The Ministry of Education has issued a strong warning to students, parents and guardians against fraudulent Computerised School Selection and Placement System, CSSPS, placement slips being circulated on social media, cautioning that some of the documents have been digitally manipulated to create the false impression that students’ original school placements have been altered.
The Ministry said it had become aware of attempts by unscrupulous individuals to digitally modify official looking placement documents and distribute them through social media platforms, thereby generating confusion and unnecessary anxiety among students and their families.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, September 9, by the Ministry’s Press Secretary, Hashmin Mohammed, the Ministry described the claims accompanying the circulated documents as false and misleading and urged the public to disregard placement information that has not been obtained through authorised CSSPS channels.
The Ministry said preliminary internal verification had established that some of the placement slips currently being circulated do not correspond with records generated through the official CSSPS platform.
Particular attention has been drawn to discrepancies involving the barcodes and QR codes displayed on some of the purported placement documents. According to the Ministry, the codes on the questionable slips do not correspond with the placement information presented on the documents, raising significant concerns about their authenticity.
The Ministry further stated that its system records and audit logs do not support the allegations that students’ original placements have been changed in the manner being claimed on social media.
Instead, the evidence available to the Ministry indicates that the affected documents have been digitally manipulated or otherwise altered in an attempt to make it appear that legitimate placement results have been changed.
The Ministry described the development as a serious attempt to undermine public confidence in the CSSPS placement process while creating avoidable uncertainty among students, parents and guardians who depend on the system for information concerning senior high school and other placement outcomes.
The Ministry has consequently referred the matter to the Cyber Security Authority and other relevant security agencies for further investigation and appropriate action.
It has also urged students, parents and guardians to exercise the utmost caution and refrain from forwarding questionable placement slips or unverified claims across social media platforms.
The Ministry stressed that members of the public should rely exclusively on placement information obtained through official CSSPS channels and should use the appropriate institutional mechanisms to raise concerns where they believe a placement result requires review.
The warning comes at a time when students and families are closely monitoring the 2026 CSSPS placement exercise, making the circulation of fabricated documents particularly capable of causing widespread confusion and distress.
The Ministry has therefore sought to reassure the public that legitimate concerns regarding placement will be properly examined through the established procedures and that authentic placement information will remain the basis for decisions concerning students’ school placements.
It reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the 2026 CSSPS placement exercise is conducted with transparency, fairness, integrity and accountability.
The Ministry has consequently appealed to the public to remain vigilant and to avoid becoming victims of misleading information, particularly materials circulated online without verification from the official placement system.
It maintained that any genuine changes or corrections to placement information would be communicated through the appropriate channels and urged the public not to rely on digitally altered documents presented as official records.
