Ghana’s Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has acknowledged the growing challenges surrounding senior high school placements as the government struggles to accommodate the large number of qualified applicants.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the Minister explained that the placement process has been particularly difficult this year due to a sharp imbalance between available spaces and the number of students seeking admission.
“We do accept that there is a challenge, when you have vacancies of 76 thousand and you have applicants desiring to fill 76 thousand with 393 thousand,” he said. “You definitely will have some difficulty and struggle as I am struggling. It could be any of you seated here as Minister for Education.”
According to him, the Ministry is doing its best to manage the situation through the placement system, which classifies schools into Category A, B, and C. However, he noted that many parents still prefer Category A schools for their children, even though the infrastructure in these schools has not expanded to accommodate more students.
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“Justifiably, every parent wants their child to be in a Category A school,” he said, adding that “we haven’t in the last month expanded any infrastructure at any Category A school to have done the magic for us.”
Mr Iddrisu assured the public that the Ministry of Education remains committed to finding equitable solutions to the placement challenge and ensuring that all qualified students have access to secondary education in Ghana.
