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Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur welcomes the perspective developed in looking at technical and vocational education and training through an overall lifelong learning framework. He considers that the provisions in the ILO Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) remain relevant at present. Article 4 of the Convention stipulates that "each Member shall gradually extend, adapt and harmonize its vocational training systems to meet the needs for vocational traini ng throughout life of both young persons and adults in all sectors of the economy and branches of economic activity and at all levels of skill and responsibility". The Convention enjoins on Member States the obligation to adopt and develop comprehensive and coordinated policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training, which shall encourage and enable all persons "to develop and use their capabilities for work in their own best interests and in accordance with their own aspirations, account being taken of the needs of society" (art. 1 (5)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- The right to education must be incorporated into national Constitutions and legal systems so that its normative framework can be operationalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- Governments can support learners in various ways, such as by mandating that employers provide educational leave for employees or paid training to upgrade skills and by encouraging more people to avail themselves of unpaid educational or training leave. During his recent visit to Fiji, the Special Rapporteur was informed that the Ministry of Education provided qualified teachers up to one year 's paid leave to upgrade their qualifications. The Special Rapporteur also notes that the Government of Austria pays an allowance at the same rate as unemployment benefits to compensate for the income that has been forgone, and trainees receive a further training allowance (Weiterbildungsgeld) from the Employment Service equivalent to the level of unemployment benefit to which they are entitled. In Finland, participants can also avail themselves of a grant equal to the unemployment benefit.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- UNESCO has been the progenitor of the vision and the concept of "lifelong learning", and the Special Rapporteur recognizes the importance of drawing upon its work. In the 1970s, reflections by the international community under UNESCO auspices led to a shift in focus from education to learning. This was epitomized by the International Commission on the Development of Education, which in 1971 put forward a vision of "the learning society" and recommended as the guiding principle for educational policies that "every individual must be in a position to keep learning throughout his [or her] life". Recognizing that "the idea of lifelong education is the keystone of the learning society", the Commission took the view that lifelong education was not an educational system but the principle on which the overall organization of a system was founded, and which should accordingly underlie the development of each of its component parts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- It is incumbent upon States to "create an economic environment and incentives, to encourage enterprises to invest in education and training". In this respect, corporate social responsibility has a special significance. In addition, employers have a direct responsibility to provide training financing in a lifelong learning perspective. In the Blueprint on Enculturation of Lifelong Learning for Malaysia (2011-2020), under the Lifelong Learning Award of Excellence initiative, it is proposed that relevant acts and regulations be amended "to make it compulsory for employers to fund their employees' lifelong learning activities".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- A number of initiatives and foundations support the development and dissemination of open educational resources. The Open Educational Resources Commons provides access to digital learning materials for all levels of education in English. Teaching materials and textbooks for all subjects are available for pre-primary to secondary schools, as well as for university courses and adult education. The Open Education Consortium is a non-profit global network of educational institutions, individuals and organizations that collaborate and develop open educational materials, including textbooks and courses in 26 languages, particularly in the sciences and technology. The UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education acts as a as a centre of excellence and provider of technical support and expertise in the area of information and communications technology usage in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Massive open online courses and other distance education formats can promote privatization, reduce public funding and increase managerial control over academic staff. "Market-leading" universities could capture the higher education market as a whole, since customers will choose the most prestigious courses in elite universities associated with "star" professors. This phenomenon has been termed "an emerging brand of academic capitalism" that is associated with entrepreneurship, as it seeks to raise significant income from the private sector.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Recalling the report he submitted to the General Assembly at its seventieth session, in which he expressed concern regarding the risks of public-private partnerships and the right to education, the Special Rapporteur calls upon Governments to be vigilant against commercial pressures that promote the sale of technology without due concern for the actual benefits of students or teachers, educational establishments and the education system at large. Governments should seek evidence of the value of any investment into digital technologies before diverting resources from the education sector. This is critically important as growing interest is being manifested today in seeking partnerships with multiple stakeholders. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that Governments and, through them, all providers of education, whether operating independently or jointly with Governments, remain accountable given that States bear responsibility for ensuring respect for the right to education in all partnerships.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- The "digital tsunami" is so powerful that legal and policy responses are not able to keep pace with it. The need for and the importance of digital technologies not only as tools but also as resources in teaching and learning processes and in creating immense possibilities of connections and collaboration must be recognized. Governments need to break down barriers to open information, eliminate digital divides and expand usage and coverage of digital services. They must optimize regulations and public policies and enhance the governance of the Internet to ensure the safe, equal and healthy application of information and communications technologies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Massive open online courses provide an alternative path to higher education. Many universities worldwide are now offering online courses, either alone or in conjunction with a massive open online course provider. Many enthusiastic promoters of knowledge societies, networking and lifelong learning can dream today of a world converted into a giant classroom in which there are a few powerful global teachers and millions of assimilators of information and knowledge packages through the Internet. Similarly, open educational resources can harness the new possibility afforded by digital technology to address common educational challenges. As a result, the landscape of higher education is undergoing rapid transformations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur deems it important to recognize that both the individual and society are beneficiaries of the right to education; the right to education is an individual right; and it is also a social right and carries "social responsibility" in education. Education, training and lifelong learning "contribute significantly to promoting the interests of individuals, enterprises, the economy and society as a whole". Thus, the collective responsibility to foster lifelong learning devolves upon key stakeholders: upon Governments to invest and create the conditions to enhance education and training at all levels; upon enterprises to train their employees; and upon individuals to make use of their education, training and lifelong learning opportunities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 123
- Paragraph text
- States should implement the recommendations contained in the 2012 Paris Open Educational Resources Declaration, recognizing their importance for strengthening the use of such resources while at the same time reducing the cost of education for the Government. High-quality textbooks, learning materials and online courses are important in education and, by sharing their development costs and promoting high-quality open resources, the savings can be invested in teacher training, school improvements and technology purchases.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- In order to create a standardized and widely recognized open licensing framework, the non-profit organization Creative Commons developed a series of standardized copyright licenses. Creative Commons encourages copyright owners to license the use of their material through open content licences. These will allow for better identification, negotiation and use of their content for the purposes of creativity, education and innovation. By minimizing copyright licensing efforts and complexity, authors can ensure their work is rapidly and easily used.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- First discussed at the UNESCO Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries, held in Paris from 1 to 3 July 2000, open educational resources are understood to be all teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open licence that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions. Open licensing is built within the existing framework of intellectual property rights as defined by relevant international conventions and respects the authorship of the work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 103
