The Privatisation in Education and Human Rights Project is an innovative multi-country research and advocacy project on the impact of privatisation in education on the right to education. This project critically examines the global development of privatisation in the light of human rights standards. It is being carried on by the Global Initiative on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) in Partnership with the Privatisation in Education Research Initiative (PERI) and the Right to Education Project.
The project grew out of an ongoing project being carried out by GI-ESCR in partnership with the PERI which is a research and advocacy project on the topic of privatisation in education and its impact on the right to education in Morocco. The project involves field research and preparation and presentation of parallel NGO Reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) for its review of Morocco in September 2014.
Following the advocacy conducted with the CRC and with other right to education experts engaged in human rights procedures in Geneva in the context of this work on Morocco, there has been a growing awareness and interest in the topic. In particular, the secretariat and members of UN human rights treaty bodies are showing increasing interest in learning more about the links between privatisation in education and the right to education. Concurrently, organisations such as the Global Campaign for Education, PERI, the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE), Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE), researchers and national education coalitions have been conducting research and advocacy projects on privatisation, creating a solid body of research and advocacy material. The Right to Education Project published resources on privatisation in education from a human rights perspective, including a report, a factsheet and a training module
These activities culminated in June 2014 with a workshop to plan future advocacy on privatisation using the human rights framework. As part of this event, we also organised a side-event at the Human Rights Council on 12th June 2014 (see also the Right to Education Project’s summary).
Following this event, we started on this multi-country research and advocacy project, which will run until December 2015. It will involve production of research, UN parallel reports, and advocacy, in the following 7 countries, in collaboration with a number of partners:
- Brazil with Campanha Nacional pelo Direito à Educação
- Ghana, with the Ghana National Campaign Coalition
- Kenya, with Hakijamii
- Nepal, with the Sciences Po Human Rights Clinic
- Chile, with the Sciences Po Human Rights Clinic
- Uganda, with the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) and the Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda (FENU)
- United Kingdom
In each country, we will produce with our partners parallel reports to relevant UN or regional human rights bodies. The aim is double: 1/ to do research, mobilisation and advocacy to raise awareness about the impact of privatisation in education at the national level, and 2/ to develop a set of standards and jurisprudence at the international level to clarify States’ obligations with regards to privatisation in education. The Right to Education Project will work in particular on developing international standards, and produce a methodology to support organisations to conduct research and advocacy on privatisation in education, based on the experience accumulated during the project.
We also work closely with a number of other partners, including the Global Campaign for Education, Education International, regional education coalitions, and various other partners working on the impact in terms of social justice of privatisation in education. A key aim of the project is to build a dynamic network of organisation working on the privatisation of education, and it is open to everyone.
If you are interested and you would like to join the group of organisations, we invite you to join the community, here.