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PPP to seek Supreme Court interpretation on free SHS

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has instructed its lawyers to send an application to the Supreme Court for an interpretation and enforcement of Article 38 (2) of the 1992 Constitution on the policy of Free, Compulsory, and Universal Basic Education, since the period of compulsory implementation has long elapsed.

According to the PPP,  both the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress have failed to comply with the basic constitutional requirement on compulsory basic education for all children.  

It, therefore, warned that any attempt to play political games with the future of the Ghanaian child would be resisted by the PPP.

The party was reacting to a statement attributed to the Minister of Information, Mr Mahama Ayariga, on Joy FM News analysis programme, Newsfile, that it was Nana Akufo-Addo who promised to implement “Free, Compulsory, and Universal Basic Education as contained in the 1992 Constitution.”

“We cannot allow this deliberate mischief by the minister to pass without comment,” a statement signed by the National Secretary of PPP, Mr Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, declared. 

According to the statement, it was the PPP that campaigned vigorously to implement Article 38 (2) of the 1992 Constitution.

“We stated on our political platform that the PPP will “ensure free and compulsory education in public schools from kindergarten to senior high school (including computer training) and deploy Education Police to enforce the compulsory aspect of our policy,” the statement stressed.

 The statement explained that Nana Akufo-Addo campaigned for “Free SHS” and  never stated anywhere that the NPP would pursue a policy of compulsory and universal basic education let alone “extend the policy to the SHS” as deliberately indicated by the Minister of Information. 

The statement pointed out that it was regrettable that the Minister of Information did not even know the policy options of the political parties in Ghana as far as the 2012 Presidential Election was concerned.

  According to the statement, Article 38 (2) stipulates that  “the Government shall, within two years after Parliament first meets after the coming into force of this Constitution, draw up a programme for implementation within the following 10 years, for the provision of free, compulsory and universal basic education.

The statement concluded by urging the Minister of Information to cross-check his facts, set the records straight and apologise for misinforming Ghanaians.

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