- Paragraph text
- A regulatory framework is necessary since an unregulated free market in higher education may lead to investments in the sector by low-quality providers. Governments must regulate fraudulent practices and ensure that fake degrees are not awarded. A regulatory framework is thus of critical importance in setting out responsibilities and accountability requirements. Regulations must reflect a broad humanistic notion of education and ensure that the digitization of education is subservient to public interest.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 127
- Paragraph text
- In the context of its ongoing work on the development of a global convention on the recognition of higher education qualifications, UNESCO could address the issue of the awarding of fake degrees and certificates and consider becoming a repository of all nationally recognized degrees and diplomas. UNESCO should also advise States to implement a national-level system of legal action against the awarding of fake degrees and diplomas and against fraudulent practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 111
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations treaty bodies and States involved in the universal periodic review should enquire into how lifelong learning is being implemented, keeping in view the international normative framework for education, learning and training. They should also ensure that Governments abide by their responsibility undertaken under Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as pursuant to their commitments under the Education 2030 agenda.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- Gaining the resources for digital technologies will inevitably involve private providers such as network operators, content providers and other stakeholders. Massive open online courses can involve creating partnerships between educational institutions in developed and developing countries, Governments, development agencies and the private sector. It is when Governments establish fundamental principles and a clear policy framework that the private sector can be involved in the provision of relevant products and services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- In order to take advantage of the many opportunities associated with open educational resources and online learning in general, standards and quality assurance mechanisms need to be agreed and adopted, especially for monitoring, measuring and validating learning outcomes. Policies regulating the development and use of these resources should be designed to add value to existing education policies and to contribute to meeting education goals, rather than to function as isolated, additional policy documents.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- An area that poses stupendous challenges is that of controlling online or correspondence providers, many of which operate from locations with no controls at all and offer their own awards, free from regulation. Public authorities must find ways of preventing underqualified or fraudulent providers from acting as universities and from issuing worthless qualifications, including in situations where providers are based overseas and operate through the Internet.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 106
- Paragraph text
- Prohibitive regulations are necessary to ensure that fraudulent practices, for example in the online delivery of education, and any attempt to commercialize education are not allowed. Governments should prohibit all commercial advertising and propaganda on the virtues of information and communications technologies that are detrimental to basic human values and ban any portal or website facilitating pornography, violence, cybercrime, terrorism and any other crime.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The UNESCO Guidelines for the Recognition, Validation and Accreditation of the Outcomes of Non-formal and Informal Learning recognize the need for "the learning outcomes that young people and adults acquire in the course of their life in non-formal and informal settings … to be made visible, assessed and accredited" (p. 5). The experiences and qualifications accumulated at different stages from participation in non-formal and informal adult learning and education should be recognized, validated and accredited. States should, in accordance with national qualifications frameworks, allow for "continuing education and access to the labour market, without facing discrimination barriers".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Qualification systems for connecting skills development and lifelong learning are especially important. During his recent visit to Chile, the Special Rapporteur was apprised of the national qualifications framework for technical and vocational training being developed in the country, which aimed to organize learning process es as a continuum that included standardizing the qualifications of students in the education system and promoting lifelong learning through the certification of skills and recognition of prior learning. The Ministry of Labour in Chile was increasing training in cooperation with the private sector to create opportunities and certify skills for employment, entrepreneurship and the emerging needs for lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes the initiatives being taken in some African countries to establish national qualifications frameworks. The national qualifications framework in South Africa provides a mechanism for awarding qualifications on the basis of the achievement of specified learning outcomes prescribed by industry. It allows for the accumulation of credits and recognition of prior learning, which fosters lifelong learning. The national vocational qualifications framework in Nigeria furnishes another example in addressing the assessment of vocational qualifications. Certification of skills relevant to the labour market acquired through technical and vocational education and training is indeed important in the process of lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- Developing countries, especially the least developed countries, cannot meet the changing needs of learners in terms of knowledge, skills and competencies. Providing citizens with possibilities for engaging in lifelong learning is a challenging task. International cooperation for lifelong learning is thus critically important. The Special Rapporteur commends the concern expressed in this regard in the normative framework of ILO: "increase technical and financial assistance for developing countries and promote, at the level of the international financial institutions and funding agencies, coherent policies and programmes which place education, training and lifelong learning at the centre of development policies ".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- The concept of education and learning as a continuum, no longer limited by age, is now globally recognized. As the Special Rapporteur has highlighted in the present report, education and learning are perceived as a continuing process, along with training as its valuable component. Those conceptual developments have led to the emergence of the right to learning, integrally linked with the right to education and training. The normative bases of adult or continuing education laid down in international human rights conventions have been expanded by instruments elaborated by UNESCO and ILO to endow lifelong education, learning and training with a legal framework. That evolution has also been followed in some countries, which have adopted education laws, policies and strategies on lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur commends the report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century entitled Learning: The Treasure Within ("Delors report"), which brought to the fore the need to rethink and broaden the notion of lifelong education as a continuous process and its importance in providing everyone the opportunity as "an ongoing process of improving knowledge and skills". Learning throughout life was perceived as "the heartbeat of society" and was underpinned by a conception of education in which the formal system was linked to the informal system, in which age was not a barrier to the pursuit of education, and which was centred on four key pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 103
- Paragraph text
- States should recognize the importance of developing and strengthening the normative framework for lifelong learning, taking into consideration the right to learning as well as the right to education and training. They should also recognize the right to education and learning as a social right and a social responsibility. They should develop a normative framework that reflects the right to education, learning and training. In this respect, consideration should be given to available examples. Moreover, the right to education, learning and training should be developed in its nexus with other rights. Governments should review labour laws so as to make them conducive to operationalizing the right to learning as well as the right to training.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 106
- Paragraph text
