Mfantsipim Headmaster Calls for the Abolishment of Computerised Placement System

The Headmaster of Mfantsipim School, Mr John Kwamina Ankomah Simpson has called on the Government to reverse to the old system of admitting students to cut down the numerous problems associated with the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
He said the CSSPS has not been able to effectively and equitably distributed students into the various schools, thereby engendering many problems for parents and guardians of students in the past years.
Mr Simpson made the call at the 139th Speech and Prize Giving- Day celebration of the Mfantsipim school in Cape Coast, on the theme: “Leadership with integrity: Mfantsipim yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
Headmasters and mistresses hitherto did their own selection of students before the introduction of the CSSPS in 2005 but the Mfantsipim Headmaster believed that process is more convenient and less stressful for parents and guardians.
His call comes at a time where heads of some “first class” second cycle institutions have come under huge criticism for not admitting students posted into their schools by the CSSPS claiming they did not meet their requirement.
He observed that after several years of implementation of the CSSPS, students with good grades such as nine, eight and seven ones were denied their first choice schools while those with weaker grades were put in their first choice schools.
According to him, the system has become a headache than a comfort for parents and guardians to get first choice schools for their performing wards, a situation he described as very worrying.
As a result of the CSSPS, student population keeps increasing with the Mfantsipim School admitting more than thousand students this year yet facilities remain the same.
He commended the Methodist church, Government, Old Boys, PTA, management and teachers and all who have contributed towards lifting the image of the school.
However, Mr Simpson called on the stakeholders to do more to provide the needed facilities to ensure smooth academic work.
A former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Eritrea and Djibouti, Dr William Collins Asare admonished Ghanaian leaders to consciously make morality an essential ingredient for nation building.
Dr Asare who is an old boy cautioned that the development of the nation would not materialise if it continues to be dependent on leaders who lack morality and integrity.
He stated that even though corruption with people in public service and political class have been in existence since independence, the practice has become too intense in the last decade and therefore called for a firm and impartial enforcement of the existing laws to fight the menace.
Dr Asare recommended that the office of the Minister of Justice should be separated from that of the Attorney General to give the latter an office of a special prosecution, which would be completely independent as a way of mitigating the canker in the political class.
He also asked Ghanaians to desist from the behaviour of glorifying people who invade and loot the coffers of the state for their own selfish interests and reminded them of the damning consequences on the country.
Awards were given to hardworking students including eight boys who obtained 8 A’s in the 2015 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination.