Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah
When one has stayed at home for almost six months after one’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), one becomes used to sleeping or doing things at his or her own pace. Then, suddenly, that person is admitted to a day senior high school (SHS), the alarm bells announcing that the first day of school can be a rude awakening.
Whether you are an anxious fresh student or a confident senior, heading back to school signals a transition: New classes, new teachers, new schedules and a new social scene.
A day school, as opposed to a boarding school, is an institution where students are taught during the day, after which they return to their homes. Dread it or love it, you have to tune your body and mind in order to adjust to the system of waking up early to avoid the long queues at the trotro stations or taxi ranks to get to school before the bell goes for morning assembly.
Most students, especially those in the boarding house, have the perception that their mates in the day schools enjoy school more than them, simply because they are always with their parents, eat home chow (food) and also escape being punished or homoed by seniors.
What these boarders seem to forget is that day students cannot run away from house chores.
Much as this perception is true, to some extent, students in the day schools admit that it is not all that rosy as their boarding school counterparts believe.
The Junior Graphic visited the St Thomas Aquinas SHS, Salem SHS, Presbyterian SHS, Osu (PRESEC Osu), Holy Trinity SHS (HOTCASS) and O’Reilly SHS (O’Reilly), all day schools in the Accra metropolis, to interact with the students.
Interestingly, all the students had similar stories to share as day students. There are two categories of students in each of these schools. There are those who really selected those schools as their first choice because they live within or close to the schools, and those who find themselves in those schools by default and have to travel far to attend school.
For those who live a few kilometres from the school, all they do is wake up by 5:30 a.m., wash down and walk to school, while those from places such as Madina, Dansoman, Sakumono, Adenta and even Tema have to leave home as early as 4 a.m. to avoid being late to school.
Some of the students disclosed that they had to wake up early in the morning to search for water, sweep their compound, wash the family dishes before taking their bath. Others have to clean their parents’ cars or iron their clothes before setting off.
In almost all the schools, there is a standard duty roster indicating when each student is supposed to sweep the classroom and clean the chairs and tables before morning assembly. Just like students in the boarding house, those in the day schools weed their compound, except those in schools such as HOTCASS, O’Reilly and Salem which do not have enough fallow land.
General cleaning is always top on the school agenda. Students are supposed to clean all the chairs, tables, change dusters and markers. For schools which do not have white boards, students have to find old batteries, open them up and use the black substance in them to paint the blackboard to give it a new look.
Entertainment and inter-club activities are on top of the list of day students. They organise film shows, rap contests, drama festivals and variety shows. The Aquinas students said they host the Tom Festival, during which they invite other schools to come and participate in the Azonto competition (latest dance on campus), crackings and other dance moves.
At PRESEC Osu and O’Reilly, most Fridays are happy days, as classes end earlier for students to prepare and jam immediately after classes till 5 p.m. The latest time for the entertainment curtain to be pulled down is 6 p.m. According to the Assistant School Prefect of PRESEC Osu, Isaac Kofi Annan, such moments are the best for all students. as there is less supervision by teachers and students are at liberty to have fun to the max.
Unfortunately, after all the fun, students have no option but walk as far as the Nkrumah Circle trotro station or the 37 trotro station to catch buses home to face their house chores.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
CSSPS placement
Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah
An additional 19,500 canadidates have finally been placed into various senior high schools (SHSs) and technical institutions (TI) across the country by the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) Secretariat.
The number represents the 30 per cent of candidates who specifically applied for the allocation of schools within the catchment areas of their communities where there are SHSs and TI.
This brings to an end the selection and placement exercise for candidates who wrote this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
On September 25, the CSSPS Secretariat successfully placed 70 per cent of the BECE candidates majority of whom checked their schools via the text code, provided by the Secretariat.
The National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Samuel Oppong, who disclosed this to the Junior Graphic in an interview, explained that his outfit decided to hasten the second phase of the placement exercise to enable all the candidates to start school at the same time.
“In the past we do the placement in phases - as and when more vacancies were declared therefore, candidates who were not placed in the first round ended up starting school late. This sometimes makes it difficult for the late starters to grasp what their colleagues had already been taught,” he added.
Mr Oppong said it was rather unfortunate that this year’s placement had delayed a bit. According to him, the raw scores were not sent to the secretariat on time. “Besides, we later noticed that some of the information on 351 candidates during the online registration by their junior high schools (JHS) contained various errors in the shading of programmes, schools, code numbers, and even the sex of the candidates. Therefore, they had to be corrected to avoid the placement of girls in boys schools”.
He said some of the teachers responsible for the online registration at the JHS level entered wrong information, therefore, there were able-bodied students who were placed in special schools like the School for the Deaf and Akropong School for the Blind.