- Technical and vocational education and training should be recognized as a linchpin in the concept of lifelong learning and as a font of skills development and professional excellence. Countries should focus on fostering entrepreneurship through an overall lifelong learning framework. States, along with social partners and enterprises, should develop innovative approaches to technical and vocational education and training in order to respond to the diverse aspirations and needs of individuals and societies in a rapidly globalizing world.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Digital technologies are ubiquitous only in principle; in real life, their presence is fractured by the digital divide.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The emerging trend of giving qualifications through massive open online courses for distance learning is concerning, as many of the usual modalities of university instruction and assessment are lacking. Often, students enrolled in massive open online courses are not assessed, or are inadequately assessed, and are not given certificates. Although institutions have started to award credits for massive open online courses and novel forms of certifications such as badges are being introduced, these are still seen as an inferior form of educational outcome and an inadequate indication of the quality of learning. Such criticisms may be more relevant to universities in the global North.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The signatories to the declaration adopted at the International Conference on Information and Communications Technologies and Post-2015 Education, held in Qingdao, China, affirmed their collective understanding of how to unleash the full potential of information and communications technologies for education and for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. They also reaffirmed their commitment to the Incheon Declaration and the Education 2030 framework for action and to the use of technology to strengthen access to and inclusion in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In the light of the rise of online and web-based learning, the Special Rapporteur considers it important to recognize the limits of the pedagogical value of technology-based and distance education, putting a premium on face-to-face learning and human interactions in education. All forms of online education may help increase access to higher education, but only if they are a supplement to, and not a replacement for, proven pedagogical practices. Very high enrollment rates for massive open online courses are offset by their extremely low completion rates, which traditional face-to-face teaching does not suffer from.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The negative impact of information and communications technologies on the quality of learning, as well as on the mission of universities as the seat of learning, must be taken into consideration. Without diversified sources, massive open online courses can reinforce a monolithic education system. A greater proportion of students are reading less, referencing less and writing with less clarity and boldness. Students rely on the Internet rather than on referred course readings for research material. The popularity of Google is facilitating laziness, poor scholarship and compliant thinking. The Internet seems to be chipping away at students' capacity for concentration and contemplation. Use of the Internet and digitalization places the focus on application rather than on contemplation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Full development of the human personality is the primary objective of education, as laid down in international human rights conventions. The four pillars of education - learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be - propounded by the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century in its 1996 report Learning: the Treasure Within, continue to be important. Higher education is a public good and a public service, and massive open online courses should not be used to weaken public provision of education or promote the privatization and commercialization of public education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Persons with disabilities, particularly those who cannot make use of print media, are denied access to information and cultural life when copyright laws prevent them from converting media to other formats. The use of Braille printers, text readers or digitalization aides to convert print media into accessible formats amounts to illegal copying, unless exceptions are created in national laws. While exceptions have been created by some countries, a general exception allowing texts to be converted for the purposes of accessibility should be made a general principle of copyright law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Lifelong learning figures in the education plans and strategies of several countries, for example the strategy for lifelong learning of Denmark, adopted in 2007, which is aimed at promoting lifelong learning in all parts of society and in all areas in which the knowledge, skills and competences of people are developed and put to use. In Jamaica, the national development plan, Vision 2030 Jamaica, is aimed at empowering individuals "to learn for life" so as to be creative and productive.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Technology in education provides important benefits but it can also impair the right to education. While a digital device-based education can bring advantages in the form of access to a computer or electronic device, when students or schools lack the financial means to obtain access, they fall behind. When only some schools are provided with technology, or when private schools can afford better technology, existing social divisions in education outcomes will increase.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 119
- Paragraph text
- States should address issues of access, quality and equity in the use of digital technology in education and ensure that students' right to education is exercised in an equitable manner and that it is fully respected. There is a great risk that technology will widen inequalities in society if an equitable approach to its use is not adopted. State obligations for respecting, protecting and fulfilling the right to education should be a priority concern.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- At the turn of the millennium, the UNESCO World Education Report 2000 was devoted to the topic "The right to education: towards education for all throughout life". It argued that "education" could not be taken to mean only "schooling" and that "the time to learn is now the whole lifetime", thus expanding the concept of lifelong learning. Education is a "continuum, coextensive with life", and in today's globalizing world, it can no longer be defined by a reference to a particular period of life. "Lifelong education" and "lifelong learning" have come to represent in different ways the expectations that societies currently have of education and of the scope that should be provided for every individual to develop his or her potential.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur commends the SkillsFuture credit, launched in Singapore to promote lifelong learning. Given to every Singaporean aged 25 years and older, it covers nearly 2.5 million citizens in the country. The first credit amounts to $500, with the proviso that the Government will top it up at regular intervals in future. The credit can be used for a wide range of courses. Already, there are 10,000 courses, in areas ranging from basic computing to web design, digital animation, human resources management, finance, health care and languages. The courses are provided at publicly funded tertiary institutions, as well as by private providers. The Government will provide employers with subsidies of 70 to 90 per cent when they train their employees. The credit is provided on top of SkillsFuture study awards in various fields. For example, for all Singaporeans aged 40 years and older, 90 per cent of the costs of their courses will be funded.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur underlines the importance of the constitutional bases of lifelong learning. For example, in the Republic of Korea, it is the constitutional obligation of the State to promote "lifelong education" (art. 31 (5)). The Framework Act on Education of the Republic of Korea introduced the right of every citizen to learn throughout life. The country also adopted the Lifelong Education Act. In Argentina, the right to learn is enshrined in article 14 of the national Constitution of 22 August 1994. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines encourages the development of non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems, as well as the provision of adult education and vocational training.