The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Abas Apaak, has announced that the ministry has launched a probe into the GH¢30,000 SHS placement bribery allegations.
Joseph Azumah, a member of Parliament for Akrofuom, has raised the allegation that parents are being charged GH¢30,000 for placement into Ghana’s Senior High School (SHS).
According to him, a parent came to him for help and later returned with evidence showing the level of corruption in Ghana’s SHS placement.
He revealed the parent came back with evidence showing payment of GH¢30,000 to secure the placement.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM, Joseph Azumah cried out, “Someone who knew I was an MP came to me at Community 16, where I live and asked me to help their child gain admission to a certain school.
“Within a week, the person came back with evidence showing that they had paid GH¢30,000 to secure the placement. Why are we doing this to ourselves?”
The MP said he was shocked by the revelation and questioned why some parents were willing to pay exorbitantly. “I asked the person, so if your child goes to this school, will they automatically become an MP or a president? Why sacrifice so much for that?”
“This is the kind of country we live in. It shows how deep the problem has become,” he added.
Joseph Azumah further called for a tighter supervision of the SHS placement process to curb corruption, proposing that District Chief Executives (DCEs), Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs), and Metropolitan Chief Executives be allowed to delegate representatives to serve on monitoring committees to ensure transparency.
“I’m not saying they should interfere, but for supervision and monitoring, DCEs, MCEs and KMA bosses should be allowed to delegate representatives on the placement board,” he proposed.
“Some of the things we claim are small are the same things that destroy governments,” he cautioned.
In a statement signed by the Deputy Minister of Education on Tuesday, October 22, 2025 described the allegations as serious and concerning.
Parts of the statement read, “The Ministry of Education views these allegations and similar ones recently raised by the Secretary of the Construction and Building Workers’ Union of the Ghana Trade Union Congress (TUC), Richard Asamoah Mensah, with the utmost seriousness and concern”.
“The Ministry wishes to assure the public that it is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and fairness in the school placement process,” it said.
Meanwhile, Charles Aheto-Tsegah, a former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has said the persistent national crisis surrounding the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) is due to a small elephant called protocol.
According to Charles Aheto-Tsegah, protocols have deeply undermined the supposedly merit-based electronic placement system.
The former GES boss emphasised that the system’s architects failed to account for deeply fixed patronage within the education system.
Charles Aheto-Tsegah noted that the protocols have increased in scope and impact.
He cited that previous years’ SHS data placement shows discrepancies between the number of available slots and the final admitted students.
See the statement below:
