His comments come at a time when the 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) exercise has generated considerable discussion over school preferences, limited spaces in highly sought-after institutions and the growing pressure on some Category A schools.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on September 12, 2026, Mr Boakye said the current discussion should not focus only on whether a school belongs to Category A, B or C. In his view, the more important question is whether schools across the country have the teachers, facilities and support required to give students a quality education.
His position introduces a broader question into the current placement debate: should Ghana continue to place so much attention on the status of particular schools, or should government concentrate more heavily on ensuring that students can receive a strong education regardless of the school they attend?
What Ben Boakye Is Asking Government to Change
Mr Boakye's argument is not simply about changing the names or categories attached to schools. His main concern is the quality of education delivered inside those schools.
According to him, Ghana should make sure that secondary schools have capable teachers and the necessary support to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need for their future.
He said the government should not become too focused on maintaining a system in which schools are separated into categories while insufficient attention is given to improving education at every level.
For Mr Boakye, the fact that some schools are more popular than others should not by itself determine where government places its greatest attention and resources.
He acknowledged that parents and students may naturally have strong preferences for particular schools. Some schools have long histories, strong reputations and emotional connections with families and communities.
However, he argued that these preferences should not be allowed to determine the overall direction of government education policy.
Instead, his position is that every secondary school should be capable of delivering the education and training required to prepare young people for productive lives.
Why the Category A Debate Has Become So Important
The discussion about school categories has become particularly important during the 2026 placement exercise because of the high demand for some Category A schools.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu recently acknowledged that the placement system is facing challenges. He said about 604,000 students were in the placement system, with 527,000, representing about 87 per cent, already placed.
The Minister also said there were vacancies in several schools, but the existence of vacancies did not necessarily solve the problem because many of those available spaces were not in schools preferred by students and parents.
The pressure is particularly visible among Category A institutions. Mr Iddrisu said between 313,000 and 328,000 students applied for Category A schools, while those schools had only about 76,000 available places.
These figures help explain why placement has become such a major national discussion. The issue is not simply whether Ghana has enough secondary-school spaces in total. It is also about where those spaces are located and which schools students and families want.
| Placement issue | Reported figure | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Students in placement system | About 604,000 | The scale of the national placement exercise |
| Students already placed | About 527,000 | Most candidates had secured placements |
| Applications for Category A schools | About 313,000–328,000 | Very high demand for popular schools |
| Category A vacancies | About 76,000 | Demand substantially exceeds available spaces |
Ben Boakye Says Quality Should Matter More Than School Labels
The central point in Mr Boakye's argument is that school categories should not become a substitute for improving education.
A school may be highly preferred by parents because of its history, academic reputation, facilities or achievements. Another school may receive less attention even though it has teachers and students capable of achieving strong results.
Mr Boakye believes government should work towards reducing this gap in perception and quality by making sure all secondary schools can provide effective teaching and learning.
His position is therefore broader than the immediate placement crisis. While the current debate is focused heavily on where students are placed, he is asking policymakers to look beyond the placement exercise and consider what happens after a student enters a school.
For students and parents, securing a preferred school is important. But the ultimate purpose of secondary education is not simply to obtain admission into a school with a particular category. It is to receive meaningful education, develop skills and prepare for further education, employment and adult life.
Teachers Remain Central to the Quality Question
One of the areas Mr Boakye specifically highlighted was the role of teachers.
He called on government to ensure that schools across the country have teachers who can effectively deliver the education and training students need.
This point is important because infrastructure alone cannot guarantee learning. New classrooms, dormitories, laboratories and other facilities can improve the environment in which students learn, but qualified and properly supported teachers remain essential to turning those resources into meaningful educational outcomes.
Mr Boakye also suggested that monitoring should play a role in ensuring that schools are meeting the required standards.
His comments therefore point towards a combination of teacher quality, school facilities, supervision and learning outcomes rather than simply using school categories as a measure of educational quality.
His Argument Also Extends to JHS Students
Mr Boakye's comments were not limited to Senior High Schools.
He also called for a broader approach to assessing students at the Junior High School (JHS) level. He argued that Ghana should focus on ensuring that every child has the opportunity to attend school and develop their abilities rather than placing excessive emphasis on grades at the JHS stage.
His argument is that children do not all develop academically at the same pace. A student who performs strongly at JHS may not necessarily be the student who performs best later in life, while another student may improve significantly after progressing to a higher level of education.
For that reason, he advocated giving students equal opportunities to develop regardless of their early academic performance.
This part of his argument connects the placement debate to a wider question about how Ghana identifies academic potential and supports young people throughout the education system.
Government Is Also Looking at More Category A Capacity
Mr Boakye's comments come shortly after government announced plans to expand the number of schools operating at Category A level.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu announced plans to upgrade 20 Category B Senior High Schools to Category A status and construct 10 new model Category A schools.
The proposed interventions are intended to create more opportunities for students seeking admission to highly demanded schools and reduce some of the pressure created by limited spaces in those institutions.
The Minister said government had secured US$300 million from the World Bank through the STARR-J initiative to support infrastructure expansion. He also said GETFund would dedicate between GH¢250 million and GH¢300 million in the 2027 funding formula to expand facilities in 10 Category A schools.
These plans show that the government is pursuing one response to the placement pressure: increasing capacity in schools that attract high demand.
Mr Boakye's position, however, raises another important consideration. Even if more schools are upgraded or additional Category A institutions are created, government would still need to ensure that quality improvements reach schools outside the most popular category.
Would More Category A Schools Solve the Placement Problem?
Expanding capacity could help reduce pressure, but it may not completely eliminate the competition surrounding school placement.
