Right to education handbook

Education is a fundamental human right of every woman, man and child. In states’ efforts to meet their commitments to making the right to education a reality for all, most have made impressive progress in recent decades. With new laws and policies that remove fees in basic education, significant progress has been made in advancing free education. This has led to tens of millions of children enrolling for the first time and the number of out of school children and adolescents falling by almost half since 2000.

The right to education movements and policies: Promises and realities

NORRAG Special Issue No 1. The right to education movement and policies: Promises and realities

According to UNESCO, 264 million children and youth are still out of school around the world, and this is only accounting for the primary (61 million) and secondary school (203 million) age population. In particular, the poorest and most marginalised, including ethnic and religious minorities, persons with disabilities, girls, and populations experiencing conflict, are often systematically unable to access and complete a full cycle of quality education.

Accountability in education: Meeting our commitments (2017-8 youth version)

SDG 4, right to education, global education monitoring report, sustainable development goals

This youth report, based on findings and conclusions from the 2017/8 Global Education Monitoring report, asks how young people are involved in the process of accountability in education. As students, what are we responsible for in our education and how are we held accountable? How can we make sure other actors–like schools, universities and governments–are held accountable for their responsibilities?

Le droit des enfants au respect de leur langue, leur religion et leur culture à l'école

Le droit de l’enfant au respect de sa culture et de sa langue est consacré par la Convention Internationale relative aux Droits de l’Enfant. C’est un droit fondamental encore trop souvent malmené et peu connu. Que comprend ce droit ? En quoi est-il important dans la vie d’un enfant ? Ce droit est-il respecté en pratique ? Cette fiche a pour objectif de rappeler l’importance, les contours et la portée de ce droit; mais également les conditions et modalités de son exercice dans le cadre scolaire. 

Convention relative aux droits de l'enfant

La Convention relative aux droits de l'enfant (CIDE) s'applique aux enfants de moins de 18 ans. Elle reconnaît l'éducation comme un droit à chaque enfant sur la base de l'égalité des chances. Son article 28 garantit la gratuité de l'enseignement primaire obligatoire pour tous, la gratuité progressive de l'enseignement secondaire qui devrait en tout état de cause être disponible et accessible à tous, et l'accessibilité à l'enseignement supérieur en fonction des capacités. Il énonce l'obligation de l'État de prendre des mesures concernant la fréquentation scolaire.

Bush v Holmes (Supreme Court of Florida; 2006)

In this decision, the Florida Supreme Court held that a voucher program providing public funds to students to obtain private education failed to comply with article IX, section 1 of the Florida Constitution, which requires the state government to make adequate provision for education through a uniform system of free public schools. This decision confirms Florida’s constitutional obligation to provide high quality, free public education – a duty that cannot be discharged by funding unregulated private schools through a voucher or scholarship program.

Free to Think: Report of the Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Monitoring Project

Scholars at Risk announces the release of Free to Think, a report of the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project. The culmination of four years of monitoring and analysis by SAR staff and researchers around the world, the report analyzes 333 attacks on higher education communities in 65 countries from January 2011 to May 2015, demonstrating the pressing need to raise awareness and document attacks on higher education:

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