The Supreme Court of Louisiana held that Louisiana’s ‘Minimum Foundation Program’, which allocates educational funding to schools, could not be used to provide funding to privates schools by way of a voucher programme. It ruled that to do so violated article VIII, section 13 of the Louisiana Constitution, which establishes how monies are to be allocated to public schools based on a formula adopted by the state board of education. The Court recognised that public resources constitutionally reserved for public schools cannot be allocated to private school, either directly or indirectly through a voucher programme. The Court avoided addressing the issue of whether the school voucher programme itself violated the right to education provisions of the Louisiana Constitution.

In this decision, the Florida Supreme Court held that a voucher program providing public funds to students to obtain private education failed to comply with article IX, section 1 of the Florida Constitution, which requires the state government to make adequate provision for education through a uniform system of free public schools. This decision confirms Florida’s constitutional obligation to provide high quality, free public education – a duty that cannot be discharged by funding unregulated private schools through a voucher or scholarship program. The decision is consistent with the principle that the State has the primary responsibility for ensuring that the right to education is upheld regardless of whether the provider is public or private, and that the State must ensure that private providers meet minimum educational standards. 

 

Open letter to the World Bank in support of development aid going to free, quality public education signed by the Right to Education Initiative, together with 173 civil society organizations, national education coalitions and unions, based in 63 different countries.  

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France’s investment in the education multinational Bridge International Academies (BIA) has raised serious concerns regarding the extraterritorial obligations (ETOs) of France, in relation to the rights set out in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), particularly, the right to education.

Alternative report submitted in March 2020 by 13 civil society organisations, including the Right to Education Initiative, to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the occasion of the review by the independent experts of the Committee of the implemention by France of its human rights obligations, as definied under the ICESCR.

Français

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L'investissement de la France dans la multinationale d'enseignement Bridge International Academies (BIA) a soulevé de graves préoccupations quant à ses obligations extraterritoriales (OET) vis-à-vis de l'ensemble des droits garantis par le Pacte international relatif aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels (PIDESC), et en particulier en matière de droit à l'éducation.

Rapport alternatif soumis en mars 2020 par 13 orgnisations de la société civile, dont l'Initiative pour le droit à l'éducation (Right to Education Initiative), au Comité des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels à l'occasion de la revue par les experts du Comité de la mise en oeuvre par France de ses obligations en matière de droits de l'Homme, telles que définies par le PIDESC.

English

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Education is a fundamental human right of every woman, man and child. In states’ efforts to meet their commitments to making the right to education a reality for all, most have made impressive progress in recent decades. With new laws and policies that remove fees in basic education, significant progress has been made in advancing free education. This has led to tens of millions of children enrolling for the first time and the number of out of school children and adolescents falling by almost half since 2000. Important steps have also been taken with regard to gender parity and states have made efforts to raise the quality of education through improved teacher policies and a growing emphasis on learning outcomes. 

Despite these efforts, breaches of the right to education persist worldwide, illustrated perhaps most starkly by the fact that 262 million primary and secondary-aged children and youth are still out of school. Girls, persons with disabilities, those from disadvantaged backgrounds or rural areas, indigenous persons, migrants and national minorities are among those who face the worst discrimination, affecting both their right to go to school and their rights within schools.

To respond to the challenges, the Right to Education Initiative (RTE) with UNESCO have developed this handbook to guide action on ensuring full compliance with the right to education. Its objective is not to present the right to education as an abstract, conceptual, or purely legal concept, but rather to be action-oriented. The handbook will also be an important reference for those working towards the achievement of SDG4, by offering guidance on how to leverage legal commitment to the right to education as a strategic way to achieve this goal. 

FRANCAIS

En una resolución adoptada por consenso el lunes 12 de julio, y patrocinada por 54 Estados, el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas reafirmó su reconocimiento de los Principios de Abiyán sobre el derecho a la educación, instando a los Estados a actuar contra la comercialización de la educación, y solicitó a la ONU que trabaje con la Alianza Mundial para la Educación (GPE, por sus siglas en inglés) para implementarlo. 
 
Está declaración está firmado por 25 organizaciones, entre ellas RTE. 
 

L'enseignement public est souvent critique comme étant inefficace et inefficient. Cependant, lorsque des lacunes dans l'enseignement public sont identifiées, elles peuvent souvent être attribuées non pas à un manque de compétence, mais a un manque de volonté politique. En examinant sept exemples d'enseignement public dans les pays en développement, cette recherche montre que, contrairement aux idées reçues, l'enseignement public peut être l'approche la plus efficace, efficiente et transformatrice de l'éducation et, surtout, qu'il est possible de développer un enseignement public de qualité partout, y compris dans les pays du Sud.

 

ESPAÑOL   ENGLISH

La educación pública a menudo es criticada por ser ineficaz e ineficiente. Sin embargo, cuando se identifican las deficiencias en la educación pública, muy frecuentemente ellas no pueden ser atribuidas a la falta de capacidad, sino a la falta de voluntad política. Al revisar siete ejemplos de educación pública en países en desarrollo, esta investigación muestra que, en contraste directo con ideas ampliamente difundidas, la educación publica puede ser un abordaje mas eficaz, eficiente y transformador de la educación y - lo mas importante -, que es posible desarrollar una educación pública de calidad en todas partes del mundo.

ENGLISH   FRANÇAIS

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