The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum has encouraged Junior High School (JHS) students in public schools to take advantage of the 30 percent quota placement system when selecting Senior High Schools of their choice.
The 30 percent quota system gives the opportunity to JHS students from public schools to be able to choose and be placed into grade one Senior High Schools.
Speaking to some parents and BECE candidates, the Deputy Education Minister, who toured some centres to monitor the final day of the Basic Education Certificate Examination on Friday urged parents to allow their wards to choose schools classified as prestigious schools.
“I want to appeal to the parents, your child is well-performing, they’re good, allow them to select some of the top schools. Of course, we have a second choice, we have a third choice, nothing really to lose. But I don’t want them to take themselves out of the opportunities that have been presented to them,” he said.
He added that the vision of the free SHS by Nana Akufo-Addo is to give people the chance to benefit from prestigious schools in their towns.
“All these prestigious schools happen to be in places where the natives didn’t get the chance to attend. How many old students of Wesley Girls are from Cape Coast? So now, the vision of Nana Akufo-Addo through free SHS has opened the floodgates of the top-performing schools to those who previously couldn’t have gone.”
The Deputy Minister added that “So if you went to public school, your aggregate may not be as high as someone who went to private school but you have a real opportunity to go to some of these top tier schools.”
