The aim of this manual is to provide an easily-referenced, one-stop guide to rights-based education by explaining international human rights documents while drawing on numerous country-specific examples. It presents the key human rights as they relate to children, parents and governments, and the corresponding obligations, especially of governments, that must be met to fulfil those rights, while summarising and analysing the major human rights treaties and conventions from the perspective of education. The manual is intended as a reference tool for policy-makers and practitioners in education.

This publication begins with the need to dismantle prevalent misconceptions because they hinder the advancement of education as a human right. Those conceptual obstacles which are particularly widespread are tackled, and their dark sides highlighted. This publication strives to provide food-for-thought because there are reasons for denying that education is a human right and these have to be brought into the open and countered effectively.

This is the second publication in a series devoted to elucidating key dimensions of the right to education. It addresses the cardinal requirement of the right to education – ensuring free and compulsory education for all.

The goal of a human rights-based approach to education is to ensure every child a quality education that respects and promotes her or his right to dignity and optimum development. This publication provides a comprehensive framework of strategies and actions necessary to translate children’s right to education and rights within education into legislation, policies and programmes for the attainment of Education for All.

Beyond 2015 is a global campaign aiming to influence the creation of a post 2015 development framework that succeeds the current UN Millennium Development Goals. It brings together some 800 civil society organisations in over 100 countries around the world. This paper, which focuses on education, was drafted by the Global Campaign for Education with the inputs of the Right to Education Project. It takes as a starting point the right to education and pleads for a universal, equitable access to quality education.

The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) position paper on Post-2015 is a result of an extensive consultative process across the Education for All movement, drawing on the thoughts and consultations with national education coalitions. 

The 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September 2013 saw the launch of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ́s Special Report: A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015. In this context, a broad group of civil society networks and organisations, including the Right to Education Project, have come together to highlight the compelling case for ensuring that the fulfilment of human rights is at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda, and that the education narrative, as well as goals and core indicators, is grounded in a human rights perspective. The organisations and networks presenting this statement reaffirm that the following principles express an understanding of education as a fundamental human right.

  • Every human being is entitled to the right to education.
  • States are duty-bearers and must respect, protect and fulfill human rights, including the right to education.
  • The right to education begins at birth and is lifelong.
  • Adult education and literacy in a lifelong learning framework are an integral part of the right to education.
  • A broad approach to quality education is needed.
  • Equality and non-discrimination are core elements of the right to education.
  • Teachers are at the center of quality education.
  • The State must provide sufficient financing for public education.
  • There must be democratic governance in education.
  • Human rights are integral, indivisible and interdependent.

As many governments strive to expand basic education, they alsoface the challenge of ensuring that students stay in school long enough to acquire the knowledge they need to cope in a rapidly changing world.Assessments show that this is not happening in many countries. This Report reviews research evidence on the multiple factors that determine quality, and maps out key policies for improving the teaching and learning process, especially in low-income countries.

Much has been done globally to provide quality basic education for children, an obligation for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In reviewing the research literature related to quality in education, UNICEF takes a broader perspective and demonstrates by this analysis that programmes must encompass a broader definition involving learners, content, processes, environments and outcomes.

This report summarizes in 281 pages the shortcomings of global educational promises and then examines how the right to education fares in 170 countries. Developing and transitioning countries are divided into six geographical regions and 31 tables highlight the key findings derived from country-by-country surveys. The Report highlights the abyss between the domestic policies of wealthy creditor and donor governments which keep compulsory education free, and their external policies which have made it for-fee. All sources are indicated in 1,317 footnotes.

Pages