“This placement had to be corrected since the candidates are not special candidates, however, their information online automatically made them special students. Such errors need to be avoided by teachers as the West African Examinations Counicl does not work on such data as a result, it does not make the exercise a smooth one,” he lamented.
Mr Oppong disclosed that all things being equal, the 30 per cent catchment area allocation would be converted to become the seventh choice during the selection of schools by the candidates.
Some parents the Junior Graphic spoke to expressed their delight over the placement of the children in their first choice schools. However, others were dissatisfied over the placement of their children in their second choice schools although they performed well and, in their view, deserved to be in their first choice schools.
However, Junior Graphic chanced upon a situation where three candidates all had nine-ones with the raw scores 413, 432 and 484 respectively. Unfortunately the candidate with the 413 had her first choice school but the one with 484 who selected the same school did not gain admission. This is because the candidate with 413 opted for Visual Arts while the one with 484 wanted a science programme.
The Secretariat was able to place 3,062 of the re-entry candidates. The re-entry candidates are students who could not go to the SHS the previous year due to financial constraints, health problems, transfer of parents from one region to the other and loss of a parent or guardian.
This year’s placement excercise had various challenges. It would be recalled that the Junior Graphic published in the Wednesday, September 7 — 13, 2011 edition that a large number of BECE candidates for this year were not likely to gain admission to their preferred SHS since majority of the schools had drastically reduced their intake for the 2011/2012 academic year. The reduction had become necessary due to pressure on both classroom and dormitory facilities in most schools.
Parents who want to verify where their children have been placed should send the candidate’s index number plus the year of completion (whether 09, 10, 11) to 1060 while those who need to check the raw scores as well as the schools selected by the candidates should do the same but send the text to 1477.
The Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) Secretariat has finally placed the remaining 30 per cent of candidates into va
This brings to an end the selection and placement exercise for candidates who wrote this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
On September 25, the CSSPS Secretariat successfully placed 70 per cent of the BECE candidates majority of whom checked their schools via the text code, provided by the Secretariat.
The National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Samuel Oppong, who disclosed this to theJunior Graphic in an interview, explained that his outfit decided to hasten the second phase of the placement exercise to enable all the candidates to start school at the same time.
“In the past we do the placement in phases - as and when more vacancies were declared therefore, candidates who were not placed in the first round ended up starting school late. This sometimes makes it difficult for the late starters to grasps what their colleagues had already been taught,” he added.
Mr Oppong said it was rather unfortunate that this year’s placement had delayed a bit. According to him, the raw scores were not sent to the secretariat on time. “Besides, we later noticed that most of the information on the candidates entry forms contained various errors in the shading of programmes, schools, code numbers, and even the sex of the candidates. Therefore, they had to be corrected to avoid the placement of girls in boys schools”.
Some parents the Junior Graphic spoke to expressed their delight over the placement of the children in their first choice schoosl. However, others were dissatisfied over the placement of their children in their second choice schools although they performed so well and in their view deserved to be in their first choice schools.
This year’s placement excercise had various challenges. It would be recalled that the Junior Graphic published in the Wednesday, September 7 — 13, 2011 edition that a large number of BECE candidates for this year were not likely to gain admission to their preferred SHS since majority of the schools had drastically reduced their intake for the 2011/2012 academic year. The reduction had become necessary due to pressure on both classroom and dormitory facilities in most schools.
An additional 19,500 canadidates have finally been placed into various senior high schools (SHSs) and technical institutions (TI) across the country by the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) Secretariat.
The number represents the 30 per cent of candidates who specifically applied for the allocation of schools within the catchment areas of their communities where there are SHSs and TI.
This brings to an end the selection and placement exercise for candidates who wrote this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
On September 25, the CSSPS Secretariat successfully placed 70 per cent of the BECE candidates majority of whom checked their schools via the text code, provided by the Secretariat.
The National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Samuel Oppong, who disclosed this to the Junior Graphic in an interview, explained that his outfit decided to hasten the second phase of the placement exercise to enable all the candidates to start school at the same time.
“In the past we do the placement in phases - as and when more vacancies were declared therefore, candidates who were not placed in the first round ended up starting school late. This sometimes makes it difficult for the late starters to grasp what their colleagues had already been taught,” he added.
Mr Oppong said it was rather unfortunate that this year’s placement had delayed a bit. According to him, the raw scores were not sent to the secretariat on time. “Besides, we later noticed that some of the information on 351 candidates during the online registration by their junior high schools (JHS) contained various errors in the shading of programmes, schools, code numbers, and even the sex of the candidates. Therefore, they had to be corrected to avoid the placement of girls in boys schools”.
He said some of the teachers responsible for the online registration at the JHS level entered wrong information, therefore, there were able-bodied students who were placed in special schools like the School for the Deaf and Akropong School for the Blind.
