Education is a catalyst for social justice, equality, and sustainable development. It empowers individuals to lead fulfilling lives and contributes to the creation of a just and inclusive society. The right to education is enshrined in various international human rights instruments, and is a powerful tool for individual empowerment, fostering social progress, and advancing human rights.
According to UNESCO: Around 244 million children and youth are deprived of education worldwide and an estimated 771 million young people and adults lack basic literacy skills, of which two thirds are women. Only 70 % of the world’s countries legally guarantee nine years or more of compulsory education, despite both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) explicitly recognizing the right to education as an essential component of the right to an adequate standard of living and should be accessible to all without discrimination of any kind.
A human rights-focused approach to the right to education extends beyond access to classrooms and embraces the principles of equality, non-discrimination, and inclusivity. It demands that educational systems be free from bias, ensuring that marginalized and vulnerable populations, including girls, minorities, and those with disabilities, have equal opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills.
Efforts to uphold the right to education must address barriers such as poverty, gender-based discrimination, and inadequate infrastructure. Governments, in collaboration with the international community, bear the responsibility to create an enabling environment where everyone can enjoy the full spectrum of their educational rights.
Books on the right to Education:
Disability, poverty and education
edited by Nidhi Singal.
61:3 DIS
ISBN 978041582471
From the publisher: This book is a succinct and distinctive presentation of current research addressing educational issues in relation to children and young people with disabilities in Southern contexts. Even though people with disabilities are disproportionately over-represented in the majority world, there is a lack of texts which bring together empirical insights highlighting the unique socio-economic and cultural realities of these contexts and the ways in which these have shaped developments in education. This book provides a comprehensive and critical overview of a range of issues, such as the dilemmas in conceptual translations, analysis of international aid and national policies, evaluation of various educational interventions, and issues interrogating the purpose of education.
Bringing together various research projects conducted in eight different countries, this book successfully captures a unique spread of cross-cultural issues. It was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Inclusive Education.
The right to inclusive education in international human rights law
edited by Gauthier de Beco, Shivaun Quinlivan, Janet E. Lord.
61:3 RIG
IBSN: 9781107548510
From the publisher: Education is a fundamental human right that is recognised as essential for the attainment of all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It was not until 2006, on the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), that the right to inclusive education was codified. This volume fills a major gap in the literature on the right of disabled people to education. It examines the theoretical foundations and core content of the right to inclusive education in international human rights law, and explores the various ways of implementing this right through an exploration of legal strategies and mechanisms. With contributions by leaders in the field, this volume advances scholarship on the core content of the right to inclusive education by examining the content and practice of the right at the national, regional and international levels.
Translating human rights in education : the influence of Article 24UN CRPD in Nigeria and Germany
Julia Biermann.
ISBN: 9780472902705
From the publisher: The 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) is the first human rights treaty to explicitly acknowledge the right to education for persons with disabilities. In order to realize this right, the convention’s Article 24 mandates state parties to ensure inclusive education systems that overcome outright exclusion as well as segregation in special education settings. Despite this major global policy change to tackle the discriminations persons with disabilities face in education, this has yet to take effect in most school systems worldwide.
Focusing on the factors undermining the realization of disability rights in education, Julia Biermann probes current meanings of inclusive education in two contrasting yet equally challenged state parties to the UN CRPD: Nigeria, whose school system overtly excludes disabled children, and Germany, where this group primarily learns in special schools. In both countries, policy actors aim to realize the right to inclusive education by segregating students with disabilities into special education settings. In Nigeria, this demand arises from the glaring lack of such a system. In Germany, conversely, from its extraordinary long-term institutionalization. This act of diverting from the principles embodied in Article 24 is based on the steadfast and shared belief that school systems, which place students into special education, have an innate advantage in realizing the right to education for persons with disabilities. Accordingly, inclusion emerges to be an evolutionary and linear process of educational expansion that depends on institutionalized special education, not a right of persons with disabilities to be realized in local schools on an equal basis with others. This book proposes a refined human rights model of disability in education that shifts the analytical focus toward the global politics of formal mass schooling as a space where discrimination is sustained.
Reimagining democratic societies : a new era of personal and social responsibility
Sjur Bergan, Ira Harkavy and Hilligje van’t Land (eds).
57:2 CoE
ISBN: 928717537
From the publisher: Reimagining democratic societies, although a demanding task, is one in which higher education must engage. As societies change, our understanding of democracy must also evolve. We need democratic institutions, but also democratic culture and democratic innovation. Citizen participation, as a cornerstone of democracy, must go beyond citizen mobilisation on just a few issues. An educated, committed citizenry deeply involved in creating and sustaining diverse democratic societies is essential for human progress and advancing the quality of life for all.The authors – academics, policy makers and practitioners from Europe and the United States – argue this point, making the case for why democratic reimagination and innovation cannot succeed without higher education and why higher education cannot fulfil its educational, academic and societal missions without working for the common good. Case studies provide examples of how higher education can contribute to reimagining and reinvigorating democracy.