The Executive Secretary of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has criticised Ghana’s failure to fully enforce compulsory basic education.

He argued that persistent policy hesitation is contributing to rising truancy and school dropouts, particularly in parts of northern Ghana.

The findings of a census conducted across 20 districts in northern Ghana revealed worrying levels of truancy despite the presence of basic school infrastructure in several communities.

The findings, according to Eduwatch, suggest that weak enforcement of existing laws is more likely than the absence of policy provisions.

Referencing Article 38(2) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees Free Compulsory Basic Education (FCUBE), Mr Asare lamented Ghana’s continued reluctance to implement the compulsory aspect of the policy.

“Article 38(2) of the Constitution provides for free and compulsory basic education, but the challenge is that Ghana has still not mustered the courage to fully enforce the compulsory aspect,” he stated.

He dismissed long-standing arguments that compulsory education should only be enforced after all infrastructural and resource gaps in the education sector are addressed.

“The discussion within political corridors has always been about how to declare basic education compulsory when we have not provided adequate schools. But the reality is that no country in the world has full adequacy in schools or educational inputs — it has to start from somewhere,” Mr Asare added.

Africa Education Watch is urging Parliament to take decisive action to operationalise compulsory basic education, warning that continued inaction risks undermining child development, widening inequality and jeopardising Ghana’s long-term human capital development.