“This placement had to be corrected since the candidates are not special candidates, however, their information online automatically made them special students. Such errors need to be avoided by teachers as the West African Examinations Counicl does not work on such data as a result, it does not make the exercise a smooth one,” he lamented.
Mr Oppong disclosed that all things being equal, the 30 per cent catchment area allocation would be converted to become the seventh choice during the selection of schools by the candidates.
Some parents the Junior Graphic spoke to expressed their delight over the placement of the children in their first choice schools. However, others were dissatisfied over the placement of their children in their second choice schools although they performed well and, in their view, deserved to be in their first choice schools.
However, Junior Graphic chanced upon a situation where three candidates all had nine-ones with the raw scores 413, 432 and 484 respectively. Unfortunately the candidate with the 413 had her first choice school but the one with 484 who selected the same school did not gain admission. This is because the candidate with 413 opted for Visual Arts while the one with 484 wanted a science programme.
The Secretariat was able to place 3,062 of the re-entry candidates. The re-entry candidates are students who could not go to the SHS the previous year due to financial constraints, health problems, transfer of parents from one region to the other and loss of a parent or guardian.
This year’s placement excercise had various challenges. It would be recalled that the Junior Graphic published in the Wednesday, September 7 — 13, 2011 edition that a large number of BECE candidates for this year were not likely to gain admission to their preferred SHS since majority of the schools had drastically reduced their intake for the 2011/2012 academic year. The reduction had become necessary due to pressure on both classroom and dormitory facilities in most schools.
Parents who want to verify where their children have been placed should send the candidate’s index number plus the year of completion (whether 09, 10, 11) to 1060 while those who need to check the raw scores as well as the schools selected by the candidates should do the same but send the text to 1477.
The Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) Secretariat has finally placed the remaining 30 per cent of candidates into va
This brings to an end the selection and placement exercise for candidates who wrote this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
On September 25, the CSSPS Secretariat successfully placed 70 per cent of the BECE candidates majority of whom checked their schools via the text code, provided by the Secretariat.
The National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Samuel Oppong, who disclosed this to theJunior Graphic in an interview, explained that his outfit decided to hasten the second phase of the placement exercise to enable all the candidates to start school at the same time.
“In the past we do the placement in phases - as and when more vacancies were declared therefore, candidates who were not placed in the first round ended up starting school late. This sometimes makes it difficult for the late starters to grasps what their colleagues had already been taught,” he added.
Mr Oppong said it was rather unfortunate that this year’s placement had delayed a bit. According to him, the raw scores were not sent to the secretariat on time. “Besides, we later noticed that most of the information on the candidates entry forms contained various errors in the shading of programmes, schools, code numbers, and even the sex of the candidates. Therefore, they had to be corrected to avoid the placement of girls in boys schools”.
Some parents the Junior Graphic spoke to expressed their delight over the placement of the children in their first choice schoosl. However, others were dissatisfied over the placement of their children in their second choice schools although they performed so well and in their view deserved to be in their first choice schools.
This year’s placement excercise had various challenges. It would be recalled that the Junior Graphic published in the Wednesday, September 7 — 13, 2011 edition that a large number of BECE candidates for this year were not likely to gain admission to their preferred SHS since majority of the schools had drastically reduced their intake for the 2011/2012 academic year. The reduction had become necessary due to pressure on both classroom and dormitory facilities in most schools.
'Homoin' time!
Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah
Can you imagine being asked to use a pencil, pen or ruler to eat ‘gari soakings’ or sing and dance for over an hour? Yes, that is ‘homoing’ (bullying by seniors) for you. ‘Homoing’ is part of secondary school life. It does not matter one’s size or background; he or she would be bullied just to make his or her life miserable in his or her first few weeks as a fresher in the boarding house.
Everybody who attended secondary school has been bullied before — just ask your mum, dad or even grandparents who went to boarding school.
In every boarding secondary school, there is a special day set aside for ‘homos’. This is a night full of humour for the seniors and frustration for the Form One students, although it is always an interesting experience to recall the day later on in life.
During the ‘homos night’, all fresh students are supposed to dress in various crazy styles. For instance, the boys are made to wear different shoes or slippers, with a cloth wrapped around their bodies and sponges used for neckties. The girls also wear their nighties over pairs of trousers skirts, with their towels as headgear. At the peak of the ‘homos’ night, some seniors who want to be a bit mischievous go round sprinkling talcum powder or pouring laundry blue mixed with gari on the freshers. The freshers are then asked to showcase their talents to entertain the seniors.
