A/HRC/38/32
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
22 November 2018
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirty-eighth session
18 June–6 July 2018
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education
on governance and the right to education*
Note by the Secretariat
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of
the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, prepared pursuant to Council resolutions
8/4 and 35/2.
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur examines how the right to education,
and the commitments made under the Sustainable Development Goals, provide guidance
for governance in national education systems. She considers how the right to education
should be mainstreamed into education governance. Governance in this context can be
thought to include the laws, policies, institutions, administrative procedures and practices,
monitoring and accountability mechanisms, and judicial procedures that are related to
education. A rights-based approach should be adopted to ensure not only that nondiscrimination and equitable access for all are mainstreamed, but also that learners who
have been the hardest to reach, including members of vulnerable groups, are prioritized,
even if such decisions run counter to the traditional emphasis on efficiency.
* The present document was submitted late to reflect the most recent developments.
GE.18-20079(E)