The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has called on the government to activate its existing partnership with private Senior High Schools to provide an alternative pathway for the 54,985 candidates who did not qualify for the 2026/2027 SHS placement exercise.
GNACOPS said the affected candidates should not be left without an opportunity to continue their education, arguing that 85 private Senior High Schools already operating under the Free SHS policy have the capacity to absorb them.
In a statement on Thursday, September 3, 2026, the Council said the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between government and GNACOPS provides an immediate framework for addressing the situation without the need for a new agreement.
GNACOPS said its member schools have already demonstrated the infrastructure and academic capacity required to support students under the Free SHS arrangement.
“What is needed now is not a new agreement, but the political will to direct these candidates to the vacancies that already exist within the partnership,” the Council said.
The Council urged the Ministry of Education to work with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to mobilise the available spaces and ensure that placement constraints do not permanently interrupt the affected students’ education.
The CSSPS Secretariat Coordinator, Sherif Sulemana, disclosed on September 3 that about 565,000 of the nearly 620,000 candidates who sat the 2026 BECE had qualified for placement.
He explained that candidates who fail either English Language or Mathematics do not qualify for placement, regardless of their overall performance.
The Ministry of Education has scheduled the release of the 2026/2027 placement results for Friday, September 4, after postponing the initial August 31 release date to allow additional time for the submission and uploading of candidates’ data.
The official CSSPS platform also provides a self-placement option for candidates who are not automatically assigned a school, allowing eligible candidates to select from schools with available vacancies.
GNACOPS, however, is proposing that government go further by using vacancies in participating private schools under the existing Free SHS partnership.
The Council said it is ready to meet the Minister of Education and other relevant stakeholders to finalise arrangements for absorbing the affected candidates.
“Because the MoU and the 85 participating schools are already in place, GNACOPS stands ready to mobilize its member schools immediately upon government’s directive, in coordination with the Ghana Education Service and CSSPS, to ensure no candidate is left behind due to placement constraints in the public system.”
