MoE to refuse some BECE pupils public SHS/SHTS/TVET placement

Students switching from private Junior High Schools to public Junior High Schools to write the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will not be considered public school students for the computer school placement.

The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) in a social media post sighted by Thistem.com said such private Junior High School students had breached a regulation of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

“Students from private Junior High Schools to public ones for the BECE will not be considered as public school students for SHS placement due to a breach of West African Examinations Council regulation,” the Private Schools Council said.

The Ministry of Education (MoE), in the aftermath of a decisive meeting with the leadership of the Private Schools Council, held on November 13, 2023, agreed on two conditions regarding the 2023 computer school placement.

Agreement

1. Students from private Junior High Schools to public ones for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will not be considered as public school students for SHS placement due to a breach of West African Examinations Council regulation.

2. Low-cost private schools now qualify for the 30 per cent policy. This means private school students who sit for the BECE will get a share in the 30% placement into ‘Category A’ schools recently reserved for only public school students.

The decision comes after the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) expressed worry over the trend of private school students moving to write BECE at public schools, a situation it said is collapsing some private schools.

The Director of GNACOPS, Enoch Gyetuah in an interview monitored by Thisterm.com said some parents register their wards to sit BECE in the government schools because of the 30% placement slot allotted for the public school students.

“Some public Junior High School (JHS) heads even canvass [for private school kids]. They move from school to school for the students we have given a good [academic] foundation and register them in their schools

If you look at the trend, you will realize that we have an enrolment of about 40% at Class 6, but as they transit to JHS, the number reduces drastically because parents have realized that the government has this allocation of 30% to the public schools

“There’s even discrimination in the aspect of placement. The government has reserved 30% allocation to students in the public schools which means that if we write the same exam, and I am coming from a public school, I will be placed before someone from a private school irrespective of the grades we have,” he said.