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that lifelong learning is also reflected in education laws. For example, the General Education Act No. 18.437 (2008) of Uruguay enshrines education as a fundamental human right in its article 1 and provides that the State shall guarantee and promote quality education for all its inhabitants, all throughout life, facilitating continuing education. In Finland, the Government instituted a decree in 2009, creating the Council for Lifelong Learning, an expert body operating within the Ministry of Education to foster cooperation between the world of education and work and to further improve the conditions for lifelong learning and adult education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur emphasizes the need for national-level measures in view of the importance assigned to lifelong learning in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development Goal 4 in the 2030 Agenda calls upon Member States to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". That Goal includes 10 targets, 3 of which call in part for greater lifelong learning options. States are required, by 2030, to "ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy". They must also "substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship". Finally, States are called upon to "ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers that the political and moral commitments made by Governments in adopting the Incheon Declaration at the World Education Forum in May 2015 impart enhanced significance to lifelong learning. Paragraph 10 of the Incheon Declaration expresses the commitment of Governments "to promoting quality lifelong learning opportunities for all, in all settings and at all levels of education. This includes equitable and increased access to quality technical and vocational education and training and higher education and research, with due attention to quality assurance. In addition, the provision of flexible learning pathways, as well as the recognition, validation and accreditation of the knowledge, skills and competencies acquired through non-formal and informal education, is important." In the same paragraph, Governments have made further commitments to "ensuring that all youth and adults, especially girls and women, achieve relevant and recognized functional literacy and numeracy proficiency levels and acquire life skills, and that they are provided with adult learning, education and training opportunities".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recalls that the normative bases of lifelong learning exist in international human rights treaties. The Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960) lays down the obligation of States with regard to continuing education. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted in 1966, includes similar provisions. According to article 13 (2) (d) of the Covenant, individuals "who have not received or completed the whole period of their primary education" have a right to fundamental education, or basic education as defined in the World Declaration on Education for All (1990). The enjoyment of the right to fundamental education is not limited by age or gender; it extends to children, young people and adults, including older persons. Fundamental education, therefore, is an integral component of adult education and lifelong learning. Because fundamental education is a right of all age groups, curricula and delivery systems suitable for students of all ages must be devised.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- In spite of progress made, there are still inequalities in higher education, particularly in developing and least developed countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Digital technologies are becoming ubiquitous and provide vast opportunities for new forms of connections and collaboration, as knowledge and information can be digitized and transmitted electronically. They are transforming learning and teaching, and the everyday lives of academics and students. As Nicholas Carr wrote in The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, "the future of knowledge and culture no longer lies in books ... or records or CDs. It lies in digital files shot through our universal medium at the speed of light".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Information and communications technologies are used to access digital content (the digital versions of analogue originals, such as scanned textbooks). Increasingly, content is being designed for digital use. Online education materials and courses, e-textbooks and video and audio files streamed on the Internet, as all of which are modes of e-learning, are revolutionizing the provision of education. Broadband services and information and communications technologies can play a fundamental role in making knowledge, information and education accessible and in supporting the development of new skills.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- Digital technologies are revolutionizing the provision of education. Multiple learning pathways, such as e-learning, massive open online courses and open educational resources, are contributing to the diversification of learning approaches. Disparities in access to digital technologies persist, however, and countries need to bridge the digital divide. Marginalization and exclusion compromise the principles of social justice and equity, which are key pillars of the United Nations system's work on peace and development.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recognizes the importance of the ongoing work of UNESCO in preparing a global convention on the recognition of higher education qualifications. He hopes that it will address the issue of fake degrees by online providers of education and that it will contain provisions as regards qualifications and certificates issued upon completion of online courses. Moreover, it is important to look into the range of issues arising from the awarding of degrees and diplomas by virtual universities, which lack face-to-face teaching and learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The application of technology to education must always be conducted in conformity with the right to education. It is important to ensure that the principles and norms of the right to education are preserved when using information and communications technologies. Universal access is an essential prerequisite for the full exercise of the right to education. Under a number of international conventions establishing the right to education, States have international obligations to provide primary education at no cost. They also have the obligation to make secondary education, including technical and vocational education, generally accessible; higher education should be made accessible, on the basis of merit or capacity. Education at all levels must be made, progressively, accessible to all.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 124
- Paragraph text
- Within the scope of their respective mandates, when considering the right to education in their dialogue with States, the United Nations human rights treaty bodies should look into the use of information and communications technologies and its repercussions on the right to education. They should especially consider whether the downside of using such technologies is kept in view and policies are in line with human rights law and the internationally established framework for safeguarding the right to education while addressing the digital divide.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 128
- Paragraph text
- States should work towards creating an exception to copyright law, nationally and internationally, that permits developing countries to make use of any information or material for non-profit education purposes. Such an exemption would better balance the public interest in promoting and improving education in developing countries within the framework of a modernized international copyright framework. To this end, UNESCO, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization, should explore the possibility of creating an international open licensing framework for education resources, in consultation with stakeholders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- In stipulating that "for the individual learner, lack of funds should not be an obstacle to participation in adult learning and education programmes", the UNESCO Recommendation on Adult Learning and Education expresses the moral obligation of all providers of adult learning. Member States may consider offering co-financing and setting incentives to facilitate learning. For example, individual learning accounts, subsidies (vouchers and allowances) and support for training leave for workers might be considered.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- Recognizing the importance of ICTs as support for lifelong learning processes, Governments must foster open education resources that will allow students to draw upon online educational materials. They should work towards developing minimum quality standards. Care should be taken to ensure that technology does not exacerbate inequities or entail abusive practices. Fraudulent practices in online learning and certification must be punishable by law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 125
- Paragraph text
- In the context of the universal periodic review mechanism of the Human Rights Council, critical attention should be given to digital technology and the right to education in the dialogue with States. Governments should be encouraged to take the measures necessary to safeguard the right to education, to maintain education as a public good and to take action whenever the right to education is compromised as a result of the application of digital technologies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur underlines the importance of keeping lifelong learning as a continuous policy objective, without limiting it to a specific time frame. Lifelong learning in 2030 will become ever more important. However, time -bound targets for lifelong learning are necessary as benchmarks for measuring the progress towards realization of the Education 2030 agenda, which includes "equitable and increased access to quality technical and vocational education and training".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that quality is at the heart of the European Union programme Education and Training 2020. Underpinned by the lifelong learning concept, this covers learning in all contexts, whether formal, non-formal or informal, and at all levels. Relevant and high-quality skills and competences for employability, innovation, active citizenship and transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications are part of six new priority areas for Education and Training 2020.