My Son Isn’t Deaf, Yet Placed at School for Deaf – Father Questions CSSPS Placement

A parent has been left questioning the accuracy of Ghana’s secondary school placement system after his child, who has no hearing or speech impairment, was assigned to the Mampong Akwapim School for the Deaf.

The incident has added to growing frustration among parents struggling to resolve problems with the 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), as the September 18 reopening date for Senior High Schools (SHS) draws closer.

The parent, who was at the National Placement Resolution Centre at the GNAT Hall in Accra on Tuesday, September 8, said he could not understand why his child had been assigned to a school for deaf students when the child could both hear and speak.

“He can hear, he can speak. How do you go and place him at Mampong Akwapim School for Deaf? That’s what I don’t understand. Why?,” he questioned.

He said when he approached officials at the centre for assistance, he was told that securing a place in a Category B or STEM school would require protocol.

“And I asked them, they said if my child wants Category B or STEM school, only protocol,” he said.

With no other option, the parent said he decided to accept a Category C school for his child rather than continue with the difficulty.

“They asked me whether I wanted Category C school, because I don’t have any option. I said then, they should give him a Category C school,” he said.

His experience is among several complaints being raised by parents and candidates over this year’s placement exercise.

At the KTI Hall in Kumasi, parents and their wards have also gathered in large numbers to seek assistance with various placement difficulties.

While some parents are waiting for their children’s placements to be confirmed, others say their wards have been assigned to schools they did not select.

One parent said the delay in resolving pending cases was creating anxiety for families, particularly because parents needed to know where their children had been placed before making preparations for the new academic year.

“We are asking them to remove the pending because they are going on the 18th, but we don’t know where they are going. We have not prepared for them,” the parent said.

Another parent who travelled from Obuasi to Kumasi said she and other parents were asked to wait for numbers before their concerns could be addressed.

She said after waiting for some time, they were informed that the available numbers had been exhausted and were asked to return on Friday.

The parent also complained that none of the schools selected by her ward had been granted, with the student instead being assigned to schools that were not part of their choices.

She said the repeated journeys to the resolution centre were adding to the financial burden and inconvenience faced by affected families.

Another parent said she had been losing sleep over her ward’s placement, which remains pending despite the student being assigned to a technical school.

She said she had repeatedly woken up early to travel to the resolution centre but returned without a clear explanation or solution.

“My ward got technical school, but it has pending on it. I wake up early to come and sit here, but they don’t say anything, and I go and come back,” she said.

She appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to intervene, noting that parents also have jobs and other responsibilities that make repeated trips to the centres difficult.

The growing complaints have also brought attention to congestion and communication challenges at the resolution centres.

Parents are calling for the establishment of more resolution centres, particularly in the Greater Accra Region, to reduce the pressure on the GNAT Hall and make it easier for families to resolve placement problems.

They are also demanding faster action on pending placements and cases involving students assigned to schools they did not choose.