7 September 2017
PRESS RELEASE (Monrovia, Kampala, Nairobi, Dakar, Lagos, London, 7 September 2017)An independent rigorous study published today, the first of its kind, confirms that the American large-scale commercial chain of pre-primary and primary schools, Bridge International Academies ('Bridge'), is not fulfilling its learning promises, whilst also violating ethical principles. This research confirms the... Read more
1 August 2017
PRESS RELEASE (Nairobi, Kampala, Monrovia, Johannesburg, 1 August 2017) 174 civil society organisations from around the world, including the Right to Education Initiative, have today released a statement calling on investors to cease support for Bridge International Academies, a US-based company running over 500 commercial private schools in the ‘global south’ with the support of international... Read more
6 July 2017
International organisations urge respect for free expression, association (Nairobi, July 6, 2017) – The government of Tanzania should end its hostile rhetoric toward civil society groups and threats to obstruct their work, 18 national and international nongovernmental organisations said today. The comments have targeted groups helping pregnant girls finish their education and those working to... Read more
30 June 2017
On 5 May 2017, in a public interest litigation brought by Naz India in 2015, India’s Supreme Court held that children living with or affected by HIV (that is, children who are HIV positive and children who are HIV negative but whose parent[s] is HIV positive) should be afforded protected status and included as a ‘child belonging to a disadvantaged group’ under India’s Right of Children to Free... Read more
30 June 2017
At the 35th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) states reaffirmed their commitment to the right to education by adopting resolutions on the right to education and the right to education of girls. The resolution on the right to education, led by Portugal and sponsored by 37 states, welcomes the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education’s most recent report on non-formal... Read more
29 June 2017
Press release (June 27, 2017) In light of the deepening crisis in student rights and the prevention of the defence of the right to education, the undersigned regional and international civil society organisations and networks, urgently call upon the authorities of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) to immediately re-establish dialogue with the University Student Movement (... Read more
23 June 2017
PRESS RELEASE(Geneva, 22 June 2017) In an important UN resolution adopted today, states have reaffirmed the urgent need to address the potential negative impacts of the commercialisation of education on human rights.The resolution, which was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council by consensus, urges all states, 'to put in place a regulatory framework for education providers, including those... Read more
31 May 2017
We are pleased to announce that on 19 May 2017, RTE was officially registered as a Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) under UK law with the Charity Number 1173115 and the name ‘Right to Education Initiative’. Although we are widely known as the ‘Right to Education Project’ we decided to change to the ‘Right to Education Initiative’ to better reflect who we are: a global human rights... Read more
24 May 2017
On 15 June 2016 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) adopted the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This followed a seventeen year-long period of discussion and negotiation between members of the Organization of American States. The full text of the Declaration has recently been published and can be accessed, here.Along with the United Nations Declaration... Read more
27 March 2017
PRESS RELEASEThe French Minister of State for Development and Francophonie, Jean-Marie le Guen, declared yesterday that ‘France will act against any attempts at commercialisation of education’ in international cooperation. He added that France considers that ‘education is a public service’ and ‘a common good that cannot be profited from’.Mr Le Guen made this declaration during the launch of the... Read more