Court dismisses human rights action brought against Association International School
The applicants had noted that after making an initial payment of GHC 100,000 out of the total fee amount of GHC 141, 560, they later decided to settle the remaining amount but only to be told by the school that the outstanding amount of GHC41, 560 as they know, had ballooned to GHC111, 709 due to the cedi depreciation.
An Accra High Court (Human Rights Division) has dismissed the suit brought by two former students of the Association International School (AIS) against the school's refusal to release to them their transcripts pending the payment of their outstanding fees.
The students, (Sewenam Avle and Selikem Avle) suing per their mother had sought a declaration that the school’s decision to withhold their transcript is a violation of their fundamental human right to education and therefore had no lawful basis.
The court however in its judgment held that the school did not violate the students’ right to education, adding that the school exercised a right to lien, when it decided to withhold the transcript until the outstanding fees were paid.
“In the court's perspective, this is a purely contractual issue between the students' mother and AIS which has been couched as a human rights violation to stoke the embers of judicial sympathy. This court finds that AIS has a right to exercise a lien over the students’ transcript until the arrears of the tuition is paid," Justice Barbara Tetteh-Charway said.
The Court further noted that although the 1992 constitution granted individuals the right to education, schools like AIS operating the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes needed relatively high fees to continue to run.
“Therefore, parents who choose to access such high-end educational facilities for their children with the aim of facilitating their smooth transition into tertiary institutions abroad to continue their education, must be prepared to pay the requisite fees for the services rendered."
Background
In the human rights action, the applicants suing per their mother, had noted that after making an initial payment of GHC 100,000 out of the total fee amount of GHC 141, 560, they later decided to settle the remaining amount but only to be told by the school that the outstanding amount of GHC41, 560 as they know, had ballooned to GHC111, 709 due to the cedi depreciation.
They add that upon their rejection and disagreement with the said amount, they were told by the school to stay at home until they settle the above amount which order they see as embarrassing and humiliating.
After this, their mother, Nana Akua Hayford Avle sought to find a new school for the kids but needed their transcript to complete the admission process.
As a result, they requested a copy of their transcripts from the AIS but the latter failed to accede to this request without giving them any compelling reasons to justify the same.
Respondent’s case
The School has meanwhile responded, noting that unless the applicant could meet its terms and conditions set for them, it has no constitutional mandate as a limited company to provide them the avenue to realize their dream.
It also says that at the start of the academic year, the applicant’s mother was made to sign a re-emolument contract to abide by the terms and conditions however she noted that per the current economic conditions, the children are not returning to the school.
Further to this, the AIS states that per its policy, any student who leaves the school owing school fees is denied access to its platform adding that the fact that the applicants owe an amount of $18,382.57 does not accord with good conscience and sound reasoning for them to enjoy its facilities.
Additionally, the school asserts insists that until the applicants had settled the outstanding fees owed them, it could not be compelled to give them their transcripts.
