The Eastern Regional Minister, Hon. Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, has directed the Regional Free SHS Secretariat to immediately provide chairs for parents crowded at the office ,and, introduce innovative measures to ease crowd at the office.
The Minister gave the directive on Tuesday after visiting the Secretariat, where she observed long queues and chaotic scenes as parents and guardians jostled for entry to seek redress.
According to her, while government is committed to ensuring every child has access to Senior High School education under the Free SHS policy, the process of addressing placement concerns must be more orderly and humane.
The Minister assured that government, through the Secretariat, will work to resolve genuine cases, while urging parents to remain calm and patient as the process continues.
Some parents who spoke during the visit expressed frustration, explaining that their wards had been placed as day students in faraway schools, or in schools too distant from their homes, and were therefore seeking reposting.
Out of 603,328 students who sat for this year’s BECE, 590,309 qualified for placement. While 483,800 students were successfully assigned to schools, 107,509 candidates were not matched with their initial school choices due to oversubscription in top-tier Category A schools.
To assist these students, the Ministry has activated a self-placement portal allowing candidates to select from schools with available vacancies.
This year, the Free SHS Programme has expanded to include 70 private SHSs under a pilot initiative, adding more options and easing pressure on public schools.
In total, the placement exercise covers 724 public SHSs/SHTSs, 233 TVIs, and the 70 private schools under the pilot.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
