SHS Placement Pressure: Why Accra and Ashanti are creating a false national crisis – GES explains

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has dismissed allegations of a nationwide crisis concerning this year's Senior High School (SHS) placement, asserting that the heightened pressure in Accra and the Ashanti Region does not represent the broader situation nationwide. Daniel Fenyi, Head of Public Relations at the GES, highlighted that the electronic School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) has demonstrated substantial progress in automatic placements compared to prior years.

Automatic placements surged from 447,000 in 2024 and 483,000 in 2025 to 527,000 this year. Fenyi explained that the surge in automatic placements and a significant reduction in self-placement requests have led to a combined placement rate of between 93% and 95% of students. He dismissed the ongoing discussions about a 5% margin of error as an exaggeration.

Fenyi criticized the persistent narrative of a major placement crisis in Ghana, emphasizing that a system placing 95% of students cannot be considered a crisis. He also clarified that there are approximately 800,000 spaces available for slightly over 600,000 students pursuing SHS education, indicating that vacancies exist. The GES has set up 17 resolution centers across the country to tackle placement issues, including human errors, technical glitches, and isolated cases.

Of these centers, 15 are functioning smoothly, with the majority of the workload concentrated in Accra and the Ashanti Region. Fenyi emphasized that large gatherings of parents and students in Accra and the Ashanti Region should not be misconstrued as a national crisis. He insisted that while these centers are drawing attention due to their proximity, they do not reflect the conditions in the rest of Ghana.

He assured stakeholders that with 17 centers addressing placement concerns, and 15 operating efficiently, there is no systemic issue with the resolution centers or the placement process itself.