Boarding Policy At Root Of School Placement Crisis – GNACOPS

The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has called for a fundamental shift in Ghana’s boarding policy, saying it lies at the root of the recurring Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) crisis.

In a press statement dated 9th September, 2026, and titled “Ghana’s School Placement Crisis: A Call To Confront The Boarding Policy At Its Root”, the Council said every placement season Ghana relives the same crisis, with cut-off points debated, Category A schools fought over, and the CSSPS blamed for a shortfall it did not create.

“This year, as in every year before it, the conversation risks stopping at the surface — when the real problem lies deeper, in policy itself,” the statement said.

Explaining what it described as the structural problem, GNACOPS said the government’s continued heavy subsidisation of boarding education has made boarding places the default expectation for parents and candidates nationwide, yet boarding capacity is fixed.

According to the Council, dormitories, dining halls and residential infrastructure cannot expand as quickly as the number of qualifying candidates grows each year, making the result predictable: demand for a limited resource rises annually, competition intensifies, and the placement crisis recurs with each new cohort.

“CSSPS is left to ration scarcity it did not create and cannot resolve through algorithmic adjustment alone,” it noted.

On the case for policy reform, GNACOPS said a durable solution requires addressing the underlying policy rather than repeatedly redistributing an insufficient supply of boarding places.

The Council is proposing that government consider redirecting a significant share of boarding subsidies toward the expansion of quality day secondary education — building and upgrading day schools within reach of communities, resourcing them to compete on academic outcomes, and repositioning day education as a first choice rather than a fallback option.

GNACOPS stressed the urgency for reform, warning that each academic year that passes without structural reform represents another cohort of candidates and families caught in the same avoidable cycle.

“CSSPS can continue to manage the pressure of placement season, but only a deliberate shift in boarding policy will resolve the pressure at its source,” the statement said.

The Council has therefore called on the Ministry of Education and all relevant stakeholders to open a national conversation on rebalancing investment between boarding and day secondary education, so that Ghana can move from managing the crisis annually to resolving it permanently.

It reiterated its readiness to engage the Minister of Education and all relevant stakeholders on the matter at the earliest opportunity.

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