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Nicholas Carr provides profound insights into the deleterious impact of digital devices on our mind and spirit, and sheds light on how this scuttles humanist values in education: "How sad it would be, particularly when it comes to the nurturing of our children's minds, if we were to accept without question the idea that 'human elements' are outmoded and dispensable." Meditative thinking, the very essence of our humanity, might become a victim of this.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The private interest of the copyright holder must be respectful of the broader social interest of the public. The public importance of education outweighs the value of allowing copyright holders to seek a profit. This principle is reflected in a number of exemptions to copyright law. The 1971 Appendix to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works sets out special provisions for developing countries that include challenging procedural requirements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Proprietary standards from private companies are being promoted worldwide as a simple panacea to meet the information and communications technology objectives of Governments. Yet, such solutions create multiple levels of risk. States must take particular care when implementing information and communications technology programmes in education so as to recognize the risks that emerge from selecting proprietary providers of hardware, software and education materials.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Rights of the Child has called upon States to establish copyright exceptions that benefit children with visual or other impairments, reinforcing the obligation set out in article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for States to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 107
- Paragraph text
- Lifelong learning requires greater financial support, and must be given full consideration in investment in education. Governments should partner with stakeholders and take necessary measures aimed at innovative financial schemes to fund lifelong learning activities and programmes, with a focus on the active participation of the corporate sector and employers as well as employees in schemes devised for that purpose.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the concept was further enriched by the European Commission in its communication on making a European area of lifelong learning a reality. In May 2015, the European Commission announced a sharpened set of priorities for European cooperation in education and training. New priority areas for Education and Training 2020 are underpinned by the lifelong learning concept covering learning in all contexts, whether formal, non-formal or informal, and at all levels.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- By the end of the 1980s, the idea of a "right to learn" emerged as distinct from that of the "right to education". The Fourth International Conference on Adult Education, held in Paris in 1985, adopted a declaration on the right to learn. Its importance was underlined by the fifth International Conference on Adult Education (Hamburg, 1997), which declared that "the recognition of the right to education and the right to learn throughout life is more than ever a necessity".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur therefore deems the establishment of lasting links between technical education and training institutions and enterprises essential for the system to better respond to skills demands and to make it better able to contribute to industrial development. He also deems the approaches in developed countries, especially regarding the "dual system" of apprenticeships (in schools and in companies under an agreed framework), highly relevant to the developing countries. The developing countries need to place a strong focus on policies that are oriented towards replicating rather than duplicating such approaches for skills development.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Recognition, validation and accreditation of knowledge, skills and competences obtained in various settings make lifelong learning rewarding for individuals. This provides individuals with further avenues in different phases of their lives and may significantly improve their self-esteem and motivate them for further learning and better employment perspectives. Quality assurance mechanisms should be underpinned by transparent processes, procedures, standards and criteria for identifying and validating non-formal and informal learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers that developing a system of financing lifelong learning at the national level is highly important. For example, adult education in Scandinavian countries is largely publicly financed; such is the case with the adult vocational training programmes in Denmark. Low-skilled and skilled participants are entitled to a fixed allowance financed from the State Grant System for Adult Training. Companies paying regular wages to employees participating in adult vocational training programmes are entitled to receive grants instead. The individual learning accounts, understood as "training accounts" or "development accounts" and supported by the State, provide an incentive for individual investment in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- A large number of private providers specialize in areas such as management, marketing, accountancy and communication and award diplomas and degrees that are devoid of equivalence or validity. There is also a risk of fraud associated with the awarding of online degrees. Online or distance education providers often operate from locations with no controls at all, and offer their own degrees, free from regulation. Public authorities must find ways of preventing underqualified or fraudulent providers from trading as universities and from issuing worthless qualifications when the providers are based overseas and operate through the Internet.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In this respect, communities can play a role in promoting lifelong learning, including in the creation or strengthening of appropriate institutional structures, such as community learning centres, for delivering adult learning and education, and in encouraging adults to use them as hubs for individual learning as well as community development. Available experience on communities building infrastructure for basic education can be scaled up to lifelong learning processes at the local and regional levels. So-called "learning cities" can improve the lifelong education system so as to encourage vocational colleges, community colleges and open universities to play a greater role in development by providing lifelong learning opportunities. Wider dimension can be given to this by developing "learning cities, towns and villages".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Serious questions are being raised regarding the quality of education provided through online courses, particularly massive open online courses. Most participating students already have a university degree, raising the question of whether such programmes are increasing access or equity in education. A 2013 survey found that as few as 7.5 per cent of students were completing courses. The quality of massive open online courses, which essentially involve self-study and lack the structure of other online courses, is particularly worrying. Teaching methods have been criticized as outdated because most of these courses still rely on information transmission, computer-marked assignments and peer assessment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- The norms and principles that underlie the right to education are affected by the market forces associated with digital technologies. It is of utmost importance that education be safeguarded against the forces of privatization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Private sector enterprises are emerging key players in digitization. The commercial interest of providers, which enables them to enter the higher education market using a massive open online course approach, can be the reason for offering such courses. Governments, institutions and private providers may misuse massive open online courses and other distance education technologies to promote privatization, reduce public funding and increase managerial control over academic staff.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Technical and vocational education and training is especially important for developing countries, where, instead of being an integral part of education, vocational training remains a separate stream. Such education and training is least coveted and does not enjoy social esteem. Moreover, in most countries the collaboration of industry with the technical and vocational education and training system is very weak, with feeble links between industry and technical and vocational education and training institutions systems.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also notes that recognition of prior learning is an important element in national qualifications frameworks. This has been recognized as a right in some countries. In France for example, the Social Modernization Act of 2002 makes access to validation of knowledge gained through experience a right for every person having at least three years of experience. In Norway, adults are entitled, by law, to primary and lower secondary education and to validation of their prior learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Recalling his earlier report to the Human Rights Council on the assessment of the educational attainment of students and the implementation of the right to education (A/HRC/26/27), the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that, in laying down the qualifications frameworks, a holistic approach to quality education is crucial so that this characterizes the assessment of knowledge, values, competencies and skills acquired with respect to each of the conceptual key pillars underlying lifelong learning: education, training and learning. Fostering the humanistic mission of education, rather than limiting it to its instrumental role and the mere pursuit of material values, should be central to any qualifications frameworks and assessment mechanisms. It is important to integrate that mission into all processes of lifelong learning and human values and foster those, along with the rights and responsibilities not only of individuals but also of all providers of education, training and learning. In this respect, the Special Rapporteur welcomes "growing international recognition of education for sustainable development as an integral and transformative element of inclusive quality education and lifelong learning" and its importance in learning assessments. He also notes the concept of "good living" (sumak kawsay) enshrined in the Constitution of Ecuador and reflected in the national curriculum, embodying respect for nature and harmony between nature and human life, which he witnessed during his visit to the country.