Frustration and anxiety have gripped some centres, particularly the Greater Accra Placement Resolution Centre at GNAT Hall in Accra and that of the Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI) in the Ashanti Region, as the resolution of challenges arising from the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) enters its third day.
Anxious parents and candidates have continued to throng the facility in search of solutions to a range of placement challenges, resulting in long queues and extended waiting periods.
Some frustrated parents are reported to have spent the night at the facility and returned at dawn, determined to have their concerns addressed after failing to secure assistance on previous days.
The challenges brought to the centre include unsuccessful placement, difficulties with school selection, and requests to change students’ residential status from day to boarding and vice versa.
For some parents, the prolonged waiting has added to their anxiety, with some saying they have spent several hours, and in some cases an entire night, at the GNAT Hall car park in the hope of getting their children’s placement issues resolved.
Parent spends night at GNAT Hall
One frustrated parent seeking to resolve his son’s placement challenge said he was forced to spend the night at the GNAT Hall car park with his child after waiting for hours without receiving assistance.
According to the parent, his son was initially 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 GNAT Hall in Accra to seek assistance with the placement.
Determined to have the issue resolved, the parent said he left home at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday and arrived at the placement centre around 4 a.m.
Despite arriving early, he said the large number of parents and candidates at the centre made it difficult for officials to attend to everyone promptly.
He said officials began attending to parents at about 8 a.m. and instructed those seeking to change their wards’ placement from day to boarding to state their reasons in writing on the relevant forms.
He said he duly submitted the required information and, together with other parents, was asked to wait for further assistance.
However, after waiting throughout the day, the parents were eventually asked to return the following day, Wednesday, to continue the process.
With his son’s placement issue still unresolved, the parent said he had no option but to remain at the facility.
“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.”
“I came early today and pleaded with them to attend to us. So I am still waiting,” he said.
The parent said he and his son eventually spent the night in the GNAT Hall car park, highlighting the difficulties being faced by some families seeking assistance with the placement process.
Growing pressure at centre
His experience reflects the growing frustration at the CSSPS resolution centre, where parents have been arriving as early as dawn in an attempt to secure assistance.
The request to change placements from day to boarding has emerged as one of the major concerns confronting the centre, with several parents seeking adjustments to their children’s residential status.
The congestion and prolonged waiting times have also raised concerns about the capacity of the existing resolution centres to handle the volume of cases generated by the placement process.
Calls for more centres
Affected parents are calling for the establishment of additional placement resolution centres across the Greater Accra Region to ease congestion and reduce waiting times.
They are also appealing for improved communication and the deployment of additional personnel to deal with the increasing number of cases and expedite the resolution of placement challenges.
For many of the parents, the priority remains securing a suitable placement for their children before the commencement of the new academic year, with some saying they cannot afford to spend several more days navigating the resolution process.
