Man arrested for alleged fraud at Free SHS school placement centre

A man claiming to be an agent for the Ghana Education Service has been arrested by the Police at the Free Senior High School (SHS) placement centre in Accra.

Deputy Coordinator for the Free Senior High School programme, Nana Afrah Sika Mensah in an interview with Citi News said the young man has defrauded a parent of a sum of over GH¢1,000 after he claimed he could help get placement for their ward.

She advised that parents should desist from engaging third parties in the school placement process.

“As we have been saying all this while, let us all be vigilant. We will not use crooked means to place students in schools. Let us be watchful,” she said.

This comes on the back of a scandal that hit the Computerized School Selection and Placement System.

The Computerized School Selection and Placement System has come under scrutiny following allegations that some persons receive money in order to change schools for wards of some parents.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) had earlier cautioned the general public against unscrupulous persons who may likely defraud guardians under the pretext of securing placement for their wards into their supposed preferred senior high schools.

The CSSPS is the only system used by the Ghana Education Service to place qualified Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates into Senior High Schools (SHS), Technical Institutes (TI), and Vocational Institutes across the country.

GES prayed guardians to be on the lookout for such deceitful persons and help report them to the nearest police station for onward prosecution to deter others from engaging in the annual happening.

“Management strongly cautions the general public not to fall prey to deceitful persons that may approach them to pay money for a place in SHS. Such persons are to be reported immediately to the Police.”