The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a writ filed by the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) which sought to compel government to enforce the free aspect of the free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) policy.
[contextly_sidebar id=”f7bfmK1RISfVPzhNhIgLhCFYdJ1tQ3LS”]The PPP had argued that per Article 25(1)(a) of Ghana’s 1992 constitution “All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realization of that right-basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all,” hence insisting that government must implement the policy.
According to the PPP, though successive governments over the years have introduced a number of interventions including the School Feeding Programme, capitation grant, the distribution of free exercise books and the provision of free school uniforms to support this initiative, they have failed to implement fully the entire policy resulting in children of school going age to loiter about during school hours.
But the seven member panel of judges who sat on the case did not assign any reason for their decision.
They have thus set July 28, 2015 to present their reason for the dismissal of the case.
Meanwhile, The party’s founder, Paa Kwesi Nduom has described the ruling as disappointing adding that he will seek for other avenues to have the issue addressed.
He had indicated that government’s failure to implement some sections of the policy contributed to Ghana being at the bottom in a recent global school rankings.
The Organisation Economic Cooperation Development(OECD) in a report released on Wednesday said “If Ghana, the lowest ranked country, achieved basic skills for all its 15-year-olds, it would expand its current GDP by 38 times, over the lifetime of today’s youngsters.”
In a post on Facebook, he explained that the party therefore needs to compel government to implement the policy because of the OECD’s link between education and economic growth.
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By: Fred Djabanor/citifmonline.com/Ghana