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The Ghana Education Service (GES) says there is no shortage of spaces in senior high schools, despite growing concerns and frustrations among parents and guardians over the 2026 Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
Daniel Fenyi, Head of Public Relations at the GES, says the country has about 800,000 spaces available for a little over 600,000 students seeking admission to senior high schools (SHSs).
He said the figures show that the current challenges facing some students and parents are not due to a lack of space in schools.
“In terms of spaces, we have well about 800,000 spaces for 600,000, a little over 600,000 students who want to pursue senior high education.”
Mr Fenyi was speaking on Joy News’ PM Express amid reports of parents and guardians facing difficulties with the placement process.
He said the GES had also recorded a significant improvement in automatic placements this year.
According to him, about 527,000 students were automatically placed this year, compared with 483,000 in 2025 and 447,000 in 2024.
“So if you ask me what changed, what changed is a significant improvement in the automatic placements that were done this year,” he said.
Mr Fenyi said the number of students relying on self-placement had also dropped sharply.
He explained that self-placement stood at about 107,000 in 2025 but had fallen to 53,000 as of September 10, with the registration process still ongoing.
“Yes, so if you put everything together, automatic placement and then self-placement—where automatic placements, we did about 87%, and self-placement, the remaining 13% did the self-placement, as we speak, more than half of them have registered.”
He said this meant that the proportion of students who had secured placement through both channels was now between 93% and 95%.
Mr Fenyi therefore rejected suggestions that Ghana was facing a nationwide placement crisis.
“I want to emphasise, Evans, that if you have a system that has been able to place about 95% of the students through automatic and self-placement put together, you cannot, by any stretch of imagination, call such a 95% efficiency a crisis.”
He said the remaining challenges were being addressed through 17 resolution centres established nationwide.
The centres, he explained, are intended to address human errors, technical challenges, shortfalls, and other isolated cases.
“That’s why we have resolution centres. This year, there are 17 resolution centres nationwide, 17 of them.”
Mr Fenyi acknowledged that some centres in Accra and the Ashanti Region had recorded overwhelming numbers of parents and students seeking assistance. Discover moreLocal Event ListingsDownload GPS AppsBusiness News Coverage
However, he cautioned against treating the situation in those two regions as a reflection of the entire country.
“Accra is not Ghana.”
He said 15 of the 17 resolution centres were operating smoothly, arguing that the pressure at the two centres should not be interpreted as evidence of a national placement crisis.
“So let me assuage the fears of stakeholders who might be following these placement issues critically. That if you have 17 places that are addressing issues, and 15 of them are running efficiently, you cannot say that the resolution centres or the placement itself has issues.”
