Out of the harmonised list, parents and guardians could fetch the school-specific items relevant for their children and wards.

The Public Relations Officer of  GES, Daniel Fenyi, told Graphic Online's Emmanuel Bonney that the prospectus would not be significantly different from the past one.

The harmonised prospectus, Mr Fenyi indicated, was to guide parents and guardians.

“We are not expecting to depart completely from the existing harmonised prospectus, what students and parents are already used to,” he emphasised.

He said the past prospectus contained generic items that students would need, such as trunk and chop box.

The discussions on the prospectus, he said, was being done with the heads of schools , other stakeholders, including teachers and parents.

“We always want our policies and programmes to be consultative enough so that by the time it comes out, it would have reflected the aspirations of all the stakeholders and parties involved,” he said. 

Reporting date

The prospectus for SHSs generates anxiety, particularly after the release of the computerised school placements.

First-year second cycle school students are scheduled to report to school from October 18, 2025 for the 2025-2026 academic year for both single track and transitional (double track) schools.

This follows their placement into senior high schools and technical institutions by the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

Parents

Nhyira, a commercial vehicle driver at Ngleshie Amanfro, expressed joy at his twin daughters’ admission into Achimota School.

He said he was happy, but that the issue now was how to raise money to buy their items for boarding school.

As he awaited the prospectus, he said he had started buying general items such as plastic chop box, bed sheet, blanket, mattresses, pillow, pomade, toiletries, plastic bucket, Mathematical sets, blanket, sleeping cloth and calculator.

“You can imagine, I have to buy two each of these,” Mr Nhyira said.

A resident of Tabora in Accra, Rebecca Afriyie, also a parent of twins who had been placed in Pope John’s SHS and Minor Seminary in Koforidua and the St Mary’s SHS at Korle Gonno in Accra, indicated that she was happy her children got their first choice schools.

She said at the moment she was waiting for the GES to come out with the prospectus in order to know the exact items to buy.

In the meantime, she said she had purchased some personal effects for her children, awaiting the GES to release the list of the other items on the prospectus.

“I don’t want to buy any other thing that would be rejected, so we are waiting for the GES,” she said.

Another parent, Auntie Cece, who resides at Red Top (Dunkonaa) on the Mallam-Kasoa Road in Accra, said she started buying items for her daughter in bits the moment she knew that the girl was going to Aburi Girls SHS as a boarding student.

“I started preparing just after the BECE ended,” she said.

Guided by a niece who just completed SHS, she said she had been able to buy her school bag, bedsheet, sleeping cloth, calculator and petty items such as comb, pomade, bathing and washing soaps.

Janet Yeboah, a secondhand clothes dealer, also expressed excitement about her son’s admission to Accra Academy, saying it had eased the pressure on her.

She said she was ready to send her son to school.

All the generic items, she said, had been bought except for the prescribed ones.

Other experiences

Biiya Mukusah Ali reports that hundreds of parents in Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital, are working tirelessly to meet the October 18 opening date for their children to enter SHS.

In that regard, the Sunyani Everyday Market, particularly bookshops and provision stores, is busy and crowded.

Parents who spoke to the Daily Graphic said they were making significant sacrifices to ensure their children were ready to take the next step in their educational journey.

The commonest items purchased by parents at the market are metal and wooden trunks, mattresses, books, buckets, sandals and brooms.

Some parents are in the market with their children holding their usual white shopping lists or prospectus, moving from shop to shop.

A parent, Atta Yeboah, who was carefully examining a metal trunk at the market, told the Daily Graphic that he was almost done with purchasing all the items on the shopping list.

He said his son, Samuel Yeboah, had been admitted to Nalerigu SHS in the North East Region.

"I have managed to buy his chop box, mattress, provisions, new shoes, bedsheets and books," he said.

Mr Yaboah said he was yet to sum up the amount spent so far, "but I think I have spent close to GH¢3,000".

He expressed worry about traders refusals to reduce prices of items in the market despite the cedi’s appreciation.

A single mother, Monica Dufie, told the Daily Graphic that although the government’s Free SHS policy had reduced parents’ burden, she was still struggling to provide all the items on the shopping list.

Ms Dufie, who is a farmer at Benu Nkwanta, near Sunyani, said she sold three of her goats, two bags of maize and other farm produce to fund her daughter’s boarding school bills at the Sunyani SHS.

"My daughter has really made me proud and I cannot afford to disappoint her.

That's why I'm making every effort to sponsor her education," she said.

School placement

On September 17, 2025, 483,800 candidates who sat the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) were successfully placed into SHSs, senior high technical schools (SHTS) and technical and vocational institutions (TVIs).

The number represented 82 per cent of the 590,309 candidates who qualify for placement out of the 603,328 students who took the examination this year.