Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has called on government to revisit the Free and Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) program.
According to Eduwatch, government must equally advance to make basic education free for all children in the country.
In commemoration of World Children’s Day 2022, it revealed that it has been six decades since the United Nations Declarations of the Rights of the Child, which includes the rights to education. The group noted that children cannot realize their full potentials without access to quality education.
“On this occasion of the World Children’s Day 2022, the government of Ghana must revisit FCUBE and re-commit to making basic education free, universally accessible and compulsory for all Ghanaian children by increasing capital investments and financing of public basic education.”
Eduwatch
In furtherance of the Declarations of the Rights of the Child, Article 38 (2) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, Eduwatch explained that it provided for Free and Compulsory Universal Basic Education for all children.
Additionally, the group stated that seventeen years since the implementation of FCUBE, about “1.2 million children are still not in school”, per data from the Ghana Statistical Service.
“Seventeen years after implementing FCUBE, public basic education is neither truly free, compulsory or universally accessible to all Ghanaian children. Hidden fees, low government investment in building new schools and maintaining and operating existing ones, and poverty continue to hamper universal access.”
Eduwatch
World Children’s Day celebration
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in marking the day, highlighted that through its work with grassroots football, children’s NGOs and the UEFA Foundation, UEFA is committed to using the power of football to improve children’s welfare, safety and personal development.
“We honour this pledge every day by providing safe and equal football opportunities to children, through which they can grow up peacefully and blossom while playing the beautiful game.”
UEFA
The theme for this year’s celebration of World Children’s Day is: ‘Inclusion, For Every Child’. The celebration was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on 20th November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.
November 20th is equally an important date as it is the date the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Since 1990, World Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children’s rights.
Mothers and fathers, teachers, nurses and doctors, government leaders and civil society activists, religious and community elders, corporate moguls and media professionals, as well as young people and children themselves, can play an important part in making World Children’s Day relevant for their societies, communities and nations.
World Children’s Day offers each of us an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for children.