As if the ‘homos night’ is not enough, fresh students are also bullied in their respective dormitories. Sometimes the ‘homoing’ becomes just too much to handle. However, the freshers dare not report any senior to the senior housemaster/housemistress or the head of the school. Do you know why? Ha ha ha! Those freshers who make the complaint will end up compounding their wahala (trouble) because when the affected seniors get punished, they in turn will make the life of the complaining juniors very miserable.
The Junior Graphic interacted with some continuing students to find out their experiences when they were in Form One and they had a lot to share. For instance, Nancy Peprah, a Form Four student of St John’s Grammar, said she reported to school a bit late and could, therefore, not be ‘homoed’ during the official ‘homos’ night.
“However, I was not spared. In fact, because I am very smallish, they took advantage of that to send me around the various dormitories to sing and dance for them for hours,” she recalled.
One thing still fresh in Nancy’s mind was when she was asked to use her bathroom slippers to make a phone call to her parents.
“I asked how that was possible and I was shouted at. Immediately I obeyed and had to act it out till I started crying. Instantly they started jumping and laughing and asked me to go. Now I am in Form Four and I also bully students, notwithstanding my physical stature. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of fresh students so we can have fun before I write my final exams,” she disclosed.
For, Thelma Bawa, a Form Two student of the Kumasi Girls’ Senior High School, ‘homos night’ was one of the best forms of entertainment she ever had in school. According to her, her elder sister, who is currently in Form Three in another school, briefed her on ‘homoing’ and so she prepared her mind for it.
“I was sometimes sent around carrying different items on me like a mad person and was also asked to use by shoes to play drums and dance to the tune, which I did. Unfortunately, some of my mates could not stand the pressure and broke down in tears,” she recounted laughing.
Like Thelma and Nancy, remember you will also become seniors one day and, therefore, enjoy every bit of the ‘homos night’.
Can you imagine being asked to use a pencil, pen or ruler to eat ‘gari soakings’ or sing and dance for over an hour? Yes, that is ‘homoing’ (bullying by seniors) for you. ‘Homoing’ is part of secondary school life. It does not matter one’s size or background; he or she would be bullied just to make his or her life miserable in his or her first few weeks as a fresher in the boarding house.
Everybody who attended secondary school has been bullied before — just ask your mum, dad or even grandparents who went to boarding school.
In every boarding secondary school, there is a special day set aside for ‘homos’. This is a night full of humour for the seniors and frustration for the Form One students, although it is always an interesting experience to recall the day later on in life.
During the ‘homos night’, all fresh students are supposed to dress in various crazy styles. For instance, the boys are made to wear different shoes or slippers, with a cloth wrapped around their bodies and sponges used for neckties. The girls also wear their nighties over pairs of trousers skirts, with their towels as headgear. At the peak of the ‘homos’ night, some seniors who want to be a bit mischievous go round sprinkling talcum powder or pouring laundry blue mixed with gari on the freshers. The freshers are then asked to showcase their talents to entertain the seniors.
As if the ‘homos night’ is not enough, fresh students are also bullied in their respective dormitories. Sometimes the ‘homoing’ becomes just too much to handle. However, the freshers dare not report any senior to the senior housemaster/housemistress or the head of the school. Do you know why? Ha ha ha! Those freshers who make the complaint will end up compounding their wahala (trouble) because when the affected seniors get punished, they in turn will make the life of the complaining juniors very miserable.
The Junior Graphic interacted with some continuing students to find out their experiences when they were in Form One and they had a lot to share. For instance, Nancy Peprah, a Form Four student of St John’s Grammar, said she reported to school a bit late and could, therefore, not be ‘homoed’ during the official ‘homos’ night.
“However, I was not spared. In fact, because I am very smallish, they took advantage of that to send me around the various dormitories to sing and dance for them for hours,” she recalled.
One thing still fresh in Nancy’s mind was when she was asked to use her bathroom slippers to make a phone call to her parents.
“I asked how that was possible and I was shouted at. Immediately I obeyed and had to act it out till I started crying. Instantly they started jumping and laughing and asked me to go. Now I am in Form Four and I also bully students, notwithstanding my physical stature. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of fresh students so we can have fun before I write my final exams,” she disclosed.
For, Thelma Bawa, a Form Two student of the Kumasi Girls’ Senior High School, ‘homos night’ was one of the best forms of entertainment she ever had in school. According to her, her elder sister, who is currently in Form Three in another school, briefed her on ‘homoing’ and so she prepared her mind for it.
“I was sometimes sent around carrying different items on me like a mad person and was also asked to use by shoes to play drums and dance to the tune, which I did. Unfortunately, some of my mates could not stand the pressure and broke down in tears,” she recounted laughing.
Like Thelma and Nancy, remember you will also become seniors one day and, therefore, enjoy every bit of the ‘homos night’.
