A/R: Free SHS Secretariat denies bribery allegations in School Placement Exercise

The Deputy Ashanti Regional Coordinator for the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) Secretariat, Michael Owusu Baafi, has dismissed allegations of bribery against the Secretariat in the ongoing school placement exercise.

Speaking to Citi News on Friday, October 10, 2025, Mr Owusu Baafi emphasised that the Secretariat does not charge any fees for placement services and cautioned parents against dealing with middlemen.

He urged them to visit the placement centre directly if they encounter any challenges.

“Here we don’t pay money. We don’t pay money to get admission. We have schools available. When you come and you prefer any of those schools, we’ll put your ward in it. If you come through an agent, the agent will come here, we’ll do it for the agent for free, and maybe that person is the one coming to charge you.

So, if you have any challenge, anything, come to the centre. Don’t go to a second party or a third party; we don’t do that,” he said.

Mr. Owusu Baafi revealed that the Secretariat has so far resolved more than 6,000 placement-related issues.

“We have not considered the numbers, but we have almost 6,000 people coming in to bring their complaints. And as the system has changed from previous years, what we used to do, now we’ll send all the reports to Accra, and then they do it from Accra,” he added.

He further assured parents that there are still many schools available for placement and reiterated that the process remains free of charge.

“And even at the centre, we have schools that are available; the schools are here. Some of the headmasters, too, have come to us that if you get students, we should just send it to them, they will do the protocol for those students for free.

So, if you have any issue and you go behind, you go see somebody somewhere, and the person takes your money, it’s not us, we