Former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Charles Aheto-Tsegah, has challenged the classification of the 54,985 candidates who were not placed in public Senior High Schools (SHS) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, arguing that the figure should not be interpreted as a measure of academic failure.
According to him, the Ministry of Education must provide a clearer breakdown of the placement figures to distinguish between candidates who genuinely failed to meet progression requirements and those whose overall academic performance may still make them capable of continuing their education.
‘Look at Overall Performance’
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Monday, September 7, 2026, Dr Aheto-Tsegah called for a review of how candidates’ performance is assessed during the progression and placement process.
“We need to change the way we begin to place our children in terms of looking at their general performance,” he said.
His comments follow the Ministry of Education’s announcement that 54,985 candidates were not placed during the initial Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) exercise.
The Ministry indicated that 35,382 candidates obtained grade nine in either Mathematics or English Language, while 3,372 candidates did not sit the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Dr Aheto-Tsegah, however, argued that these categories should not automatically be treated as one group of candidates who failed to qualify for further education.
“The person might not get a credit, but would have performed so well that his progression can be considered,” he said.
‘One Subject Should Not Define a Candidate’
The former GES Director-General said a candidate’s performance in one subject should not necessarily outweigh their overall academic performance when determining whether they are capable of progressing to the next level.
He argued that the current approach could lump together candidates with significantly different academic circumstances, making it difficult to understand why they were not placed.
Dr Aheto-Tsegah therefore called for the placement data to be disentangled, particularly by identifying candidates who genuinely failed to meet minimum progression requirements and those who may still have the academic ability to continue their education.
Review Placement Criteria
While acknowledging the importance of the CSSPS in managing the national placement process, Dr Aheto-Tsegah said greater attention should be paid to the criteria used to assess candidates and how the resulting figures are communicated to the public.
“It is difficult to go hard on the CSSPS,” he said.
Rather than focusing solely on whether candidates obtained credits in specific subjects, he said the system should give greater consideration to overall academic performance when determining progression.
Renewed Debate Over 2026 SHS Placement
The comments come amid renewed scrutiny of the 2026 SHS and TVET placement process, particularly the number of candidates who were not placed during the initial CSSPS exercise.
The development has also reignited debate over whether the existing placement and progression criteria adequately capture the academic potential of candidates whose performance does not fit neatly into the current qualification categories.
Dr Aheto-Tsegah’s position is that a more detailed assessment of the unplaced candidates would provide a fairer picture of their academic capabilities and help prevent the 54,985 figure from being interpreted simply as a count of students who failed.
