Corruption is the enemy of quality education — CHRAJ

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) says corruption denies children of access to quality basic education.

Mr. John Ato Breboh, a CHRAJ Senior Principal Investigator at Tema, said primary education must have priority in resource allocation because it deals with the fundamental basis for a person’s development.

“It is the responsibility of the state to provide for primary education and maintain educational services. A government cannot waive that responsibility by giving more room to the private sector, or stimulating public-private partnerships for financing the educational infrastructure,” Mr Breboh stated.

Mr. Breboh stated during the joint launch of a series of activities to commemorate the 2022 Human Rights Day by CHRAJ and the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office in Tema.

The global community has adopted the 2022 Human Rights Day slogan as “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All” and the call to action is #StandUp4HumanRights” in recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

The commemoration was jointly launched by Mr. Breboh, Ms. Isabella Ayiam, Mrs. Dzifa Adatsi CHRAJ Investigators, and Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager at the GNA-Tema Industrial News Hub platform.

Mr. Breboh said educational institutions must be accessible to everyone, without discrimination and this should include physical and economic accessibility.

He said the essence of the right to education means that no one shall be denied a right to education.

In practice, this means an individual’s right to access to the education available, or in more concrete terms, the right of access to the existing public educational institutions on a non-discriminatory basis.

“A violation of this right is restricting access to girls (Pregnant) and of people belonging to a specific ethnic, linguistic or religious group to the existing public educational institutions.

“In addition, education provided for by the state should be of the same quality for all groups in society; girls, for example, should not be given education of an inferior standard compared to boys,” he said.

Mr. Breboh said accessibility includes two other dimensions: physical accessibility – education has to be within safe physical reach for children, and economic accessibility – education has to be affordable to all.

He said as the global community marks human rights day the country must adhere to core international treaties relevant to guarantee the right to education by every child.

He said even though the country considers its human as a resource capital, unfortunately, little has been done in terms of equipping pupils with working skills to be employed if they are unable to progress to the next academic level.

Mr. Breboh said quality education was a right of every Ghanaian child and involved availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability.

Mr Ameybor urged the media to join forces with human rights institutions to raise awareness of human rights issues, expose violations, and empower people to act.

Mr Ameyibor said everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media.