St John's Grammar in crisis
Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa
St John’s Grammar in crisis
As rain causes havoc
The heavy downpour that hit the Greater Accra Region last week has caused damage to property worth thousands of cedis at the St John’s Grammar School, Achimota.
The rain swept through the entire school, flooding dormitories, the bookshop, Staff Common Room, classrooms and also broke down part of the school wall.
This has compelled the school authorities to shut down the school for repair works to be undertaken.
The worse affected areas were the bookshop where most textbooks are kept. The assistant headmaster’s office was also not spared. All the computers and files containing vital data on students got damaged.
When the Junior Graphic visited the school last week, Form Four students numbering over 500 were being re-registered for the West African Senior School Certificate (WASSCE) since all the information required by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for their registration for the exam had been destroyed.
The Assistant Headmaster, Mr Ferguson Barnes, and some National Service personnel were seen taking photographs of the students and capturing other vital personal information.
The team was taken to the bookshop where almost all the textbooks, supplementary readers and other important books were soaked in water. In some of the classrooms which were not affected, a pile of files containing audited reports, information on students, video tapes of national and international programmes the school had participated in and receipt books had all been spread on the floor to dry.
The Senior Boys Prefect, Dolland Jisam-Kelly, and the Senior Girls Prefect, Nasiba Ibrahim, who conducted the Junior Graphic round, said around 1:30 am on Wednesday, one of the students in the girls dormitory who wanted to go to the washroom stepped into a pool of water and started screaming. This attracted the other students who woke up only to realise that it was raining heavily and water was entering the dormitories. “It was almost at our knee level and students were shouting and crying in despair. Some had their shoes, uniforms, books and other important things washed away”, they recalled.
In an interview, the Headmistress, Mrs Gloria Laryea, said the flood could be attributed to the blocking of the only drainage system due to the ongoing construction works on the main road which the contractor had abandoned for sometime.
She lamented that the school had never experienced such a disaster before. “My major concern is the books which have been damaged. It is going to be extremely difficult for the students to study as the textbooks are very crucial for their academic work.”
Mrs Laryea, who explained that currently the auditors were working around the clock to take stock of all the damaged items, appealed to the government, old students and philanthropists to come to the aid of the school.
St John’s Grammar in crisis
As rain causes havoc
The heavy downpour that hit the Greater Accra Region last week has caused damage to property worth thousands of cedis at the St John’s Grammar School, Achimota.
The rain swept through the entire school, flooding dormitories, the bookshop, Staff Common Room, classrooms and also broke down part of the school wall.
This has compelled the school authorities to shut down the school for repair works to be undertaken.
The worse affected areas were the bookshop where most textbooks are kept. The assistant headmaster’s office was also not spared. All the computers and files containing vital data on students got damaged.
When the Junior Graphic visited the school last week, Form Four students numbering over 500 were being re-registered for the West African Senior School Certificate (WASSCE) since all the information required by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for their registration for the exam had been destroyed.
The Assistant Headmaster, Mr Ferguson Barnes, and some National Service personnel were seen taking photographs of the students and capturing other vital personal information.
The team was taken to the bookshop where almost all the textbooks, supplementary readers and other important books were soaked in water. In some of the classrooms which were not affected, a pile of files containing audited reports, information on students, video tapes of national and international programmes the school had participated in and receipt books had all been spread on the floor to dry.
The Senior Boys Prefect, Dolland Jisam-Kelly, and the Senior Girls Prefect, Nasiba Ibrahim, who conducted the Junior Graphic round, said around 1:30 am on Wednesday, one of the students in the girls dormitory who wanted to go to the washroom stepped into a pool of water and started screaming. This attracted the other students who woke up only to realise that it was raining heavily and water was entering the dormitories. “It was almost at our knee level and students were shouting and crying in despair. Some had their shoes, uniforms, books and other important things washed away”, they recalled.
In an interview, the Headmistress, Mrs Gloria Laryea, said the flood could be attributed to the blocking of the only drainage system due to the ongoing construction works on the main road which the contractor had abandoned for sometime.
She lamented that the school had never experienced such a disaster before. “My major concern is the books which have been damaged. It is going to be extremely difficult for the students to study as the textbooks are very crucial for their academic work.”
Mrs Laryea, who explained that currently the auditors were working around the clock to take stock of all the damaged items, appealed to the government, old students and philanthropists to come to the aid of the school.
CSSPS faces more problems
Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah
The problems associated with0 this year’s Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) do not seem to be over yet.
Despite the directive from the Ghana Education Service(GES) to first-year students to report to their various schools on October 31, some students could not find their names on the noticeboards of the schools in which they had been placed and were therefore turned away.
