Constitutionality of government public funds to lower school dropout rate during the Covid-19 pandemic

Constitutional Review of Presidential Decree 662 of 2020

Date:  08/26/2020

Judge-Rapporteur:  Antonio José Lizarazo Ocampo

Reviewed decree.  The decree 662 of 2020 opened the Education Solidarity Fund with monies from other several governmental funds and agencies.  The main purpose of the fund is to discourage the dropout caused by the pandemic by financially supporting students to join both public and private schools.

Issue:  Can the government start a public fund with the purpose of decreasing the dropout rate caused by the pandemic?

Ruling and reasoning.  The Court RULED THE CONSTITUTIONALITY of the decree considering that its main objective is to help children and adolescents in vulnerable condition. It does so by allocating resources to cover the cost of tuition at the levels of preschool, basic, intermediate, and higher education, as well as education programs human development which are a suitable and effective means in this regard.  The chamber also found that the measures adopted in said legal regulation fully satisfy the formal and material constitutional requirements for issuing this decree as a result of the exceptional state of economic, social, or ecological emergency.