GNACOPS Says Vacancies Available to Absorb 54,985 BECE Candidates Who Missed SHS Placement
The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) says its member schools have vacancies to absorb the 54,985 candidates who sat for the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and did not qualify for placement into Senior High School (SHS).
In a press statement dated September 3, 2026, and signed by its National Executive Director and Pre-Tertiary Private Education Representative on the NTC and NaSIA Governing Boards, Obenfo Nana Kwasi Gyetuah, the Council described the situation as a matter of urgent national concern.
“Behind every one of these figures is a child whose academic journey now stands at risk of stalling — and a family whose hopes rest on that child’s continued education. We cannot, as a country, allow nearly 55,000 young Ghanaians to be left without a pathway forward,” the statement said.
The Council disclosed that it has taken note of the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) announcement that 54,985 candidates who sat for the 2026 BECE did not qualify for SHS placement.
GNACOPS said its proposal is to remind the Ministry of Education that the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between government and the Council — under which 85 private Senior High Schools currently run the Free SHS policy — already provides the framework and infrastructure needed to resolve the situation immediately.
According to the Council, these 85 schools have vacancies and the demonstrated capacity to absorb candidates who did not qualify for placement this year. Rather than requiring a new negotiation, it said the situation calls for the government to activate and expand utilisation of the existing MoU without delay.
The Council said its member institutions are ready to admit affected candidates into accredited private SHS programmes across the country, provide structured remedial and bridging support to strengthen foundational gaps ahead of WASSCE preparation, deliver rigorous, quality-assured instruction geared toward strong WASSCE outcomes, and guide successful candidates toward tertiary admission and progression.
GNACOPS stressed that its private schools, already operating under the Free SHS policy through the existing MoU, have consistently demonstrated the capacity, infrastructure and academic expertise to deliver these results, adding that what is needed now is not a new agreement but the political will to direct the candidates to the vacancies that already exist within the partnership.
On the urgency of the matter, the Council stated that every academic year that passes without a resolution represents lost time that cannot be recovered for the students.
It said that because the MoU and the 85 participating schools are already in place, GNACOPS stands ready to mobilise its member schools immediately upon the government’s directive, in coordination with the Ghana Education Service and the CSSPS, to ensure no candidate is left behind due to placement constraints in the public system.
The Council reiterated its readiness to meet with the Minister of Education and relevant stakeholders at the earliest opportunity to finalise the modalities for absorbing the candidates under the existing collaboration.
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