 placements.){kind=link}
Hashmin Mohammed, the media Relations Officer for the Ministry of Education, has said that the ministry found no evidence to support claims of bribery in the Senior High School (SHS) placements.
One Gertrude Adzo Borklo, in a post on social media, claimed that admission into Aburi Girls’ could be bought with GH¢15,000.
In a statement signed by the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak, noted the severity of such an allegation.
Part of the statement read, “This feeds into a conspiratorial narrative designed to create the false impression that the BECE Computerised School Placement System is for sale. The Ministry views this allegation with the utmost seriousness and has initiated an immediate investigation. We are committed to ensuring that the integrity of the school placement process remains intact.”
According to Apaak, efforts to contact the author of the post have so far been unsuccessful, as the account was deactivated shortly after publication.
The statement revealed the ministry is working with the National Security Secretariat, the Cyber Security Authority, and other relevant agencies to identify and track down persons.
The statement added, “We wish to state categorically that the BECE Computerised School Placement System is entirely free of charge. At no point is payment required to access this service.
The statement concluded, “The integrity and transparency of Ghana’s school placement system must be safeguarded. We urge the public to help expose unscrupulous people who seek to benefit unduly from this important national exercise.”
Reacting to the claims on Channel One TV on Saturday, September 27, 2024, Mr Mohammed said investigations conducted by the ministry, with the national security agencies, did not establish any case of bribery.
Hashmin Mohammed revealed, “I think prior to the placement itself, we ran a media campaign to educate the public that the BECE placement is free of charge. You need not pay any money to any person, whether a Ministry of Education official or a third party, and so far, issues that have emerged with regard to bribery, we have investigated all of them and we have realised that there is no evidence”.
“I think some people are trying very hard to formulate a conspiratorial narrative to make it look like the BECE placement system is for sale,” he added.
Hashmin Mohammed added, “We are still calling on the general public, if you have any evidence that you have paid money to any official at the Ministry of Education or a third party, bring it forward”.
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.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, September 27, 2025. Mr Aheto-Tsegah stated, “The protocol has actually been expanding, and that is what we have to deal with. If we want to be very fair and equitable, we need to kill that small elephant in the room called protocol”.
“We didn’t even know how to manage protocol in the system, even though we knew that it was an ever-present issue in that process, so we could manage it, and we have lived with that system right from the beginning,” he stated.
The former GES boss noted that due to the foundational flaw, the CSSPS have been dead on arrival.