The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has called on the government to redirect part of the subsidies for boarding schools to the expansion of day secondary education, saying the move would help address the recurring Senior High School (SHS) placement crisis.
The call follows an earlier appeal by the council for the government to use an existing agreement with private schools to accommodate thousands of candidates who were left without placements after the 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) exercise.
Earlier this month, GNACOPS urged the government to activate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of Education in October 2025, under which private senior high schools were brought into the Free SHS programme.
The council said the arrangement could be used to accommodate 54,985 candidates who were not placed during the 2026 CSSPS exercise.
It said 85 participating private schools were ready to admit the affected candidates and provide remedial and bridging support.
GNACOPS said the arrangement did not require a new negotiation, but rather for the government to activate and make greater use of the existing MoU.
The October 2025 MoU, signed by the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, and GNACOPS Executive Director, had already resulted in about 25,000 BECE candidates being placed in 70 participating private schools.
The schools had declared more than 44,000 vacancies, while the government paid a subvention of about GH¢994 per student.
In its latest statement issued on September 9, 2026, and signed by its National Executive Director, Obenfo Nana Kwasi Gyetuah, GNACOPS said the heavy subsidisation of boarding education had made boarding the preferred option for many parents across the country.
The council said boarding facilities, including dormitories, dining halls and residential infrastructure, had not expanded at the same pace as the number of candidates qualifying for secondary education each year.
It said the situation left the CSSPS “rationing a scarcity it did not create and cannot resolve through algorithmic adjustment alone.”
GNACOPS proposed that part of the funds used to subsidise boarding education be redirected towards the construction and upgrading of day schools.
It said the move would give parents greater access to day education and reduce the pressure on boarding places.
The council said day education should be presented as a first choice rather than an option for students who failed to secure boarding places.
The proposal comes amid difficulties with this year’s placement exercise, with parents forming long queues at the National Placement Resolution Centre at GNAT Hall in Accra to seek assistance with their children’s placements.
The Ministry of Education has deployed additional staff to placement centres experiencing heavy demand, including those in Accra and Kumasi.
In Kumasi, the Free SHS Secretariat denied allegations of bribery at its resolution centre at the Kumasi Technical Institute.
The Ministry also warned on September 9 against forged CSSPS placement slips circulating on social media and referred the matter to the Cyber Security Authority for investigation.
As of press time, the Ministry of Education had not publicly responded to the GNACOPS proposal on boarding subsidies.
Mr Gyetuah said the council was ready to engage the Minister of Education at the earliest opportunity on how investment in boarding and day secondary education could be rebalanced.