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- It is incumbent upon Governments to advance in that direction, pursuant to the political commitments made in the Education 2030 agenda, as highlighted in the present report. This is imperative, given the crucial importance of the knowledge, competencies and skills needed by learners in the twenty-first century. Individuals everywhere should have possibilities for engaging in lifelong learning and for participating fully in their community, workplace and wider society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- States should embrace the concept of education and learning as a continuum. They should take steps towards transforming the education system so as to enable the continual pursuit of studies, learning processes and training programmes, through formal as well as informal systems. The concept of lifelong learning must be further elaborated, taking into consideration its three key pillars: education; training and learning; and ensuring that age is not a barrier to education and learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 114
- Paragraph text
- Governments must learn from the lessons of the past, when technologies were purchased without due consideration being given to the many factors that contribute to success. Computers and tablets alone make no difference in learning outcomes if teachers and administrators of educational establishments have not been involved in planning and have not received adequate training to effectively use the technology in the classroom.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The communication of the European Commission on making a European area of lifelong learning a reality reflects social responsibility for lifelong learning. It depicts the roles and responsibilities of various actors: public authorities, social partners, learning providers, community and voluntary groups and individuals. As relevant stakeholders, they should work together in partnerships reflecting "the shared benefits of, and responsibility for, lifelong learning".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Developing continuing education and building a lifelong education and training system that benefits all people, with open sharing of education resources, is the objective of the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) of China. A national plan for modernizing the national education system is aimed at building a basic framework for lifelong education, so that everyone can be taught what they want to learn, excel at what they learn, and put what they have learned to use.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Besides the role of communities, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that an important role devolves upon the intellectual community for promoting reflections, research and studies on lifelong learning. The Faculty of Educational Sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal, as well as the Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche/développement sur l'éducation permanente, furnish an example in this respect. The intellectual community, as well as civil society organizations, can raise public debate on key issues for promoting lifelong learning
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The European Council recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning underlines that "the validation of learning outcomes, namely knowledge, skills and competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning can play an important role in enhancing employability and mobility, as well as increasing motivation for lifelong learning, particularly in the case of the socioeconomically disadvantaged or the low - qualified". Validation has been presented as "a cornerstone in lifelong learning policies because of its potential to broaden access to, and increase participation in, lifelong learning".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that information and communications technologies (ICTs) open new paths to learning and access to technical information on various skills. "Blended learning" using digital devices brings together formal and non-formal ways of learning. Such technologies provide valuable support to lifelong learning processes. In addition to the formal and informal learning structures, the rapid rise of the Internet and ICTs is providing new learning modalities that can reach millions of students, regardless of their physical location. Open education resources allow students to have access to online educational materials, and online education and learning can provide added avenues for lifelong learning. ICTs have opened new paths to distance learning. A multiplicity of learning sites and modes exist for delivering technical and vocational education and training. As a result, such education and training is also provided in a "virtual learning environment" by means of Internet-based education and training and e-learning and e-training initiatives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Technical and vocational education and training systems are crucial to equip all youth and adults with knowledge, skills and competencies and promote entrepreneurship and lifelong learning, and their importance to skills development must be fully recognized. In this respect, the Special Rapporteur recalls the provisions in the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education (1989), according to which technical and vocational education and training consists of "all forms and levels of the educational process involving, in addition to general knowledge, the study of technologies and related sciences and the acquisition of practical skills, know-how, attitudes and understanding relating to occupations in the various sectors of economic and social life" (art. 1 (a)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Statistics from the International Telecommunication Union show that, despite impressive growth overall, developing countries continue to lag behind. In 2015, 34 per cent of households in developing countries and only 7 per cent of those in the least developed countries had Internet access, compared with more than 80 per cent in developed countries, creating a global average of 43 per cent. In Africa, one in five people use the Internet, compared to almost two in five people in Asia and the Pacific and three in five people in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The fundamental challenge is making access to learning and educational resources through the Internet more equal among countries, but also making equal the capacity to supply such education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- One of the barriers that must be addressed relates to the cost of investing in information and communications technologies. The technological infrastructure, along with the software, the technical support, educator training, and maintenance, requires significant financial support from the State. Digital devices are not always affordable in the developing world, neither to students nor to public educational establishments. The high costs of digital technology are causing universities to establish consortiums to share resources, costs and infrastructure.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In this respect, it is important to note that States are responsible, under international human rights law, for providing resources for the realization of the right to education. Recognizing education as a foundation of human development, Governments must devote maximum public funds to education as a matter of norm. For budgets to be allocated to education on a firm and enduring basis, a legal framework providing sustainable political and financial support is crucial. Massive open online courses should not be used by Governments to reduce public funding and cut instructional costs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 116
- Paragraph text
