IIEP-UNESCO has published ‘Planning to Fulfil the Right to Education: methodological guidelines and a toolkit’, a document whose purpose is to support national administrations in weighing and costing policy options and cross-checking them against the most appropriate benchmarks. RTE collaborated in the development of the document, which utilises the Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education.
The document seeks to support educational planners and decision-makers in ensuring that education sector plans, and other national documents, align with international commitments and obligations on the right to education. The tool features an analytical grid – a checklist of 50-plus questions to help education actors verify that all the components related to the right to education are included in a current or future education plan.
Some of the questions it asks are:
To what extent does the education budget ensure compulsory education for at least nine years?
Are there regulations in place to regulate private actors in education and measures to ensure that they do not hinder public education?
Does the plan address youth pregnancy, and include measures to combat stigma, stereotyping, and prejudice?
It encourages planners to reflect on each question in terms of to what extent plans meet national commitments, in order to provide a nuanced picture of a country’s progress in fulfilling the right to education.
By ensuring all elements surveyed by the guidelines are visible in the education sector plan, efforts can better be translated into action, and the right to education strengthened.
Read the full document here.