The motions, submitted last week and yet to be considered and approved by the Speaker, will allow Parliament to examine the yearly frustrations parents endure when seeking admissions for their children.

The motion will help the Legislature unravel why some schools are considered “good schools” and others are viewed as “bad schools”.

It will also allow the committee to probe why parents and guardians join frustrating, long queues at various second-cycle schools’ campuses as a result of the Computerised Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

The GES categorises SHS into three groups: Category A, B and C. Category A includes highly competitive and sought-after schools, such as the Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High (PRESEC), Prempeh College, Accra Academy, Mfantsipim School, Holy Child and Wesley Girls' High School, while Category B comprises very good schools with a wide range of programmes such as the West Africa Senior High and the Labone Senior High.

Category C schools are mainly public secondary schools that are often day or boarding institutions, many of which are technical or commercial high schools.

Chaos

Speaking at the opening of a two-day Parliament leadership training workshop in Accra last Saturday, Mr Ayariga said, “You notice that during the process of computerised placement, there was chaos all over the country”.

“Everybody was putting pressure on members of Parliament because they want their children to go to specific schools and those schools are very few,” he said.

The Leader of Government Business in Parliament recalled that when the current meeting commenced, he raised the issue, expressing his frustration that the computerised placement system was subjecting parents and guardians to.

He questioned why some schools were considered good while others were considered bad.

The Bawku Central MP also said Ghana expected committees to investigate and then make recommendations for reform.

“Because that is what the Constitution says that committees may look into those matters relating to the working of agencies and make proposals for legislative or even policy reform,” he said. 

Unfair system

Responding to the Majority Leader’s motion, the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, said he recalled that when he was young, tutors from all over the country came to teach at his school in the north, but today most teachers would refuse postings to remote areas.

This situation, he said, had led to most Category A schools having the most experienced teachers who were also examiners.

Mr Bagbin said it was an issue that Parliament had to take up seriously.