The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has warned heads of Senior High Schools (SHSs), Senior High Technical Schools (SHTSs) and Technical and Vocational Institutes (TVIs) against admitting students outside the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
Mr Iddrisu said school heads who admit students manually or bypass the approved placement process will face sanctions following enrolment validation.
The directive was communicated in a circular issued on September 7, 2026, through the Directors-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana TVET Service.
According to the Minister, the directive is intended to protect the integrity of the placement system while ensuring accurate enrolment figures and equitable access to second-cycle education.
The Ministry said it had identified discrepancies in previous placement cycles between the number of students officially placed through the CSSPS and the number eventually enrolled in schools.
The problem was particularly evident in the 2025 cycle, with the Ministry attributing some of the discrepancies to school heads allegedly admitting students outside the approved system after declaring fewer vacancies than were actually available.
Mr Iddrisu said such practices affected the reliability of enrolment data, disrupted planning and distorted budget projections, potentially delaying the release of funds to schools.
He said the directive also supports the objectives of the World Bank-funded Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance and Results for Jobs Project (STARR-J), which seeks to improve access to secondary education and strengthen teaching and learning infrastructure.
Under the 2026 placement cycle, the CSSPS has been upgraded to incorporate an enrolment component, creating an end-to-end system covering both student placement and enrolment.
The Ministry stressed that schools will not be allowed to increase their declared vacancies after the figures have been validated and confirmed.
“Accordingly, once vacancies are declared, validated, and confirmed on the system, there shall be no further expansion of vacancies. The exact number of students placed through the CSSPS shall constitute the approved enrolment for each school. No school head is permitted to admit any student outside the CSSPS,” the directive stated.
It further warned that school heads found to have breached the directive would face disciplinary action.
“Any head of school found to have admitted students outside the CSSPS, upon confirmation through enrolment data validation, shall be sanctioned in accordance with the applicable regulations and the Code of Ethics.”
The warning comes days after the Ministry released the 2026 SHS placement results on Friday, September 4.
A total of 620,141 candidates who sat the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) between May 4 and May 11 were considered for placement.
For this year’s selection process, candidates were allowed to access their BECE results before choosing their preferred schools.
They were also required to select two Category ‘A’ schools, comprising one boarding and one day school within their district, as part of the placement arrangements.
