The Right to Education
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) asserts the Right to Education in Article 26:
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. Obstacles to realising the Right to Education
In practice the Right to Education is denied in many countries. Although almost all countries make legal provision for free and compulsory primary school education, there often remain real and very definite obstacles to education. Some countries, due to pressure from the IMF and the World Bank, continue to charge user fees even for primary school education. Other obstacles are the cost of uniforms, books and other materials which remain an expense to be met by parental contributions. Lack of access to schools and the scarcity of teachers contribute very directly to the practical denial of education in some countries.
Education a Right, not a Service
As the former Special Rapporteur on Education, Katarina Tomasevski, never tired of pointing out, there is increasingly a drift towards the privatisation of education. States that have difficulties in meeting their obligations in regard to education tend to see the private sector as the main, if not sometimes, the only provider of education. There is emerging in different parts of the world a view that education is a service. As such it can be provided by any type of provider, state or private sector. While there are merits to this view and the freedom for private providers of education to function must always be upheld, it is equally if not more important to assert that education is a right long before it can be regarded as a service. The State cannot be absolved of its responsibilities to provide education in fair, accessible and equitable ways.
Four Principles
The Convention on the Rights of the Child describes the Right to Education in terms of four principles:
- Availability
- Accessibility
- Acceptability
- Adaptability
These principles are useful criteria when assessing the degree to which Education for All (EFA) and the Right to Education (RTE) are being implemented in country contexts.
Millennium Development Goals
Education is assigned a key place in the Millennium Development Goals in setting the goal of universal primary education for all by 2015. The British Department for International Development states:
Globally, more than a hundred million children still don't have any access to schooling, mostly in poor countries. This lack of basic education means that young people have fewer choices and opportunities and is also making it harder for countries in the developing world to tackle poverty and disease.
Twenty years ago, eight out of ten children in the world went to primary school. Today it's nine out of ten, but getting to 100% will be a big challenge. According to the Global Monitoring Report, primary schooling for every child has only been achieved in 50 countries to date. A further 57 countries are currently experiencing a number of difficulties which are preventing them from meeting the goal.
Clearly, there is much work to be done if the Millennium Goals in Education are to be achieved.