The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the government to provide concrete educational and skills-training opportunities for thousands of young Ghanaians affected by the 2026 school placement and WASSCE results.
The party is demanding immediate intervention for the 54,985 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates who, according to the NPP, were initially not assigned Senior High School placements, as well as 183,233 WASSCE candidates who did not obtain a credit in Core Mathematics.
In a statement signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, the party said government must move beyond announcements and ensure that the affected young people have actual places in classrooms, courses or skills-training programmes.
The NPP specifically criticised the government’s September 7, 2026 announcement directing 53,887 affected BECE candidates to return to the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) portal for self-placement.
According to the party, allowing candidates to access the portal does not guarantee them suitable school placements, warning that many of the preferred schools and programmes could be unavailable by the time candidates complete the self-placement process.
“A Portal Is Not A School Place,” the party stated, arguing that the success of the government’s response should ultimately be measured by how many of the affected candidates are actually enrolled in schools.
The NPP said government’s own figures indicate that the country has 859,828 vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates, suggesting that the challenge is not an overall shortage of spaces but the distribution of available places.
The party noted that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools have a combined capacity of 76,417 places.
It urged government to explore ways of improving schools that are being overlooked by candidates through the provision of teachers, laboratories and enhanced programmes.
The NPP also called for the use of 85 private schools participating in the Free Senior High School programme to absorb candidates who remain without placements.
The NPP also expressed concern over the performance of candidates in this year’s WASSCE, particularly in English Language and Core Mathematics.
The party said results in both subjects remain below the levels recorded in 2024, while English Language performance has declined for two consecutive years.
It rejected explanations that attributed last year’s poor performance primarily to stricter examination invigilation, arguing that invigilation remained strict this year while performance improved in some other subjects.
According to the party, factors such as teaching quality, learning time, instructional materials, student attendance and academic support have a greater bearing on examination outcomes.
The NPP said the 183,233 WASSCE candidates who failed to obtain a credit in Core Mathematics also require urgent support to prevent them from being shut out of further education, vocational training and employment opportunities.
The party identified existing programmes, including academic intervention programmes in public senior high schools, remedial opportunities for students preparing to resit examinations, Free TVET, the National Apprenticeship Policy and the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project, as avenues that could be expanded to support the affected graduates.
It argued that the programmes were already available and should be deployed on a scale commensurate with the number of young people requiring assistance.
The party is calling on government to: Place all 54,985 affected BECE candidates in schools and publish the final placement figures.
Clarify the pass mark and criteria used for this year’s placement decisions, including when the rules were approved.
Utilise the 85 private schools participating in Free SHS and improve facilities and staffing in schools with available capacity.
Properly fund academic intervention and remedial programmes to improve student performance.
Publish the number of available TVET, apprenticeship and job-training opportunities by region and trade and match them against the 183,233 affected school leavers.
The NPP said the affected young people needed immediate and practical solutions to protect their educational and career prospects.
“The 54,985 need school places.
The 183,233 need a second chance,” the party said.
It accused the government of reacting to education-sector challenges only after they became public and called for proactive measures to address the situation.