- In the face of the transformation of education systems, especially higher education, through digital technologies, the State remains primarily responsible for respecting and protecting the right to education on account of its international legal obligations. The State is the custodian of norms and principles and must ensure that the right to education is respected in all systems and modes of education. Governments should not abdicate their responsibility for ensuring that educational institutions retain their essential public service function. In all circumstances, the State must discharge its responsibility as guarantor and regulator of education as a fundamental human right.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- In the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular article 28, States parties recognized the need to achieve the right to education progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity. Specifically, they committed to promoting and encouraging international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States parties recognized the right of persons with disabilities to education and committed to ensuring an inclusive education system at all levels. They also committed to taking appropriate measures to train professionals in disability awareness and the use of augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, educational techniques and materials to support persons with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Misuse of technology can lead to cyberbullying, criminal activity and even to terrorism. Educators must prepare their students to face new risks. The need to protect children from the potentially harmful effects of online content has been underlined by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Most serious is the risk of sexual abuse or exploitation, but less serious risks include advertisements, spam, sponsorship, disclosure of personal information, and content that is aggressive, violent, hateful, biased, racist, pornographic, unwelcome and misleading. The State must take measures to protect children from online harassment, including bullying or "grooming" for sexual purposes. Finally, care must be taken to ensure children do not become involved in illegal activities, financial scams or terrorism.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The use of digital technologies poses multiple challenges regarding quality in education. The Special Rapporteur would like to outline some critical concerns in need of a policy response.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- States should develop national qualifications frameworks and ensure that all national education and training providers are subject to accreditation that measures the quality of education and training provided, according to national standards, with a focus on improving the competence and skills of learners. National qualifications frameworks must be revised to recognize and validate new skills and competencies acquired in the process of lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- Polices should foster interactive education software, open access digital libraries and new forms of interaction between students, teachers, others employed in education and the community that can enrich education by integrating such technologies into traditional classroom activities. Such policies should, however, be designed in such a way as to ensure that these new technologies are used as supplements to and not as replacements for in-class instruction.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Many countries and universities are keen to embrace the potential of information and communications technologies, as the Special Rapporteur witnessed during his recent visit to Fiji. A key element in the discussion of the implications of digital technology for educational institutions is the notion that universities no longer hold a monopoly on knowledge, as new actors, such as for-profit education institutions and other private providers, enter the field.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In the 1988 World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Vision and Action, the potential and the challenges of information and communications technologies were addressed, with a focus on quality and high standards and concern for inequalities. Institutions of higher education using information and communications technologies to modernize their work should make sure they do not transform themselves from real into virtual institutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 110
- Paragraph text
- UNESCO and ILO should reinforce their activities for operationalizing the normative framework for lifelong learning and provide technical assistance to States. They should also step up their advisory services for transforming education systems in a spirit of lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 112
- Paragraph text
- The intellectual community and civil society organizations should foster public debate on issues of key importance in lifelong learning. Research, events and expert consultations and advocacy on lifelong learning should be encouraged and supported for a greater understanding of lifelong learning and greater awareness of its importance in societies in the twenty-first century.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, States recognized the importance of the spread of information and communications technologies and global interconnectedness, and stressed the need to bridge the digital divide and to develop knowledge societies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- The current implementation of massive open online courses seems to focus more on content dissemination and rather less on learner engagement and interaction. This concern is consistent with the recent discussion within the research community regarding the approaches needed to make massive open online courses more interactive, social and personalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- There are critical questions relating to human values and the education system. For example, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed concern about the risks that access to the Internet, whether at school or at home, pose for children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- In the digital marketplace, publication becomes an ongoing process rather than a discrete event, and revision can go on indefinitely. Higher education teaching personnel should retain intellectual property rights over course material, no matter the mode of delivery.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- There is no human right to seek a profit, and the public interest in respecting the right to education must take priority in public policies, nationally and internationally. States should update their copyright treaties and legislation to allow all public educational institutions to have free access to all information used for educational purposes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 115
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recalls that the Education 2030 framework for action specifically calls upon Governments to harness information and communications technologies to promote quality and effective learning. It also recognizes the importance of education as a public good.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Academic freedom includes the right to teach without any interference, including the right to choose the content and methods of teaching and the freedom to use or not to use any specific technique or technology.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur makes recommendations regarding prescriptive, prohibitive and punitive regulations on the use of digital technology in education with a view to ensuring that the right to education is adequately protected.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 105
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, Governments should take special care that such policies and strategies are effectively implemented. The corporate sector, employers and social partners, including civil society and local communities, should be involved and encouraged to work with public authorities in designing programmes for lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 118
- Paragraph text
- While recognizing the importance of opportunities arising from the use of information and communications technologies, States should not forget to look into the downside of such use and the impact of the digital divide on the education system and, in particular, on those who remain marginalized, on the future generation and on society at large.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 129
- Paragraph text
- Parliamentarians play a vital role in developing laws and policies that promote the use of technology in the education sector. Legislation should explicitly protect the right to education, including in procurement legislation and commercial laws.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 130
- Paragraph text
- Governments should encourage civil society and non-governmental organizations to play a valuable role in engaging the public in debates on the impact of digital technology on the right to education, giving full consideration to the importance of access, quality and equity in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 111
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, the implications of digital technologies and copyright must be examined critically in order to better understand the rights to access to knowledge and information.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 112
- Paragraph text
