Out of the lot, the centre, located at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Hall, has so far addressed about 70 per cent of the challenges.

The Deputy Coordinator of the Free SHS Secretariat, Nana Afrah Sika Mensah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, urged parents and their children to be patient since their issues would be addressed.

Prominent among the issues parents came up with were non-placement of their children and change of school.

Appeal

“Parents and their children should be patient because we are dealing with systems.

They should be patient because we are here for them.

Indeed, each one of them would go to school; it is just about the timing and everything,” she assured.

She said there would not be serious academic work in the first and second weeks in school and so those who were yet to report would not lose much. 

Ms Mensah said it took 24 hours for those with issues to have them addressed, adding that two teams were handling those issues.

One team, she said, was at the resolution centre, with the other at the placement centre.

“While a team is here (resolution centre), we have another team at the placement centre.

After picking the issues at the resolution centre, we take them to those at the placement centre to work on,” she explained.

She gave a firm assurance that all issues that were brought to the centre would be worked on accordingly.

Ms Mensah said the ongoing exercise was for free so nobody should pay money to anybody.

“They are not supposed to pay money to anybody.

So if we get hold of anybody who is taking money from anybody, the person would be held responsible.

We are not supposed to pay money to anybody because it is free,” she stressed.

The Deputy Coordinator said members of the public could report to the nearest police station if they came across any such issue.

She said the centre was being operated for 30 days during which period people could still visit there for assistance.

Process

“We are in the admission process and once we have not closed that there is no way any head can deny you access to school.

“Once we have not closed the system, there is no way any head can deny you access to the schools.

 They would open the system up for you for registration and prospectus so even next year you can start.

So, no head would deny anybody from attending their school,” she said.

She commended parents for their cooperation in resolving their issues, adding that they had been cooperative and paid attention to every information they were given.

Parents and their children began visiting the Senior High School Placement National Resolution Centre last Monday to seek immediate help in connection with this year’s SHS placement exercise.

Their concerns included self-placement, change of school, change of status from day to boarding and vice-versa, and change of programme.

Officers

At the crowded centre, officers from the Free Senior High School (SHS) Secretariat are deployed to attend to parents and guardians and address their issues amicably.

There is also a heavy police presence to ensure peace and order.

As part of their daily schedule, personnel from the Free SHS Secretariat assist parents and their children on what to do to get their issues resolved.

Background

Out of 598,839 results received from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), 585,797 candidates qualified to be placed the Ghana Education Service (GES) announced on November 28, this year.

It said 477,772 (81.56%) were automatically placed in one of their choices.

This is a significant improvement compared to last year's, with over 100,000 more students being placed.

However, 108,025 (18.44%) qualified candidates could not be matched with any of their choices, the GES said.