17 July 2020
On 15th of July, RTE participated in a webinar organised by UNESCO on ‘Ensuring quality of learning and well-being for young children in the context of COVID-19’ and contributed with a short statement made during the roundtable, highlighting the human rights dimension of early childhood care and education (ECCE). This topic is one of the areas of focus in RTE’s strategy for 2020-2022.Several... Read more
9 July 2020
On 9 July 2020, the Global Coalition for the Protection of Education Under Attack (GCPEA) launched the Education Under Attack 2020 report. The report describes violence and threats of violence against students, teachers, professors, and education personnel, and military use of schools and universities, in 37 countries where GCPEA documented at least 10 reports of attacks on education in the first... Read more
6 July 2020
On 3rd of July, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Dr Koumbou Boly Barry, presented her new report on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the right to education at the 44th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. In her report, the Special Rapporteur highlights the range of significant challenges created and amplified by the CODID-19 pandemic and how the Abidjan Principles on... Read more
30 June 2020
On 15 June 2020, the European Roma Rights Center published a press release on a decision of the Versailles Administrative Court of Appeal that enhanced the right to equal access to education, particularly for Romani children. See below the text of their news for further information on the background of the Court’s decision: The Versailles Administrative Court of Appeal in France has ruled that... Read more
30 June 2020
Update!On June 17 2020, the First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in Mexico ruled unanimously that the statistics bureau, INEGI, must indeed include informal settlements officially in the census. Further information and initial reactions from the plaintiffs, Techo México, is available here and here (all in Spanish). The preliminary decision can be found, here.---RTE along... Read more
23 June 2020
The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales, has published a report following his visit to Hungary in July 2019.During the visit he met with migration authorities and conducted private interviews with migrants, allowing the views of the most vulnerable to be heard. The visit also allowed him: ‘to assess existing laws, policies and practices in relation to... Read more
22 June 2020
On 17 June 2020, the South African Constitutional Court ruled that independent (private) schools are required to afford parents and learners a fair opportunity to be heard on whether a decision to terminate a contract with the school is in the best interests of the children concerned. Section 27 notes that this is significant in that it ensures that independent schools may not assert cancellation... Read more
2 June 2020
The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on education has been huge. Unesco estimates that the pandemic has affected nearly 90% of the world's students. That's 1.54 billion learners out of school in 185 countries. But despite the challenges governments face in managing this crisis, human rights law is clear that these learners retain their right to education, and governments are still obliged to... Read more
29 May 2020
On 28 May, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 9 September as the International Day for the Protection of Education Under Attack. Her Highness Sheikha Moza of Qatar, Chairperson of Education Above All and UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, who led the campaign, stated: ‘I am pleased that the General Assembly has recognized the significance of this urgent issue and established... Read more
28 May 2020
In a press release published today, the UN Committee on the Right of the Child (CRC) welcomes Spain’s decision to allow a 12-year old Moroccan child to attend public school in Mellila, a spanish enclave in North Africa, setting a positive example for over 80 other similar unresolved instances.The Spanish government’s action came some six weeks after the CRC requested that Spain take interim... Read more