Shift boarding subsidies to day schools to ease placement crisis – Private schools

The Ghana National Council of Private Schools has called on the government to redirect part of the money used to subsidise boarding education into expanding day senior high schools.

GNACOPS says the proposed funding shift would increase secondary-school capacity and reduce the recurring pressure on Ghana’s Computerised School Selection and Placement System.

The intervention follows the 2026 placement exercise, after which the council said 54,985 qualified candidates had not secured schools.

In a statement dated September 9 and signed by its National Executive Director, Obenfo Nana Kwasi Gyetuah, GNACOPS said heavy public subsidies had made boarding schools the preferred choice for many parents.

However, it argued that dormitories, dining halls and other residential facilities had not expanded at the same rate as the number of candidates qualifying for secondary education.

The result, according to the council, was a structural shortage of boarding places that could not be resolved by repeatedly changing the placement system.

The CSSPS was “rationing a scarcity it did not create and cannot resolve through algorithmic adjustment alone”, GNACOPS said.

It proposed that part of the boarding subsidy be invested in constructing and upgrading day schools, giving more pupils access to secondary education closer to home.

The council said day education should be presented to parents and candidates as a strong first choice, rather than an alternative for pupils who failed to secure boarding places.

GNACOPS has also asked the government to activate an existing agreement that brought selected private senior high schools into the Free SHS programme.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu and the council’s executive director in October 2025.

According to GNACOPS, the arrangement has already enabled about 25,000 Basic Education Certificate Examination candidates to be placed in 70 private schools.

Those schools declared more than 44,000 vacancies, with the government paying a subvention of about GH¢994 for each student admitted.

The council said 85 participating private schools were now ready to receive some of the candidates left without placements in 2026 and provide remedial and bridging support where required.

It argued that the government did not need to negotiate a new arrangement but could expand the existing agreement to make use of available spaces in private schools.

The proposal comes amid complaints from parents seeking changes or solutions following the latest school-placement exercise.

Long queues have formed at the National Placement Resolution Centre at GNAT Hall in Accra, where families have sought help with their children’s placements.

The Ministry of Education has deployed additional staff to centres experiencing heavy demand, including those in Accra and Kumasi.

In Kumasi, the Free SHS Secretariat has denied allegations that bribes were being demanded at the resolution centre at the Kumasi Technical Institute.

The ministry also warned on 9 September that forged CSSPS placement slips were circulating on social media. It said the matter had been referred to the Cyber Security Authority for investigation.

GNACOPS said it was ready to meet the Education Minister to discuss how public investment in boarding and day secondary education could be rebalanced.

The Ministry of Education had not publicly responded to the council’s proposal at the time of the source report.

The council’s proposals remain recommendations and no decision to reduce boarding subsidies or redirect the funds has been announced.