Some parents of prospective students who chose Mfantsipim Senior High School under the self-placement module of the Computerised School Selection & Placement System had to spend last night at the school in an attempt to secure admission for their wards whose names are missing from the list of students admitted to the school despite having got indications that they had been admitted.

Most of the frustrated parents – some of whom had infants in their care – were compelled to sleep in front of the school’s administration block.

According to the parents, they were told by the school authorities that there was an order from above directing parents who chose schools under the self-placement module to return home and find schools for their wards on their own.

Parents whose wards were not placed in any institution under the Computerised School Selection & Placement System were given the opportunity to choose schools through the self-placement system.

Under the self-placement module, parents were referred to a website to choose available schools posted there.

Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Monday, 16 September 2019, a frustrated parent told local news reporter Sammy Kay that: “When we went to the computer, we saw Mfantsipim there with the course Visual Arts and various schools were there: Accra Academy was there, Adisco was there, Kumasi High was there, so, you the parent and the child, you have the chance to choose the school that you want from the list that you have been given, so, we chose Mfantsipim and then we printed the placement form that we’re supposed to bring to the school and then the primary school that the children went signed those forms for us and then we brought them here.

“When we brought the forms here, they took the forms from us; we filled some part of it and then they gave us the prospectus to go and buy the items and we were supposed to bring our parents to school on the 16th, yesterday, Sunday, but the headmaster has said the list that is on the notice board, the order from above is that those of us who did self-placement, we are to come back home with our kids and then go and look for schools for them. Where are we going to look for schools now?” the angry parent wondered.

“We’ve purchased items, we’re here with our kids, things we’re supposed to buy, we sewed them Khaki and everything. Come and look at the students here, since yesterday, stranded. We slept on the verandah of the administration block with our kids. Is it fair? what have we done to be treated this way? We slept here yesterday. It was the old students, some of them came to give us water to drink, there was nothing for us here yesterday”, she wailed.  

Another parent who identified himself only as Festus also complained that they have spent so much money on buying school items for their wards only to be hit with the bad news.

“When we got here yesterday, we got here around 1 pm. When we got here, we saw some of the parents standing and they were talking. I was like: What is the problem? They said we should go to the notice board and check whether my son’s name was on the notice board but when we got there, his name was not there.

“So, we started fishing around to find out what was the information and they said that those who did the self-placement there’s a technical problem on it. So, we were like: if the technical problem was there, how then do we know and how do you blame us?

“From Wednesday up to Saturday, we have to go and buy the things for the boy running into GHS3,000.

“I’m so down, the kids have not been able to have their meals since yesterday, we slept here, we slept in the school. A lady came here with a three-month-old baby, we all slept here, in front of the administration block with all the kids.”