BY Daniel Bampoe
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has launched a fresh attack on the Mahama administration over what it describes as a growing education crisis affecting more than 200,000 Ghanaian students and school leavers, accusing the government of reacting only after problems become public.
In a policy statement dated September 7, 2026, the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee said two separate groups of young Ghanaians were currently facing uncertainty over their next stage of education or training.
The party identified them as the 54,985 candidates who sat the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) but were initially not assigned secondary school placements, and the 183,233 WASSCE candidates who completed senior high school without obtaining a credit in Core Mathematics.
The NPP’s criticism comes against the background of the long-running debate over access to secondary education, the implementation of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme and recurring pressure on the country’s school-placement system.
According to the opposition party, the immediate controversy surrounding the BECE candidates began after 54,985 young people were informed that they had not qualified for secondary school, only for the government to subsequently change its position and announce that 53,887 of the affected candidates could undertake self-placement online.
The NPP, however, argues that opening an online self-placement portal does not solve the underlying problem.
A portal not a school place
The party has particularly aimed at the government’s September 7 announcement directing affected candidates to return to the placement platform and select available schools themselves.
The NPP contends that by the time thousands of candidates access the system, many of the schools and programmes they originally wanted may no longer have vacancies. It warns that the remaining options could force some families to accept schools far from home, unwanted programmes or additional transportation and accommodation expenses.
The opposition party says the success of the government’s intervention should therefore not be measured by the number of students who are able to access an online portal, but by the number who ultimately secure actual seats in classrooms.
“The NPP calls on Government to stop reacting to each problem only after it becomes public,” the party said, insisting that both groups of young people need practical pathways rather than announcements.
The party’s position places the spotlight on the apparent contradiction between the total number of available spaces in the secondary-school system and the number of students struggling to obtain placements.
With 859,828 vacancies, thousands still are without preferred placement
The NPP points to government figures showing 859,828 vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates, arguing that Ghana does not necessarily have a national shortage of secondary-school places.
Instead, it says the problem is concentrated around demand for a relatively small number of highly sought-after schools.
According to the statement, 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools collectively have only 76,417 places.
That disparity, the NPP argues, highlights the need for the government to improve less-demanded schools rather than allowing thousands of students to remain stranded because they could not secure their preferred institutions.
The party also revisited the political controversy surrounding the double-track system, which was introduced under the previous NPP administration as part of efforts to accommodate increased enrolment following the expansion of Free SHS.
The NPP explains that after campaigning against double-track education, the current NDC administration should have developed alternative strategies to expand capacity in schools that have available spaces. It argues that such measures should include improving infrastructure, providing teachers, upgrading laboratories and strengthening academic programmes.
WASSCE results raise another alarm
While the placement controversy has dominated the immediate debate, the NPP says the difficulties facing the education sector extend beyond BECE placement.
It has also raised concerns about the latest WASSCE performance, particularly in English Language and Core Mathematics.
The party says results in both subjects remain below the levels recorded in 2024, when the current government assumed office. It acknowledges that Core Mathematics performance has recovered from the previous year’s decline, but argues that the improvement has not restored results to the 2024 level. English Language performance, it says, has declined for two consecutive years.
The NPP’s argument challenges the explanation previously associated with poor examination performance: stricter invigilation.
According to the statement, the government last year attributed weak results partly to tougher examination supervision. The opposition now argues that invigilation remained strict this year, while results in three subjects improved.
It therefore contends that examination supervision alone cannot adequately explain the performance trends, pointing instead to broader issues such as teaching quality, instructional time, learning materials, attendance and student support.
The party concludes that these young people cannot afford to wait for another emergency response from government.
“The Education Sector appears rather to be running the Government,” the NPP said, accusing the administration of moving only after education problems become matters of public controversy.
The statement was signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, MP, Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, with Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Dr Prince Hamid Armah, Tabitha Ayilah, Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, Barbara Ayisi and Samuel Nii Palm.
