2022 BECE School Selection and Choice: How to make intelligent picks

Do you know how to make intelligent accurate picks when the 2022 BECE School Selection and Choice phase starts? Keep reading as we share with you very useful tips and ideas to make choices the right way.

The 2022 BECE assessment by WAEC is over, and so we are moving to the crucial 2022 School Selection and Choice phase where parents and candidates are expected to make informed guesses by choosing six schools out of which the candidate will more likely be placed in one of them.

Predicted School Placement month and what may happen

When the 2022 School placements are released between February and March 2023, many candidates will be disappointed because a lot of them will not be placed in any of their choices. Others will be lucky to get to do the stressful self-placement because they made choices that did not match their performance in the BECE.

Do you know you can actually select schools carefully and never, miss being placed in your favourite school? I will reveal this strategy as you read along.

This article will provide parents and candidates with some informed pieces of advice which must guide the choices made.

The truth is nearly all candidates want to be placed in the best schools, often known as category A schools.

However, these schools are also oversubscribed each year and during the 2022 School Selection and Choice phase, the same things will happen.

Parents must be extra careful not to be carried away by their tastes and preferences or that of their wards when selecting schools. If preference is not guided and choices are not made based on the candidate’s academic strength, the chances of a candidate being displaced and thus not being placed in any of the secondary, technical or vocational schools in Ghana becomes very high.

How to make a near-perfect school choice in the 2022 BECE School Selection and Choice

As a parent or candidate, be guided by the following pieces of advice.

#1. When you make a choice or select a school, opt for the cluster option by choosing YES. This cluster feature means that, if your ward is not placed in the school he or she chose, the Ministry of Education should consider him or her for similar schools in the same category. It would make it easy for the candidate to be placed in a school to avoid the dreaded self-placement and the stress associated with it.

#2. Note that schools are not in the various categories because of the academic performance of candidates, but rather they have been classified based on their infrastructure. The schools in category A for instance have all the nice and good school infrastructure, but that does not make them better options for passing the WASSCE and making it to the university. These schools end up being oversubscribed and very competitive to get since all the best BECE graduates select these schools. Often the best-grade students end up in these schools. If you are not among the best five in your class, please do not risk missing the chance to get your first choice school. Why not start making your choices from Category B?

#3. Given the chance, candidates who are above average, thus those who often score between 320 and 350 raw score, can easily get placed in a Category B school even if they choose a Category A school as their first choice. Reduce the completion by choosing your first two choices from Category B schools. If the candidate is a below-average candidate who scores between 250 and 320 as the raw score in his or her mock, it would be prudent that such a candidate makes one school choice from category B, four choices from category C and one from Category D. Do not enter into unnecessary competition with the top candidates for schools in category A and B.

#4. When making a school choice, look carefully at the number of programmes or courses the school offers candidates. Schools that have five to six programmes admit more candidates across all programmes, more than schools that run three to four programmes. This should guide your choice.

#5. Note that making a school choice and gaining admission or getting placed in a school becomes even more competitive if the accommodation option is boarding. There are many candidates who miss placement into a school not because they did not meet the raw score required but instead because, they opted for boarding, but the boarding slot was full. In such a case, the school will give placement priority to those who opted for Day in the same school even if their raw scores are lower than another candidate who opted for boarding.

READ:  2022 School Selection Guidelines and New Features Released

#6. Candidates who do not have a strong mathematics and science background should not be forced to study General Science or Business. These are two of the very competitive programmes out there. If the candidate has challenges with these programmes, he or she should opt for General Arts, Visual Arts, Home Economics or technical programmes. This will also increase the candidate’s chances of getting placed in a school.

#7. In making your choices, do not select schools anyhow, especially the 5^th and 6^th choice. Most candidates and parents put just any school in these positions because they feel they will get a school between their 1^st and 4^th choices. This perception is not always true. Know that you can be placed in any of the schools you choose, hence, make very wise and careful choices.

These suggestions shared with you should help you make an informed guess in choosing schools. Do not follow friends and make the wrong choices. The new school selection process which allows candidates to choose schools after the examination is a good move because the candidate is expected to make a good guess as to what he or she is likely to score in the examination and this should guide you in making your school choices.

Take note that the 2022 BECE School Selection and Choice phase of the BECE is not a game to be toyed with. Let us make informed choices based on the academic capabilities of the candidate. Do not let your taste and preference mess up your decision-making.

School categories and the number of choices to make from each

a) Must choose Six(6) schools(1st – 6th choices) in all.

b) Must select programmes and accommodation for eachselected school.

c) Must choose a compulsory day as 6th choice (Catchment Area School) or choose boarding school from the list of schools in Appendix 3

d) Must indicate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to accept or decline to opt for a cluster.

e) Candidates who wish to offer purely TVET Programmes must select all six (6) TVETS schools from CATEGORY A, B and C as Day or Boarding

f) Cannot choose more than one (1) School from Category A

g) Cannot select more than two (2) schools from Category B

h) May select five (5) choices from Category C and One (1) from Category D (Day) or Appendix 3 (Special Boarding)

a) Must choose Six(6) schools(1st – 6th choices) in all.

b) Must select programmes and accommodation for eachselected school.

c) Must choose a compulsory day as 6th choice (Catchment Area School) or choose boarding school from the list schools in Appendix 3

d) Must indicate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to accept or decline to opt for a cluster.

e) Candidates who wish to offer purely TVET Programmes must select all six (6) TVETS schools from CATEGORY A, B and C as Day or Boarding

f) Cannot choose more than one (1) School from Category A

g) Cannot select more than two (2) schools from Category B

h) May select five (5) choices from Category C and One (1) from Category D (Day) or Appendix 3 (Special Boarding)

The Category A, B, C ,D Schools to consider

Category A Secondary Schools in Ghana –Here

Category B Secondary Schools in Ghana –Here

Category C Secondary Schools in Ghana –Here

Category D Secondary Schools in Ghana –Here

These suggestions are based on my over 15 years of experience in guiding BECE candidates to make the right choices and get placed in a preferred school. Your decision to rely on or not to rely on this advice is a choice you personally have to make and be liable for.

Source: Wisdom Hammond |Team Lead, GhanaEducation.org