The Charter of Rights (and Wrongs)

AT LAST, the Charter of Rights has been passed by both Houses of Parliament. And when Governor General Patrick Allen gives his assent, the bill, which is to replace Chapter Three of the Constitution, will become law, and Jamaicans would be guaranteed certain fundamental rights which were never before protected in the Constitution.

Legislators have agreed that the bill is not perfect, but represents a critical starting point.

Among those rights is the right of every child to publicly funded education at the pre-primary and primary (inclusive of all-age schools) levels in public institutions.

It means, as pointed out by Opposition Senator Basil Waite, that basic schools, which are largely community-run institutions but are supported from the public purse, are due money for the school fees of all students. We join Waite in calling on the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the money is in the Budget to pay all these fees.

uphold standards

But, beyond the issue of fees, we urge the Government to ensure standards are not compromised. It is our view that providing tuition-free education, without the infrastructure or staff to ensure optimal performance of students, is counterproductive.

If Waite was correct when he said the Ministry of Education has significantly reduced the number of literacy and numeracy specialists in schools, we are fearful that without other meaningful intervention we would be guaranteeing failure to many students. One wonders whether the Constitution could not have guaranteed every child the right to quality education rather than making the populist commitment to tuition-free education.

It is our view that a guarantee of quality education would force policymakers to ensuring that no child gets left behind. Merely paying tuition fees is not a good enough commitment to Jamaicans.

In any event, The Gavel recognises that the Charter of Rights represents a starting point, and that there will always be other opportunities for amendment.

We hope legislators use the passage of the Charter of Rights as an impetus in further amending the country's Constitution. No doubt, groups like J-FLAG and people like language lobbyist Dr Hubert Devonish will not go silent in the call for inclusion.

Devonish has been pushing for the acceptance of Patois as a language in Jamaica, while J-FLAG wants the rights of gays to be protected.

out in the cold

It is quite interesting that Public Defender Earl Witter made an intervention at the eleventh hour by way of a letter to key parliamentary functionaries. Witter has written to leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate urging that consideration be given to Dr Devonish's request that the Constitution prohibit discrimination on the grounds of language. The public defender, however, ignored J-FLAG, the gay umbrella group which has argued for the repeal of legislation that bans gay adults from exercising their sexual preference.

We take no position on either issue, except to applaud the maturity of Senate President Oswald Harding, who has said the issue of the acceptance of language, and the rights of gays and lesbians, must be confronted by the Parliament.

In the meantime, we join in the call for a robust and ongoing public education campaign to tell Jamaicans about their rights under our First Amendment. A special campaign should take place among public-sector employees as it is their interaction with the public which will ultimately determine whether the Charter of Rights is worth the paper on which it is written.

Email feedback to thegavel@gleanerjm.com and columns@gleanerjm.com.

What are your rights?

The right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in the execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which the person has been convicted;

The right to freedom of thought, conscience, belief and observance of political doctrines;

The right to freedom of expression;

The right to seek, receive, distribute or disseminate information, opinions and ideas through any media;

The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;

The right to freedom of movement;

The right to equality before the law;

The right to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of:

(i) being male or female;

(ii) race, place of origin, social class, colour, religion or political opinions;

The right of everyone to:

(i) protection from search of the person and property;

(ii) respect for and protection of private and family life, and privacy of the home; and

(iii) protection of privacy of other property and of communication;

The right to enjoy a healthy and productive environment free from the threat of injury or damage from environmental abuse and degradation of the ecological heritage;

The right to protection from torture, or inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment;

The right to freedom of religion.