It will be recalled that the CSSPS Secretariat directed that candidates who were successfully placed should print out their admission letters and raw scores from the Internet using a GES scratch card and send them to their respective senior high schools (SHSs) or technical institutions (TIs).
Some parents complained to the Junior Graphic that although they had printed copies of their children’s admission letters from the CSSPS website as directed, they could not locate their children’s names when they got to the schools.
Mama Jane, for instance, who sent her child to the Benkum SHS in the Eastern Region did not find her daughter’s name on the noticeboard. She said when she enquired from the school authorities, she was told there was nothing the school could do once the name was not on the school’s list.
“I find it so unfortunate, because after taking the risk to travel with my daughter I had to come home without any prospectus. All her friends have gone to school. Therefore, the poor girl keeps crying all day,” she lamented.
The situation was not different at the Labone SHS, Holy Child, Accra Girls SHS, and Apam SHS among others. The Junior Graphic chanced upon some parents at the CSSPS Secretariat and the GES who had gone to these schools without finding their children’s names there.
When the National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Samuel Oppong, was contacted by the Junior Graphic, he advised that all affected candidates should go back to the schools in which they had been and insist on their admission because once the child had the printed admission and raw scores, “it means he or she had been formally placed in that school”.
He said he had also received similar complaints and asked those involved to go back to the schools. He explained that the Minister of Education had sent letters to the school heads to adhere to the CSSPS admissions.
“I therefore do not understand why some schools are making things so difficult for parents, prospective students and the secretariat as a whole,” Mr Oppong said.
Some of the heads who would like to remain anonymous explained in an interview that they were going strictly by the names that were given to them by the CSSPS, therefore, parents who did not find the names of their children on the noticeboards should go back to the secretariat and demand answers.
A tour around some of the SHSs showed that majority of the Form One students had reported to their various schools with some undergoing orientation to enable them to familiarise themselves with their chosen programmes and their new schools.
The problems associated with0 this year’s Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) do not seem to be over yet.
Despite the directive from the Ghana Education Service(GES) to first-year students to report to their various schools on October 31, some students could not find their names on the noticeboards of the schools in which they had been placed and were therefore turned away.
It will be recalled that the CSSPS Secretariat directed that candidates who were successfully placed should print out their admission letters and raw scores from the Internet using a GES scratch card and send them to their respective senior high schools (SHSs) or technical institutions (TIs).
Some parents complained to the Junior Graphic that although they had printed copies of their children’s admission letters from the CSSPS website as directed, they could not locate their children’s names when they got to the schools.
Mama Jane, for instance, who sent her child to the Benkum SHS in the Eastern Region did not find her daughter’s name on the noticeboard. She said when she enquired from the school authorities, she was told there was nothing the school could do once the name was not on the school’s list.
“I find it so unfortunate, because after taking the risk to travel with my daughter I had to come home without any prospectus. All her friends have gone to school. Therefore, the poor girl keeps crying all day,” she lamented.
The situation was not different at the Labone SHS, Holy Child, Accra Girls SHS, and Apam SHS among others. The Junior Graphic chanced upon some parents at the CSSPS Secretariat and the GES who had gone to these schools without finding their children’s names there.
When the National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Samuel Oppong, was contacted by the Junior Graphic, he advised that all affected candidates should go back to the schools in which they had been and insist on their admission because once the child had the printed admission and raw scores, “it means he or she had been formally placed in that school”.
He said he had also received similar complaints and asked those involved to go back to the schools. He explained that the Minister of Education had sent letters to the school heads to adhere to the CSSPS admissions.
“I therefore do not understand why some schools are making things so difficult for parents, prospective students and the secretariat as a whole,” Mr Oppong said.
Some of the heads who would like to remain anonymous explained in an interview that they were going strictly by the names that were given to them by the CSSPS, therefore, parents who did not find the names of their children on the noticeboards should go back to the secretariat and demand answers.
A tour around some of the SHSs showed that majority of the Form One students had reported to their various schools with some undergoing orientation to enable them to familiarise themselves with their chosen programmes and their new schools.
Sylvia defeats deafblindness
Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah, Mampong-Akuapem
A deaf and blind student of the Demonstration School for the Deaf, Mampong-Akuapem in the Eastern Region, Sylvia Peprah, has defied deafness and blindness to become the first-ever such student to qualify for senior high school in the country.
Sylvia, 23, has been placed by the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to continue her education at the Senior High Secondary/Technical School for the Deaf at Mampong-Akuapem.
Despite her disabilities, she devoted time to study and made history by writing the 2011 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as the first student to sit a national examination since the Deafblind Centre was established in 1978.
At a sitting, Sylvia had grade five in English Language, three in Social Studies, five in Religious and Moral Education and five in Building Design and Technology.
