2024 BECE graduates should choose schools after the results are released. Do you agree? Put in another way, Should SHS selection be done after the release of 2024 BECE results?
Before 2016, WAEC administered the BECE, and candidates chose their schools and programs. After the examination in 2017, candidates began selecting their schools.
The hope was that, once a candidate took the exam, he or she would be able to tell or project his or her likely performance and, based on that, make choices with the guidance of teachers and parents.
However, the failure of over 100,000 candidates to secure placement in the schools of their choice indicates that the post-examination school and program selection, implemented after 2016, has not proven effective in addressing the pre-existing issues.
Should SHS selection be done after the release of 2024 BECE results?
Stakeholders now propose moving the school selection to the post-WAEC released result era in order to alleviate the stress that comes with students choosing schools after the exam, which leads to hundreds of thousands using the self-placement module.
This new proposal implies that students will select their schools after the release of their results. While this is commendable, it also presents its own challenges and necessitates extensive consultation and necessary changes.
For instance, the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, and the Free SHS Secretariat, as well as other CSOs and organizations, will need to release the cut-off aggregates and cut-off raw scores for each program and each school from categories A, B, and C, and inform parents, students, and other stakeholders.
However, since 2017, the government has indicated that it wants to increase accessibility and ensure as many as possible candidates who write the BECE gain admission to schools, irrespective of the presumed quality. This led to the removal of cutoff points. This made it possible for students with an aggregate score of 40 to 48 to gain admission into both top and low-grade secondary schools from Category A to C.
Education think tanks like Kofi Asare’s Education Watch have consistently urged the government to consider releasing cut-off aggregates and cut-off raw scores for each program, as well as moving the school selection process to the post-result release era. However, the current government has not given this any consideration.
READ: 2024 BECE Results and School Placements out by September 27
Until these commendable ideas, which aim to address the issues related to school selection and placement, are taken into consideration, Ghana will continue to face the persistent problems associated with school placements.
As a student, parent, or general stakeholder in education in Ghana, what is your take on this?
READ: 2024 School Selection Update: Why 2024 BECE Graduates Must Choose TVET Schools
Should we select schools after WAEC releases the candidate’s grades, allowing students to choose their schools based on their scores? Should we continue with the current, problematic practices?
Should SHS selection be done after the release of the 2024 BECE results?
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