Accra, Sept. 14, GNA - The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports on Thursday said a total of 119,844 selected candidates had been placed under the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

Papa Owusu Ankomah, Minister of the Sector, said the number included 1,277 qualified candidates who had deferred their admissions due to reasons of ill health and financial difficulties. He said the 38,209 vacancies yet to be filled would cater for the 37,000 students without schools.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Papa Owusu Ankomah said most of the inefficiencies in the manual system had been addressed by CSSPS for a better selection and placement of qualified candidates though it was just in its second year of implementation. He said those who did not qualify to be selected into the SSS should take advantage of the opportunities available to them to improve on their performance.

The CSSPS was established in September last year to address the weaknesses in the manual placement system. Under the system, Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates from less endowed schools have the opportunity to be admitted into some of the popular schools.

Papa Owusu Ankoma said the new system had paved the way for equity and a fair playing field for selection of prospective candidates into either senior secondary school or technical institutions. He said it had also relieved heads of institutions of the tedious tasks they often went through during SSS admissions and frustration by parents in looking for placement for their children due to lack of transparency.

Last month, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) announced that 190,021 candidates with aggregates 06 to 30 qualified and released a total of 155,684 candidates to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for consideration and placement.

Papa Owusu Ankomah said the release of the 155,684 candidates was based on approved selection guidelines given to WAEC by the GES. He said errors associated with the completion of the BECE registration forms had become a major challenge.

The Minister said the system continued to correct errors such as male choosing female schools, wrong shading of school code and wrong combination of choices by candidates at the JSS level.

He said as of today, over 130,000 candidates have sent text messages to check on their placements and know their schools and programmes adding that through the introduction of the CSSPS, national integration and improved quality of education would be achieved.