If more students continue to prefer a relatively small group of schools, demand could remain concentrated even after additional institutions are upgraded.
This is why the quality-first argument matters. If students and parents become confident that schools across Ghana can provide strong teaching, adequate facilities and effective academic support, the pressure to secure admission into only a handful of schools could gradually become less intense.
That does not mean school reputation will disappear. Schools with long histories and strong academic records are likely to remain popular. Parents will continue to consider academic performance, location, boarding facilities, discipline, extracurricular activities and other factors when making choices.
The issue is whether the gap between highly preferred schools and less preferred schools can be reduced enough to give families more confidence in the wider system.
The Bigger Issue: Where Should Education Investment Go?
At the heart of the debate is the question of how government resources should be distributed across Ghana's secondary education system.
There is a strong argument for investing in schools facing severe pressure. If a school has overcrowded dormitories, inadequate classrooms or insufficient laboratories, those problems can directly affect students.
At the same time, less popular schools also require investment if the national objective is to provide quality education to students regardless of where they are placed.
A quality-first approach would therefore require policymakers to look at individual school needs rather than assuming that the most popular schools should always receive the greatest attention.
Such an approach could include improving classrooms, laboratories, libraries, ICT facilities, sanitation, accommodation and teaching resources where those needs exist. It could also include ensuring that schools have the teachers and monitoring systems required to maintain educational standards.
What the 2026 Placement Debate Has Revealed
The current placement exercise has exposed a difference between having school spaces available and having spaces that families actually want.
The Ministry of Education has reported that hundreds of thousands of candidates have already been placed and that vacancies remain in several schools. However, many parents and students are concerned when those vacancies are not in their preferred institutions.
The situation has also led to calls for changes to the way school choices and placement are managed.
This makes Mr Boakye's argument particularly relevant to the current discussion. The placement system can determine where a student attends school, but the quality of the education available after placement depends on the school itself.
If the country wants to reduce the anxiety surrounding placement, improving the overall quality and confidence in the secondary school system may be just as important as adjusting the placement mechanism.
Parents Will Still Have Their Preferences
It is important to recognise that Mr Boakye did not suggest that parents should stop having preferences.
He acknowledged that people will continue to categorise schools in their own minds and that families can have emotional attachments to particular institutions.
The point he made was that government policy should not be built primarily around those preferences.
For parents, this means that the current debate should not be interpreted as a message that all schools are identical. Schools can still differ in their history, programmes, facilities, location, culture and academic performance.
Rather, the wider policy question is whether every student should have access to a sufficiently strong educational environment, even when the student does not obtain their first-choice school.
How This Could Affect Future SHS Placement Discussions
The debate is unlikely to end with the 2026 placement exercise.
Government has already indicated that it wants to increase infrastructure and expand capacity in selected schools. At the same time, concerns about school categorisation, student preferences and the distribution of vacancies are likely to remain part of discussions about the future of the CSSPS.
Mr Boakye's contribution adds another dimension to that conversation: improving the quality of schools across the country so that students are not judged primarily by the prestige attached to the institution they attend.
Whether policymakers ultimately adopt that approach will depend on future education decisions, investment priorities and the government's assessment of what is required to improve learning outcomes.
Related Education Updates
For readers following Ghana's secondary education system, 247 World Reports has also published useful updates on the current academic year and the placement process.
You can read our detailed guide on the 2026/2027 SHS and SHTS Academic Calendar for the reopening, vacation and closing dates affecting students.
We have also published a guide explaining 2026 CSSPS Self Placement for candidates who were unable to secure one of their preferred choices.
What Happens Next?
The most important question now is how Ghana responds to the wider issues exposed by the 2026 placement exercise.
Increasing the number of available places in highly demanded schools may help reduce some pressure. Improving infrastructure in existing schools may also help. But if the quality gap between schools remains significant, competition for a limited number of institutions could continue.
Mr Boakye's proposal therefore shifts the conversation from simply asking which school a student gets to asking what kind of education that student receives after placement.
That distinction is important. A successful education system should not depend entirely on a student winning a place at one of the most popular schools. It should provide meaningful opportunities for students across the country, regardless of the category attached to their school.
For now, Mr Boakye's comments remain a call for government to reconsider the emphasis placed on school categorisation and put greater attention on teachers, facilities, monitoring and learning outcomes across the entire secondary education system.
The ongoing 2026 placement debate provides a timely setting for that conversation, particularly as government works to respond to strong demand for some schools while also considering broader investments in Ghana's education infrastructure.
Conclusion
Ben Boakye's intervention has broadened the discussion around Ghana's SHS placement challenges. Rather than focusing only on how many schools belong to Category A, B or C, he is calling for attention to the quality of education delivered in every secondary school.
His position is that government should ensure schools have capable teachers, appropriate facilities, effective support and monitoring systems so that students can develop the knowledge and skills they need.
The 2026 placement figures show why the debate matters. With hundreds of thousands of students competing for limited places in highly preferred Category A schools, simply adding more demand to the same institutions may not provide a complete long-term solution.
Whether Ghana can gradually make quality education more consistent across its secondary schools will be a much bigger test than the category assigned to any individual institution.
For students and parents, the hope is that future reforms will not only make placement more efficient but also strengthen the quality of education available wherever a student is placed.
Disclaimer
This article is an independent news and informational report prepared by 247 World Reports based on publicly reported statements and information available at the time of publication. The views attributed to Ben Boakye are his own and should not be interpreted as an official government position.
Figures and policy details concerning the 2026 SHS placement exercise may change as the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service and CSSPS provide further updates. Readers should verify important placement information through official education channels.
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