The right to higher education and rethinking merit - Briefing note compendium

In this briefing note compendium, UNESCO IESALC presents the findings of a thematic consultation dedicated to rethinking merit and critically discussing the structural barriers surrounding this concept. The briefing note compendium presents experts’ views on the various challenges associated with merit and some ideas to restart the debate and promote the right to higher education from a social justice perspective.

Within this compendium is a paper published by Delphine Dorsi entitled 'Capacity or Merit? Rethinking notions in access to higher education', pp.18-19.

Challenges and best practices for student activists

On the 25 April 2023, our online roundtable event titled ‘Coming Together for Equal Access to Higher Education: An International Exchange of Strategies, Experiences, and Mobilizations’ brought together student activists from diverse backgrounds and regions to discuss the crucial issue of equalising access to higher education. We were thrilled to have four distinguished student speakers from different parts of the world, all active and passionate about the right to education: 

Date: 
7 September 2023

International students exchange and discuss strategies for action on equality in higher education

On 24 April 2023, the Right to Education Initiative (RTE) and the Global Student Forum (GSF) brought together student activists from four different continents, namely: Africa, Latin America, Oceania, and Europe, to share their insights on mobilising for equal access to higher education in different contexts.

Date: 
10 August 2023

New beginnings: The right to equality and early childhood care and education

While South Africa has seen important advances in the provision of early childhood care and education (ECCE), about 3.2 million children still lack access to any programme. Problems of access and quality are most pronounced in the poorest communities. Even before Covid-19 forced many providers to close, these programmes were overcrowded, with poor infrastructure, and an under-paid and under-qualified workforce. ECCE is crucial for a child’s development, meaning that these inequalities are amplified in school and later life.

The persistence of poverty: how real equality can break the vicious cycles - Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

This report, presented to the 76th session of the General Assembly in October 2021, examines the channels through which poverty is perpetuated, in the areas of health, housing, education and employment. The growth of inequalities itself is an important contributing factor: the more unequal societies are, the less they allow for social mobility. The report argues that ending the vicious cycles of poverty is within reach.

Realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl

This report was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 32/20. It underlines the multiple and intersecting obstacles that limit effective and equal access of girls to education and highlights good practices to address those barriers. It also contains recommendations on appropriate measures to ensure the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl and, in that context, eliminate all gender disparities in education by 2030, in fulfilment of the commitment made in Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals.