DI WARNS AGAINST METHOD OF SELECTING 30% SHS STUDENTS FROM CATCHMENT AREA

Accra, March 2 - The Danquah Institute, a policy think tank, has cautioned against plans of the government to return to the discredited old policy of selecting, by discretion, 30% of first year Senior High School students from catchment areas.

While welcoming the policy to ensure that the local people are given a special allocation to schools in their areas, DI disagrees with the discretionary manner the Government intends to have the policy implemented.

In his State of the Nation address to Parliament, President JEA Mills said, “We have noted that the rate at which the computerized placement mechanism is blocking access to second cycle education by pupils from basic schools in the catchment area.”

He continued, “It has therefore been decided that from 2011-12 academic year, the policy of selecting 30% of first year students from within 10-mile radius of where schools are situated will be restored.”

According to the policy think tank, “the 30 percent must be done by computerized placement to remove any trace of abuse, unfairness, cronyism and discretion.”

Nana Attobrah of DI explained, “It is just a matter of customizing a software that once you feed the eligible pupils within the catchment area into the machine you leave it to the machine to place the children.”

According to DI, “We can’t replace one system of unfairness to the local children to another which would even be more problematic because of its strong element of human manipulation.”

According to the think tank, “The President would end up bringing back corruption into the process of selecting schools for our children or placing them in schools. It is unfair to those without connections to high places. It goes against the principle of building a fair society of opportunities for all, regardless of ones background.”