The Ministry of Education has warned students, parents and guardians against fake and digitally manipulated Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) placement slips circulating on social media.
The warning comes amid concerns over the 2026/2027 SHS placement exercise, which saw 54,985 qualified BECE candidates miss automatic placement into their preferred schools.
The Ministry has attributed the challenge largely to a mismatch between candidates’ choices and available vacancies.
It said 859,828 vacancies were declared, but demand exceeded available spaces in some categories, particularly Category A schools.
The Ministry said some individuals are now digitally altering placement slips and circulating them to create the impression that students’ original placements have been changed.
In a statement, the Ministry said preliminary checks found that some circulated slips did not correspond with records on the official CSSPS platform.
“Following preliminary internal verification, the Ministry has established that some of the placement slips being circulated do not correspond with records generated from the official CSSPS platform.”
It said the barcodes, QR codes, system records and audit logs on the affected documents did not support claims of changes to students’ placements.
“The evidence available to the Ministry indicates that the affected documents have been digitally manipulated or otherwise altered to create the impression that students’ placements have been changed.”
The Ministry has referred the matter to the Cyber Security Authority and other relevant security agencies for investigation.
It has urged the public not to share unverified placement slips or claims online and advised students and parents to rely only on official CSSPS channels.
