Tension and frustration have characterised activities at the GNAT Hall in Accra as the exercise to resolve challenges with the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) enters its third day.
Anxious parents and candidates continue to visit the Greater Accra Placement Resolution Centre, hoping to find solutions to their outstanding placement concerns.
Some parents reportedly spent the night at the facility before returning at dawn, determined to secure assistance after unsuccessful attempts to resolve their issues in previous days.
The centre has witnessed a significant increase in the number of parents and candidates seeking assistance with various placement-related concerns.
The issues include unsuccessful placements, difficulties with school selection, as well as requests to change placements between day and boarding arrangements.
The long queues and prolonged waiting times have added to the frustration of parents and candidates at the centre. Some say they have spent several hours, and in some cases the entire night, at the car park in the hope of getting their placement concerns resolved.
One frustrated parent seeking assistance with his son’s school placement said he had to spend the night at the GNAT Hall car park with his child after waiting for several hours without receiving the needed assistance.
The parent said his son was initially placed at Apam Day Senior High School in the Central Region as a day student. However, after reporting to the school, they were directed to the GNAT Hall in Accra to seek further assistance with the placement.
He said, determined to have the issue resolved, he left home at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday and arrived at the placement centre around 4 a.m., only to join other parents waiting for assistance.
However, despite arriving early, he said the large number of people at the centre made it difficult for officials to attend to everyone promptly.
According to him, officials started attending to parents at about 8 a.m. and instructed those seeking to change their wards’ placement from day to boarding to state their reasons in writing on the designated forms.
He said he provided the required information and, along with several other parents, was asked to wait for further assistance.
However, after waiting throughout the day, the parents were eventually asked to return to the centre the following day, Wednesday, to continue the process.
With his son’s placement issue still unresolved, the parent said he had no choice but to remain at the centre overnight in the hope of securing assistance the next morning.
“I left home as early as 3 a.m. and got here at 4 a.m. The officials started work around 8 a.m. We were asked to write our reasons for changing from day to boarding. After collecting the forms, they told us to wait.”
“I came early today and pleaded with them to attend to us. So I am still waiting,” he said.
The parent said he and his son eventually spent the night at the GNAT Hall car park after their placement issue remained unresolved.
His experience reflects the growing frustration among parents at the CSSPS placement centre, with some reportedly arriving as early as dawn to secure assistance.
Requests to change placements from day to boarding have also emerged as one of the key concerns, as many parents seek adjustments to their children’s residential status.
The affected parents are calling for the establishment of additional placement resolution centres across the Greater Accra Region to ease congestion and reduce the long waiting times at the GNAT Hall.
They are also appealing for better communication from the authorities and the deployment of additional personnel to help process the growing number of placement-related cases.