The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is calling on the government to urgently provide concrete educational opportunities for two groups of students it says are currently stranded following the 2026 BECE and WASSCE results.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party said 54,985 BECE candidates and 183,233 WASSCE candidates require immediate intervention.
The NPP said the first group comprises BECE candidates who were initially informed that they had not qualified for placement into Senior High School, before government subsequently announced that 53,887 of them could access self-placement online.
The party, however, argues that allowing affected candidates to access a placement portal does not necessarily guarantee them a place in a classroom.
‘A portal is not a school place’
The NPP criticised the government’s self-placement arrangement, arguing that many of the preferred schools and programmes may no longer have vacancies by the time the affected candidates access the system.
According to the party, families could consequently be left with options involving schools far from their homes, programmes they did not select, and additional transportation or accommodation costs.
“Ghanaian parents and candidates will judge the resolution of the challenge by one thing only: how many of the original 54,985 are sitting in a classroom, not how many were allowed to open a website.”
The party also questioned the government’s handling of available capacity within the education system.
NPP cites 859,828 vacancies
The NPP said government’s own figures indicate that there are 859,828 vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates, arguing that the challenge is not an overall shortage of school places but the concentration of demand on a limited number of schools.
It noted that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools have a combined capacity of 76,417 places.
The party said the government should explore ways of expanding capacity in schools that have available spaces by improving facilities, staffing, laboratories and academic programmes.
It also called for the utilisation of 85 private schools participating in the Free SHS programme to accommodate students who remain without placements.
NPP raises concerns over WASSCE results
The party also expressed concern about the performance of students in this year’s WASSCE, particularly in English Language and Core Mathematics.
According to the NPP, 183,233 young people have completed secondary school without obtaining a credit in Core Mathematics, which it said could limit their access to several degree programmes and other training opportunities.
The party said the government should expand academic intervention and remedial programmes to help affected students improve their results.
Call for TVET and apprenticeship opportunities
The NPP further urged the government to provide alternative pathways for school leavers who may not immediately qualify for university education.
It pointed to existing programmes including Free TVET, the National Apprenticeship Policy and the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project, and called for information on the number of available training opportunities across the country.
The party wants the government to publish the number of TVET, apprenticeship and job-training opportunities available to this year’s school leavers, broken down by region and area of training.
Five demands
The NPP outlined five key measures it wants the government to implement.
It called for all 54,985 affected BECE candidates to be placed in schools and for government to publish the final placement outcome.
The party also wants government to clarify the rules and pass mark applied in this year’s placement process and indicate when those criteria were approved.
It further called for the 85 private Free SHS schools to be utilised and for resources to be provided to schools with available capacity.
The NPP wants academic intervention and remedial programmes to be properly funded to improve student performance.
Finally, it called for the government to publish details of available TVET, apprenticeship and jobs training opportunities for the 183,233 affected WASSCE graduates.
The NPP said both groups require urgent intervention to prevent them from being left without meaningful educational opportunities.
“The 54,985 need school places. The 183,233 need a second chance.”
The statement was signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee.
