he said.

Solution centres

Mr Botchway said the ministry was worried about the alleged payment of money to influence the placement of candidates into schools of their choice.

He stated that apart from the GNAT Hall in Accra, the GES had also set up Resolution Centres at the regional education offices across the country, adding that two hotlines, 0302987654 and 0308258001 had also been set up to address any placement issues.

He said most conveniently, the online alternative, www.cssps.gov.gh, was available for self-placement and admonished parents to be involved in that option and not leave it in the hands of internet café attendants or their children.

He urged candidates who were placed in any of their six choices to accept those placements and not seek to make any changes to the detriment of others.

Mr Botchway further encouraged parents to enrol their children in any of the seven STEM schools included in CSSPS by logging onto www.stem-ssp.com.gh and added that prospects in those STEM schools after completion were immense, considering the fact that it was geared towards skilled human resource for the country’s development.