She is currently pursuing a programme in General Arts, focusing on Christian Religious Studies, History, Economics, Social Studies, Integrated Science and English Language. Although Mathematics is a core subject, she has been exempted from it because of challenges she faces in identifying the symbols and formulae which are necessary for calculations.
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing.
Sylvia, who formally started the Senior High Technical School for the Deaf last Tuesday, was received at the school in a unique and special way during an orientation exercise to introduce her to the students and teachers.
The Junior Graphic was, as usual, by her side to share in her joy, as it does with all children who go through great odds to achieve something tangible as they grow up.
Interestingly, some of the deaf students were touched by Sylvia’s condition and broke down in tears when they were told in sign language that Sylvia could not see nor hear, for which reason they should assist her regularly and also ensure they did not push her around to make things even more difficult for her in the school.
The SHS for the Deaf is mainly for students with hearing disabilities and so the main mode of communication is by sign language, which Sylvia has mastered, although she cannot see.
Since she has lost her sight, Sylvia uses the braille machine and also has a special resource person who interprets and guides her in her studies.
In an interview, Sylvia described herself as the Hellen Keller of the centre (Hellen Keller is the first deafblind to have excelled internationally in education).
Born on September 27, 1988, she became blind at the age of nine after falling ill for a long time. As a result, she can speak but cannot hear.
According to her, “I use tactile sign language, Braille and body printing to communicate.”
She was brought to the Demonstration School for the Deaf at age 13 in 2001 but placed under the Deafblind Centre.
She was later sent to the School for the Blind in 2006 to be taught the academic subjects and the excellent use of the Braille machine.
“Aside this, I have a personal interpreter, Mr Kom Frank Kafui from the centre, who has handled me for the past five years,” she said.
Sylvia is a native of Breman-Asikuma in the Central Region. She has a brother and a mother, Madam Lucy Peprah.
Sylvia says she loves and never misses her banku or fufu meals because they are her favourite. At the moment she teaches Bible Studies to the younger pupils at the school and hopes to be a teacher in future.
She is particularly grateful to Martha M. Majors and Marianne Riggio from the Perkins School for the Blind in the USA for their support throughout her education.
A deaf and blind student of the Demonstration School for the Deaf, Mampong-Akuapem in the Eastern Region, Sylvia Peprah, has defied deafness and blindness to become the first-ever such student to qualify for senior high school in the country.
Sylvia, 23, has been placed by the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to continue her education at the Senior High Secondary/Technical School for the Deaf at Mampong-Akuapem.
Despite her disabilities, she devoted time to study and made history by writing the 2011 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as the first student to sit a national examination since the Deafblind Centre was established in 1978.
At a sitting, Sylvia had grade five in English Language, three in Social Studies, five in Religious and Moral Education and five in Building Design and Technology.
She is currently pursuing a programme in General Arts, focusing on Christian Religious Studies, History, Economics, Social Studies, Integrated Science and English Language. Although Mathematics is a core subject, she has been exempted from it because of challenges she faces in identifying the symbols and formulae which are necessary for calculations.
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing.
Sylvia, who formally started the Senior High Technical School for the Deaf last Tuesday, was received at the school in a unique and special way during an orientation exercise to introduce her to the students and teachers.
The Junior Graphic was, as usual, by her side to share in her joy, as it does with all children who go through great odds to achieve something tangible as they grow up.
Interestingly, some of the deaf students were touched by Sylvia’s condition and broke down in tears when they were told in sign language that Sylvia could not see nor hear, for which reason they should assist her regularly and also ensure they did not push her around to make things even more difficult for her in the school.
The SHS for the Deaf is mainly for students with hearing disabilities and so the main mode of communication is by sign language, which Sylvia has mastered, although she cannot see.
Since she has lost her sight, Sylvia uses the braille machine and also has a special resource person who interprets and guides her in her studies.
In an interview, Sylvia described herself as the Hellen Keller of the centre (Hellen Keller is the first deafblind to have excelled internationally in education).
Born on September 27, 1988, she became blind at the age of nine after falling ill for a long time. As a result, she can speak but cannot hear.
According to her, “I use tactile sign language, Braille and body printing to communicate.”
She was brought to the Demonstration School for the Deaf at age 13 in 2001 but placed under the Deafblind Centre.
She was later sent to the School for the Blind in 2006 to be taught the academic subjects and the excellent use of the Braille machine.
“Aside this, I have a personal interpreter, Mr Kom Frank Kafui from the centre, who has handled me for the past five years,” she said.
Sylvia is a native of Breman-Asikuma in the Central Region. She has a brother and a mother, Madam Lucy Peprah.
Sylvia says she loves and never misses her banku or fufu meals because they are her favourite. At the moment she teaches Bible Studies to the younger pupils at the school and hopes to be a teacher in future.
