Right to Education

RIGHT TO EDUCATION

DEFINITIONS

Right to Education

Right to Education has been formally recognized as a human right since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This has since been affirmed in numerous global human rights treaties, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1981). These treaties establish an entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children; an obligation to develop secondary education, supported by measures to render it accessible to all children, as well as equitable access to higher education; and a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education.[1]

Free Education

Education is free when there is not only no cost of enrolment, and tuition, but also books, meals, sports, and transportation to and from school, etc (Tomasevski 2006).

RESEARCH QUESTION

Most states in the world has signed up to international conventions, such as the UN convention on the Rights of the Child to provide free and compulsory primary education, far fewer have integrated the right to practice. My research question will be on the above 2 definitions. The question is not only whether states that have signed to these international conventions are implementing the right but whether they are being implemented as per the prescribed framework, i.e. is free education being provided or are fees being charged?

All non-school going children are child workers in one form or the other (Sinha 1996). Child labour is closely associated with poverty. Many poor families are unable to afford school fees or other school costs. The family may depend on the contribution that a working child makes to the household’s income,...