Event organiser and Public Relations Officer for Charterhouse, Robert Klah, has called for the need to add Ghana’s constitution to the educational syllabus to encourage citizens to know their rights and privileges.
According to him, since ignorance of the law is not an excuse, he believes state institutions such as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Ministry of Education should embark on deliberate measures to educate the public about the constitution.
This follows Akuapem Poloo’s case where she was arrested for going nude in front of her son in a birthday photo she posted on her Instagram page some months ago.
Poloo said she did it out of ignorance of the law. Reacting to it, Mr Klah said a lot of crimes in the country could have been prevented if the constitution was part of the educational syllabus “right from primary 1”.
“How do we do the right thing when we don’t know it’s the right thing? How do we choose not to do the wrong thing when we don’t know it’s wrong? We know for a fact that ignorance of the law is no excuse. I don’t think it’s okay to treat the ignorance of the constitution with what it deserves.
“If we don’t know the the constitution frowns upon it, we will always fall victims and will be incriminated, and we will not have any excuse. It will rather become a trap. Can the NCCE find a way to teach us what they are supposed to teach us?” he said on Daybreak Hitz on HItz FM.
Mr Klah continued: “The educational planners have maths in there, obviously who ever planned it thought it was necessary and mandatory till you finish school. English which is not from Ghana is in there, and we are supposed to learn it.
“Why can’t we have the constitution broken down in bits and pieces from class one up till when you are 18 years and can vote? So that we know that you have knowledge of what this country says, so that we are promoting compliance, not get people caught up in the law, and then we incriminate them to learn their lesson.
“I am a bit worried and I think we need to visit this and have NCCE reps to tell us something, and I am also calling on the Minister of Education if we can have the constitution as part of the curriculum.”
According to Mr Klah, the percentage of law-abiding citizens will shoot up if his suggestion is taken into consideration.
“Let’s learn what is supposed to govern and guide our decision-making, this is the best way to promote democracy because everyone will be a pocket lawyer, but we have people walking about ignorant about their own laws. It’s very sad.”
MORE: