93.4 per cent placed, 61.84 per cent enrolled in all SHS and TVET

A total of 518,717 students out of the 555,353 who qualified for placement have successfully been placed into various Senior High and Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes as of last Friday.

The number of placed students represents 93.4 per cent of those who qualified for placement. Of the number who qualified, 320,773 have enrolled on various SHS and TVET schools placed representing 61.84 per cent of the schools they were placed in.

The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who announced this at a press briefing in Accra, lauded the various stakeholders and urged them to continue working hard to ensure that all qualified candidates were enrolled.

On TVET specific, as of Friday evening, 51,267 students had been placed in only TVET schools of which 25,941 had also enrolled.

The Education Minister lamented why parents and students refused to follow laid down processes that had been communicated to all stakeholders before the commencement of the placement exercise.

He cited for instance that parents whose children were not placed in any school were asked to do self-placement, but these parents rather stormed the resolution centres meant for those who have been placed but had challenges with boarding or day status due to their location, change of courses among others, leading to a seaming congestion.

“I am surprised some parents waited till schools reopened before they started rushing to do either self-placement or rushing to the resolution centres across the country which were virtually empty during the first week of the placement exercise.” Dr Adutwum said.

He stated that reports received from all regions across the country indicated that the first week of their operations at the resolution centres saw only a few people.

The Coordinator of the Free SHS Secretariat, Mr William Darkwah, on his part, said the secretariat was now poised to embark on an enrolment drive to ensure that all placed students were enrolled.

He called on various stakeholders in communities to complement the Government’s effort by assisting local brilliant but needy students to acquire basic items to enrol.

Mr Darkwah urged Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies to take a keen interest in the education of people in their areas.