Rev. Nicholas Adu Berko, headmaster of Mansoman Senior High School in Kumasi, said his school has the capacity to host between 800 and 900 students, yet enrolments are falling as parents change their children’s placements.
He told reporters at a resolution centre that the school’s Computerised School Selection and Placement System portal once listed more than 600 students, but the number has begun to drop as parents seek what they consider more preferred schools.
“When the placement came, I had almost about 600-plus students on my portal. But between yesterday and today, I have seen that the rate at which we are expecting students to come to the school to give them admissions is not going as it should,” he said.
Mr Berko noted that the trend could leave other schools with significant vacancies, even though they have the necessary facilities and teachers. He added that several students were visiting the resolution centre to change their placements, a fact he could confirm on the portal where a student with an aggregate of 10 was no longer listed.
He highlighted that Mansoman SHS has classrooms, dormitories, beds and other infrastructure that can accommodate 800 to 900 pupils, yet parents still hesitate to send their children due to poor road conditions and the perception that schools outside major urban centres lack quality teachers.
“But they don’t want my school because they will give reasons that the roads are not good, and they’re now fixing it,” he said. “When we say we’re giving everybody equal opportunities, wherever you are, you should be able to learn.”
Mr Berko challenged the notion that schools outside major cities are inferior, pointing out that his teachers are equally qualified to those at well-known institutions such as Prempeh College and Opoku Ware School. He urged the government to stop ranking schools in a way that influences parental choice.
He said he hopes one day schools will no longer be graded and that parents will be free to choose without the need for resolution centres.
