An increasing number of anxious parents and candidates are spending long hours and, in some cases, entire nights at the Greater Accra Placement Resolution Centre as challenges with the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) enter a third day.
The GNAT Hall in Accra has become a major point of convergence for parents seeking to resolve issues affecting their children’s senior high school placements, with large crowds gathering from the early hours of the morning.
For some parents, the search for a solution has extended beyond the normal working day, forcing them to sleep at the facility’s car park and return to the queues at dawn in the hope of securing assistance.
One parent said he spent the night at the GNAT Hall with his son after failing to resolve the boy’s placement issue despite arriving at the centre early and waiting for several hours.
The parent said his son had initially been placed at Apam Day Senior High School in the Central Region as a day student. However, after reporting to the school, they were directed to the placement resolution centre in Accra to address the issue.
He said he left home at about 3 a.m. and arrived at the centre around 4 a.m., only to meet a large crowd of other parents and candidates waiting for assistance.
According to him, officials began attending to parents at about 8 a.m. and instructed those seeking changes from day to boarding status to provide written reasons for their requests on the appropriate forms.
After submitting the required information, he said the affected parents were asked to wait while officials worked on their cases.
However, after spending the greater part of the day at the centre without their concerns being resolved, the parents were reportedly asked to return the following day.
With his son’s placement still unresolved, the parent said he decided to remain at the facility rather than return home and repeat the journey the next morning.
“I left home as early as 3 a.m. and got here at 4 a.m. The officials started work around 8 a.m. We were asked to write our reasons for changing from day to boarding. After collecting the forms, they told us to wait,” he said.
He added that he returned early and continued pleading with officials to attend to his case.
The situation reflects the growing pressure at the placement centre, where parents are seeking assistance for a range of problems, including unsuccessful placements, school selection difficulties and requests to change their children’s residential status from day to boarding or boarding to day.
The demand for day-to-boarding changes appears to be one of the major sources of congestion, as several parents seek adjustments to placements that do not meet their expectations or circumstances.
For the affected families, however, the delays are creating additional financial and emotional pressure, particularly for those travelling from outside Accra or having to spend hours at the centre with their children.
Parents demand more centres
The persistent congestion has triggered calls from affected parents for the authorities to establish additional placement resolution centres across the Greater Accra Region.
They believe distributing the workload among more centres would reduce the pressure on the GNAT Hall facility and shorten the time parents have to spend waiting for assistance.
The parents are also calling for improved communication from the authorities and the deployment of additional personnel to process the large number of placement-related complaints.
As the resolution exercise continues, parents remain hopeful that their children’s cases will be addressed promptly to enable them complete the admission process and begin the academic year without further disruption.
