SHS placement: Why Education Ministry, GES and CSSPS have a lot of work to do – IFEST boss

Dr Peter Anti, Executive Director of the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), has called for increased transparency and public awareness regarding Ghana’s Senior High School (SHS) placement system. This comes as there are growing concerns over the number of candidates who have not been placed in SHS after taking their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Dr Anti emphasized that the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service (GES), and Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) must provide a clear explanation of how BECE grades and raw scores are utilized in determining placement. He highlighted that the recent controversy surrounding the Steiner grading system should not overshadow the real issues within the country’s assessment and placement processes.

According to him, the Ministry, GES, and CSSPS have significant work ahead in addressing the lack of transparency in the system. Dr Anti pointed out that candidates can achieve the same aggregate grade but have different raw scores based on their performance in individual subjects. He explained that previously, parents and candidates could directly access schools where names and raw scores were available.

However, he noted that the introduction of the computerised placement system altered the way information about candidates’ performance is accessed. He also mentioned that the Steiner system, associated with the BECE grading process, predates the computerised placement system and should not be blamed for the current challenges. Dr Anti stated that the country underwent a curriculum change in 2019 but failed to fully implement assessment reforms, such as transitioning from a norm-referenced to a criterion-referenced system.

He believed that this delay was partly due to the BECE primarily being used as a placement examination. Therefore, he argued that there is a need to pay more attention to candidates’ raw scores and provide the public with a clear explanation of how these scores interact with grades and placement criteria. He also highlighted the criterion introduced under the Free SHS policy, which prevents candidates with a grade 9 in English Language or Mathematics from being placed in public senior high schools.

He questioned why this criterion remains in place while authorities grapple with a large number of candidates without placements. Dr Anti urged education authorities to communicate more sustainably, suggesting that the public should not have to wait for controversies to arise before receiving explanations about the placement system.

He supported calls for a national dialogue on the issue but emphasized that such discussions must ultimately lead to decisions by policymakers.