This study investigates the emergence and supply-demand dynamics of a market for low-fee private schools (LFPS) at the level of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in a slum of Lusaka, Zambia. Based on data collection over 1.5 years, the study reveals that, despite a government policy to support ECE, over 90 per cent of ECCE centres are private; that school operators tend to be former teachers, businessmen/women, and religious leaders; and that LFPSs charge, on average, 2.5 times as much as government ECCE centres for tuition, not including additional indirect costs. The paper discusses how teachers in LFPSs are caught in the middle, making less than the average income earned by others in the surrounding slum, and are unable to afford LFPS fees themselves. Importantly, the paper highlights that lower income quintiles spend a greater percentage of their income on ECCE, and that a majority of families in the study must make trade-offs between ECCE, food, housing, and other basic expenditures in order to afford private ECCE, which is a necessity given the inadequate supply of government ECCE centres. In addition to addressing school strategies for keeping costs down, this study reports on parental decision-making when it comes to school selection. Finally, beyond a straight market analysis of LFPSs at the ECCE level in Zambia, this article also comments on how this market fits into the dialectical nature of local and global contexts. That is, it draws attention to the workings of the Zambian state and its precarious position in the global capitalist economy.
This paper aims to contribute to the discussions regarding the impacts privatisation process brings to the accomplishment of the right to education, taking the Brazilian reality as a reference.
The paper draws up a brief characterisation of the education provision in Brazil, in order to define the situation of educational services and the presence of private sector in the coverage of basic (early years, elementary and secondary education) and higher education schools. Next, it points out the main areas of privatisation of education in Brazil. At the end, it lists, from the analysis of the national context and researches conducted on this topic, the main tension points between the increasing privatisation process and the enjoyment of the human right to education, with reference to the contents of this right in the terms it was established in the General Comment 13.
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.
The Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (CLADE, by its Spanish acronym) is a pluralistic network of civil society organizations with a presence in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, which promotes social mobilization and political advocacy to defend the human right to education. This collection of articles, essays and statements reflect on the vital role of public education in the region and the fault lines exposed by the pandemic, considering both the challenges public education in Latin America faces and possible solutions, alternatives and ways forward.
Au Sommet mondial sur l'éducation, 37 OSC appellent les leaders mondiaux de l'éducation à utiliser des fonds de plusieurs milliards de dollars pour soutenir l’enseignement public
Déclaration conjointe, le 27 juillet 2021
Alors que les ministres de l'éducation nationale et d'autres acteurs majeurs de l'éducation se réunissent les 28 et 29 juillet 2021 à l'occasion du Sommet mondial sur l'éducation, 37 OSC appellent les gouvernements à prendre des engagements solides en matière de financement pour le Partenariat mondial pour l'éducation (GPE) et exhortent le GPE à utiliser les fonds réunis pendant le Sommet pour soutenir l’enseignement public gratuit et veiller à ce qu’aucun financement ne soit utilisé pour soutenir des acteurs commerciaux, conformément aux exigences des droits de l'Homme.
Le GPE est le principal organisme de financement multilatéral qui se consacre exclusivement à la transformation de l'éducation dans les pays à faibles revenus. Il joue un rôle essentiel dans le renforcement des systèmes éducatifs de dizaines de pays. Les leaders mondiaux de l'éducation se réunissent au Sommet mondial sur l'éducation avec pour objectif de réunir au moins 5 milliards de dollars US pour 2021-2025, afin de financer les plans d'éducation des pays en développement.
En la Cumbre Mundial de Educación, 37 OSC piden a los líderes mundiales de la educación que utilicen el financiamiento de miles de millones de dólares para apoyar la educación pública
Declaración conjunta, 27 de julio de 2021
En el marco de las reuniones de Ministros y Ministras de educación y otras partes interesadas en la Cumbre Mundial de Educación del 28 al 29 de julio de 2021, 37 OSC solicitan a los gobiernos que asuman compromisos de financiamiento robustos para la Alianza Mundial para la Educación (GPE, por sus siglas en inglés) e instan a la GPE a utilizar el dinero recaudado durante la cumbre para la educación pública y gratuita, y para garantizar que no se utilice ningún financiamiento para apoyar a los actores comerciales, de acuerdo con los requisitos de derechos humanos.
La GPE es el principal organismo de financiación multilateral dedicado exclusivamente a transformar la educación en los países de bajos ingresos. Desempeña un papel fundamental en el fortalecimiento de los sistemas educativos de decenas de países. Las y los líderes mundiales en educación se reunirán en la Cumbre Mundial de Educación con el objetivo de recaudar al menos 5 mil millones de dólares estadounidenses para el periodo 2021-2025, con el fin de financiar los planes educativos de los países en desarrollo.
Dans une résolution adoptée par consensus le lundi 12 juillet, et parrainée par 54 États, le Conseil des droits de l'Homme des Nations Unies a réaffirmé sa reconnaissance des Principes d'Abidjan sur le droit à l'éducation, exhortant les États à agir contre la commercialisation de l'éducation, et a demandé aux Nations Unies de travailler avec le Partenariat mondial pour l'éducation (GPE) afin de les mettre en œuvre.
Cette résolution est la deuxième que le Conseil des droits de l'Homme adopte en reconnaissance des Principes d'Abidjan, après une précédente en 2019, et s'ajoute à la reconnaissance similaire de toutes les grandes institutions mondiales et régionales de droits humains et de titulaires de mandat en matière de droit à l'éducation.