Cape Coast (Central Region), 15 Jan. ’99 – The hopes of many parents seeking admission for their wards to top-class schools in Cape Coast were dashed because their wards did not secure the required 10 ones being demanded by their first choice schools. Only about 8,000 of the 14,234 candidates who have qualified for entry into SSS in the region are expected to gain admission due to the lack of vacancies. The parents were at the Mfantsipim School, venue for the two-day selection of candidates by the heads of the various second cycle schools in the Central region, which started yesterday. Only 243 out of the 815 candidates who chose the Wesley Girls High School as their first choice secured places and only 200 out of 1,159 candidates secured places at the Holy Child School. At Mfantsipim, 440 out of 1,460 candidates secured places, with A.M.E. Aggrey Memorial Zion Secondary School admitting 400 out of 1,481 candidates. In most cases, candidates who obtained nine ones were referred to their second choice schools. In an address preceding the selection exercise, the Central region Director of Education, Mr Peter King Badu-Prah, suggested that, to ensure that as many qualified candidates as possible gain admission, the top-most aggregate required for admission should be pegged at nine ones and not 10 ones since the maximum number of subjects are nine with French, the tenth subject, being optional. He further appealed to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) through the Ghana Education Service (GES) to evolve a system whereby separate lists would be provided for private and public schools. According to him, the present system of putting candidates of private and public schools together favour candidates from the private schools when it comes to selection for admission. Mr Badu-Prah said, unlike last year, candidates would have to obtain at least an aggregate of 30 for six subjects to gain admission into the sss this year. The municipal chief executive, Madam Naomi Bonney, also urged the heads to ensure that they put in their maximum efforts to enable the students they take in to gain admission to institutions of higher learning.
