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Reliable information available to The Finder indicates that barring any last-minute hitch, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) will release the results of the 2016 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) today.

Consequently, The Finder contacted officials of the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) on their readiness to post candidates to Senior High Schools (SHSs) on merit.

National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Kwasi Abankwa Anokye, affirmed the readiness of his outfit to place BECE candidates into Senior High Schools.

SHSs declare 516, 867 vacancies

He disclosed that Senior High Schools in the country have declared 516, 867 vacancies in 832 public and private SHS, 151 technical schools and 41 new Community Day SHSs for the admission of qualified BECE candidates

The vacancies declared are 55,858 more than the number of BECE candidates who wrote the exams which is 461,009 candidates.

He stated that the 41 new Community Day SHSs would be ready and available for placement by October and the number is expected to increase to 70 by December.

Regional breakdown of vacancies

The regional breakdown of the vacancies declared include Upper West - 13,747, Greater Accra - 53,817, Eastern Region - 81,442, Central - 50,931, Western - 35,050.

The rest are Ashanti - 130,512, Brong Ahafo - 51,435, Volta - 56,051 Northern - 27,447 and Upper East - 16,435.

The declared vacancies of 516, 867 is more than the 461, 009 candidates from 14,267 public and private junior high schools who took the 2016 BECE.

According to Mr Anokye, vacancies have gone up because of the addition of 41 new Community Day SHSs.

He explained that the additional vacancies would help CSSPS to place more candidates.

In view of the congestion is SHS across the country, the National Co-ordinator of the CSSPS was happy that the additional vacancies would help to decongest schools.

He, therefore, entreated parents, guardians and candidates to be patient and desist from going to the CSSPS secretariat or the GES headquarters to check on the placement.

According to him, once CSSPS receives raw scores or merit list, it should be able to finish the placement exercise.

Mr Anokye said the CSSPS, which became operational in the year 2005, played a major role in this transition as its operations were intended to reduce human errors by depending on technology.

He said the decision to automate the selection and placement of successful BECE candidates into senior high schools, technical and vocational institutes was a measure taken to address a number of weaknesses inherent in the manual operation.

These include the use of hardcopy placement cards, the annual regional selection exercise and the regionalised choice of schools, which was restrictive and subject to national disintegration.

Mr Anokye said the CSSPS, apart from placing candidates, had taken advantage of the huge potential technology provided to introduce innovations such as candidates checking their BECE results online and also using mobile phones to easily access placement results.

He said access into SHS, technical and vocational institutes had greatly improved with the inception of the system as nearly 90 to 95 per cent of BECE candidates were selected and placed in their chosen second-cycle schools.