The Ministry of Education has dismissed reports that it plans to downgrade Category A Senior High Schools, saying the government’s focus is on improving infrastructure to expand access and upgrade selected Category B schools to Category A status.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Tuesday, October 14, Media Relations Officer for the Ministry, Hashim Mohammed, explained that the Minister’s earlier comments had been misinterpreted.
He clarified that the government intends to invest heavily in infrastructure in both Category A and B schools to address the growing demand for placement.
“I think the Minister said we need to improve infrastructure in Category A schools, as well as upgrade some of the infrastructure in Category B schools and elevate them to Category A schools. This is because the number of students who demand Category A schools is very high,” he noted.
He explained that while Category A schools have space for only 76,537 students, about 393,593 students qualify for admission, showing that there are far more students than available spaces.
“So you can see the discrepancy between the vacancy and the number of qualified students, simply because the government has not invested much in terms of infrastructure in the Category A schools,” he said.
Mr Hashim further explained that four regions in the country currently have no Category A schools, and that the government is making plans to invest and improve infrastructure.
“The Minister never said they are going to downgrade Category A schools. He said the government needs to deploy more to improve infrastructure and upgrade some of the Category A schools so that they will be able to absorb more students, as well as elevate some of the Category B schools into Category A so that we can have a lot of Category A schools.”
His remarks follow the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu’s plan to reclassify some SHS across the country in a bid to address persistent challenges with the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
The move, he said, will be supported by major infrastructure investment to ensure equity in school placement.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Ministry on Tuesday, October 14, Haruna Iddrisu explained that the decision is part of efforts to ease pressure on a handful of elite schools during the placement process.
The Minister added that the government will invest in new classroom blocks, dormitories, and laboratories in the selected schools to match their new status.
He stressed that the reclassification will help distribute students more evenly and make the placement system more efficient.
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