The year 2018 has been a very turbulent year with regards to the educational system.
From the transformation of all halls; male or female, into mixed halls (yes that was a very huge step) all the way to the new double track system curriculum for senior high schools, it goes without saying that the educational system in Ghana has been undergoing a serious metamorphosis.
With all the backlash and commentary concerning some of these decisions, the establishment of the double track system seems to take the cake when it comes to this.
Questions buzzing about the hows and whys pertaining to this move have been echoed since the move was made known to the public sometime in July.
However the government has put its foot down and is going through with this seeing as it seems to be the only way for the over 180,000 students to be educated (currently all the senior high schools can only accommodate 90,000 students).
Since its establishment some years ago, the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) has been the go to method for the placement of students into schools.
The system as its name suggests runs all registered students and their schools of choice with their grades and the entry requirements of said selected schools.
Ideally, a student will be given the opportunity to go to their school of choice provided their grades match up with the school’s requirements.
This year, with the total number of students and the concurrent changes in the curriculum, the release of the results took much longer than usual.
The good news is that as of the 5th of September 2018, the results are out and students can go ahead and discover the fruits of their hard work.
How do I find my results and make sense of it you might ask?
Well the CSSPS has made the results available on quite a number of platforms which we are going to delve into.
- The first of these platforms is the online portal. Using a computer or mobile device (they recommend the Google Chrome app for this) connected to the internet, a prospective student can check their placement and even go as far as print it out (highly advised).
In order to do this kindly proceed to the CSSPS’s website http://www.cssps.gov.gh/ and follow the directives.
There are a few things to note with this method since it may not be foolproof.
First is the fact that patience is key. There are instances where you may not be successful and this may simply be because you did not input the information required properly.
So just retry and make sure you put in all the requisite details properly and you will receive your placement.
Second thing to note is that with the number of prospective students actively checking their results, there may be a lot of traffic on the portal thus it may take a little longer to receive results.
Finally there does exist the possibility that results may have been withheld thus there will be no placement.
- The next method of checking (but not being able to print) ones placement is by texting ones index number to the shortcode 1060 (all networks).
You should note that the index number must be written without any spacing and should there be no results from that action.
It is advised to add the year of completion to the index number (without any spacing) and retrying.
There were rumors about a certain USSD platform that could be accessed using the shortcode *800*25# but per our tests access was always denied.
Mobile money and USSD are a very simple, easily understood and convenient means of commerce in Ghana today.
Checking the CSSPS website for options on purchasing the placement checker from home, we were unable to find instructions on how to do so but there were instructions and a simple portal on how to purchase in bulk (odd).
Placing calls to their hotlines also gave us no results because it would seem that their lines are very busy.
As to the involvement of all or any of the telecommunication networks, we can’t really tell, all we can say is that the bulk purchase could be made using all networks via mobile money.
What if you did everything and failed to be placed in any of the schools you selected?
Well the CSSPS has a solution for you. Public Relations Officer of the GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, stated that such students would be allowed to select their own schools from a given pool.
The self-placement portal is available on the CSSPS website into which they will fill a form and all other requisite information into the portal and then go on to select a school.
The Double Placement System
Moving away from the CSSPS we have the double placement system which to be honest is causing quite a lot of anxiety for parents and students alike.
With the late reveal of the placements, some parents are fretting because the enrollment dates are the 11th of September for the first batch and 8th November for the second batch.
You may be wondering how the students are to be differentiated and placed into batches but that has been simply dealt with.
Students placed in the Green batch will be first to enroll with those in the Gold batch being second. This information will be made available on the placement forms.
The double placement system has teachers, parents and students alike on edge. It has gone as far as the General Secretary of GNAT David Ofori Acheampong asking for the postponement of the enrollment date to give all parties adequate time to properly prepare.
His argument for this postponement was based on the following;
- Gap between the release of placements and enrollment date for the Green batch is way too close (less than a week).
- The CSSPS is largely an internet based platform and with the nature of internet connectivity in the country it will take a while for all students to obtain their placements.
These are very solid arguments made and should be taken into consideration.
In conclusion, the commencement of any form of change is met with a lot of hurdles, however how these hurdles are cleared and the knowledge obtained from that experience are the most important factors to make any transition effective and permanent.
By:WinstonWotse/techvoiceafrica.com