She is particularly grateful to Martha M. Majors and Marianne Riggio from the Perkins School for the Blind in the USA for their support throughout her education.
Delete Corporal Punishment
Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah
Majority of stakeholders in education as well as students have proposed that corporal punishment( beating or canning) should be deleted from the school code of conduct.
Hopefully this would put to rest the debate on the call to stop the use of physical punishment in schools.
These findings came out during the presentation of the State of the Corporal Punishment report, a research project undertaken by the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Those in favour of a total abolishment claimed corporal punishment inflicted pain and sometimes injuries on schoolchildren and as a result, some school children dropped out of school while it discouraged others from learning.
Presenting the findings in Accra recently, the Director of the National Centre for Research into Basic Education (NCRIBE), Dr Richard Ofori, said when the question of whether corporal punishment be banned in Ghanaian schools was posed, respondents from junior high school (JHS) Form One and Two were equally split between yes or no.
Those in primary four, five and six, however supported the ban. While parents, teachers and some Circuit Supervisors were also in favour of not banning corporal punishment in schools, he said.
Dr Ofori said when some of the students were asked to state how corporal punishments were meted out to them in school, they disclosed that some teachers usually called them during assembly and gave them strokes of cane on their buttocks, palms, finger tips and head. Others were also put on tables and held down firmly by big boys in the school and canned mercilessly.
For students who were in support, he said the students themselves claimed some of their colleagues were very rude and disrespectful and, therefore, the best way to reform them was to cane them.
Besides, those in favour were of the view that caning sometimes enabled students to stay focused on their studies since no child would want to be humiliated in the presence of the whole school.
During a discussion after the presentation, some stakeholders were also of the view that corporal punishment should not
be banned completely. They explained that there should be a little room for punishment when children go wrong, as that would deter other children from committing similar offences in future.
When the Junior Graphic went round some of the schools to seek their views on the issue, some were totally against it especially, those in the private schools while others were for it. For instance, Judith Amoah Mensah of the Happy Kids School at Awordshie in Accra said corporal punishment should be abolished completely. “If teachers want to punish us for doing the wrong thing they can ask us to write 100 or more lines in an exercise book that ‘we shall not do that again’ rather than treating us like animals” she lamented.
A student of the Ayalolo Junior High School in Accra who remained anonymous was for it explaining that, in their school for instance some students try to fight back at the teachers whenever they go wrong as a result corporal punishments is very good to deter students from stealing, cheating during examination and fighting in school.
Majority of stakeholders in education as well as students have proposed that corporal punishment( beating or canning) should be deleted from the school code of conduct.
Hopefully this would put to rest the debate on the call to stop the use of physical punishment in schools.
These findings came out during the presentation of the State of the Corporal Punishment report, a research project undertaken by the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Those in favour of a total abolishment claimed corporal punishment inflicted pain and sometimes injuries on schoolchildren and as a result, some school children dropped out of school while it discouraged others from learning.
Presenting the findings in Accra recently, the Director of the National Centre for Research into Basic Education (NCRIBE), Dr Richard Ofori, said when the question of whether corporal punishment be banned in Ghanaian schools was posed, respondents from junior high school (JHS) Form One and Two were equally split between yes or no.
Those in primary four, five and six, however supported the ban. While parents, teachers and some Circuit Supervisors were also in favour of not banning corporal punishment in schools, he said.
Dr Ofori said when some of the students were asked to state how corporal punishments were meted out to them in school, they disclosed that some teachers usually called them during assembly and gave them strokes of cane on their buttocks, palms, finger tips and head. Others were also put on tables and held down firmly by big boys in the school and canned mercilessly.
For students who were in support, he said the students themselves claimed some of their colleagues were very rude and disrespectful and, therefore, the best way to reform them was to cane them.
Besides, those in favour were of the view that caning sometimes enabled students to stay focused on their studies since no child would want to be humiliated in the presence of the whole school.
During a discussion after the presentation, some stakeholders were also of the view that corporal punishment should not
be banned completely. They explained that there should be a little room for punishment when children go wrong, as that would deter other children from committing similar offences in future.
When the Junior Graphic went round some of the schools to seek their views on the issue, some were totally against it especially, those in the private schools while others were for it. For instance, Judith Amoah Mensah of the Happy Kids School at Awordshie in Accra said corporal punishment should be abolished completely. “If teachers want to punish us for doing the wrong thing they can ask us to write 100 or more lines in an exercise book that ‘we shall not do that again’ rather than treating us like animals” she lamented.
A student of the Ayalolo Junior High School in Accra who remained anonymous was for it explaining that, in their school for instance some students try to fight back at the teachers whenever they go wrong as a result corporal punishments is very good to deter students from stealing, cheating during examination and fighting in school.
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