Kingpin in ‘School Placement for Sale’ used to work at Education Ministry canteen – Kwasi Kwarteng

The Education Ministry has debunked claims suggesting that the kingpin in Fourth Estate’s investigative piece “School Placement for Sale” is a staff.

The documentary which uncovered widespread fraud in the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSPSS) had a woman by the name Rachel who was acting as an intermediary to alleged ‘big men’ at the Education Ministry. In regards to this, the spokesperson of the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng said it is untrue that she is a staff, but used to work at the Ministry’s canteen.

“The understanding that I have from Manasseh’s video is that she was a former worker with the Ministry where she used to work with the Ministry’s canteen, she was not even working for the Ministry per se, but a private individual working in the Ministry’s canteen,” he added.

However, speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, on the eight individuals who were arrested for acting as intermediaries for the Ministry, Mr Kwarteng said anybody could have acted as a staff in his outfit to extort monies from parents.

“The Ministry of Education had rented a private facility at the GNAT hostel which operated as a resolution centre where we were serving the general public.

“It was possible that everybody could get in, establish the case, advance the reasons why there has to be changes for his or her ward. Within this process its possible there could be compromise. “Somebody can also take your money and make a very strong case without even any officer taking money, but of course the exploitation continues,” he added.

The spokesperson expressed his joy in the fact that the faces of these individuals were clear and believes the culprits will be able to expose the bad nuts at the Ministry. Mr Kwarteng did not deny that there may be staff of the Ministry involved in the fraudulent act, but vehemently rejected the allegation that the heads of Education Ministry and Director General of the GES were involved.

The Minister of Education and Ghana Education Service are the only individuals with the passwords that give them access to place students in Grade A schools. As such, after the investigation, many queried how the intermediaries were able to add names to the list of these schools. Mr Kwarteng however, explained that 90% of placement was done through the automatic placement.

The remainder, he said, is then divided equally by the school and the Education Service, adding that heads of various school can accept students to their institution then send a message to the Service for approval.

Source: insidergh.com