- Digital technologies are negatively affecting the cause of education by impairing the ability of students to contemplate and think critically, by scuttling human values in education and by paving the way for the commodification of education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Technical and vocational education and training is instrumental in work-based learning and continuing professional development, which are necessary in confronting the challenges of unemployment and underemployment, both in developed and developing countries. Ensuring such education and training that is adequate and relevant is central to responding to the diverse aspirations and needs of individuals and societies in a rapidly globalizing world.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- However, the costs of obtaining access to the Internet, as well as Internet- connected electronic devices and services, can be prohibitive for much of the world's population. As such, the State's obligation to provide learners with access to online learning with subsidized devices is an important consideration.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Currently, most massive open online course providers establish a proprietary claim on material included in their courses, license the access and use of that material to the user and exercise ownership over user-generated content. To fully exercise academic freedom, however, higher education teaching personnel should retain ownership of their course material, including material used in distance and online courses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Provision of education through digital technology may also contribute to gender disparities. Currently, in developing countries, males are far more likely than females to own and use information and communications technologies. In low-to-middle-income countries, 25 per cent fewer women than men have Internet connectivity, and this gap rises to nearly 50 per cent in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Children with disabilities face several barriers in accessing information and communications technologies, as they may need adaptive technologies to use computers, tablets and mobile telephones. Moreover, online digital content may need to be converted into another format. Children in developing countries who do not attend schools rarely have access to computers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recalls that, as equality of opportunity in education is a principle underlying all human rights conventions, it must be respected. The framework for action for the implementation of the Incheon Declaration contains a commitment by Governments to make tertiary education progressively free, in line with existing international agreements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- States parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities further committed to taking appropriate measures to promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet, and to promoting the design, development, production and distribution of information and communications technologies accessible to persons with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- In digital classrooms, the teacher remains responsible for selecting and developing the curriculum. Guidance, attention and commitment are necessary for student-centred learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Digital education, in all its forms, relies on teaching materials, textbooks and other forms of transmitting information that are subject to copyright law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The autonomy of teachers to teach as they deem best can be hampered by technology-based education models. From scripted tablet-based learning to massive open online courses with prescribed teaching modules, the ability of teachers to select content that they feel is relevant for their local conditions and classes is being impaired.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Education should be tailored to the needs of students and the local context. It has been noted that massive open online courses reflect an overwhelmingly Western, Anglo-American method based on a particular academic experience, knowledge base and pedagogical approach. The vast majority of courses are offered in English, which by definition cannot be sensitive to the local values and cultures of all countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- The National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development of Australia introduced a national training entitlement for government-subsidized training to at least the Certificate III qualification, with a view to ensuring that working -age Australians without qualifications can obtain the skills that they need to work in higher-skilled jobs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers it important for developing countries to take steps with a view to developing laws and education policies that embody the concept of lifelong learning. Public authorities must also "take the lead in developing and implementing lifelong learning strategies" grounded in such a legal and policy framework.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- The Moscow Declaration adopted at the meeting of the Ministers of Education of Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation and South Africa on 18 November 2015 expresses the commitment of those countries in the field of technical and vocational education and training to "promote lifelong learning and encourage self- education through both formal and informal modes, and strive towards a state of excellence".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Information and communications technologies can result in educational deprivation, particularly for the poor. Special attention must be paid to questions related to access and skills for the most marginalized groups, including girls and women and persons with disabilities. The guiding principle must be to adopt an all-inclusive approach.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 105
- Paragraph text
- Prescriptive regulations are necessary to ensure that digital technologies supplement rather than supplant campus-based face-to-face teaching and learning. The use of information and communications technologies should not be detrimental to the social function of universities or undermine their core mission as the moral seat of learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 121
- Paragraph text
- The forces of privatization behind the spread of digital learning and education creating a marketplace in education must be exposed through public debate so as to prevent the commoditization of education. The corporate sector should not impinge upon the function and autonomy of education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 126
- Paragraph text
- The obligation of States to provide inclusive, equitable, non-discriminatory education of a high quality for all must be carefully preserved in any implementation of digital technologies in education. The predominance of English in online education negatively affects the provision of education in other languages.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 110
- Paragraph text
- The use of digital technologies carries the risk of undermining human values in education and the quality of education, especially as regards degrees and diplomas that are fraudulently delivered.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 113
- Paragraph text
- In the light of their obligations under the norms and principles of the right to education, States must ensure that digital technologies do not impair universal access to education or equality of opportunity in education. Nor should they be allowed to erode the concept of education as a public good.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Technical and vocational education and training cuts across formal or school- based, non-formal or enterprise-based, and informal or traditional apprenticeship. It has a nexus with the right to education and the right to work and is valuable in providing "retraining for adults whose current knowledge and skills have become obsolete owing to technological, economic, employment, social or other changes ". Such education and training can enable vocational trainees to acquire further professional competence and improve their skills and competencies. Numerous initiatives taken in all regions of the world to introduce reforms in technical and vocational education and training systems are propelled by a variety of skill requirements in the rapidly changing economies of the twenty-first century and involve lifelong learning. In India, inspired by the vision of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, of a "skilled India", efforts are being made to align the "demands of the employers for a well-trained skilled workforce with aspirations of Indian citizens for sustainable livelihoods". With the launch of the national skill development mission (kaushal vikas yogna), a national skill development and entrepreneurship policy was adopted in 2015 for that purpose.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- In this evolution, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes the importance of giving consideration to the State obligations laid down in international normative instruments. States have the obligation to "develop comprehensive, inclusive and integrated policies for adult learning and education in its various forms" according to their specific conditions, governing structures and constitutional provisions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is concerned, however, that exceptions to copyright law exist that allow for the free use of materials in education. Digitizing content does not change the intellectual property rights of the owners of the original materials, which must be respected and maintained.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- In addition, providers of dubious quality are using Internet-based education and training simply to cut costs by undermining teachers' working conditions, particularly in offshore provision. Governments must take measures to regulate online educators and develop national qualifications frameworks and standards to allow learners to receive a quality education and to allow employers to value the credentials of their applicants and employees.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- States must take measures to ensure that the social elements of education are not lost in the transition to online education provision. Care must be taken to ensure that the negative effects of digital technology in education are addressed or mitigated. In his 2015 report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/32/37), the Special Rapporteur outlined a number of risks that emerge from online learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur deems social responsibility in education a guiding factor as regards resources to be devoted to lifelong learning. Although States have primary responsibility under human rights law for financing education, financing lifelong learning is a co-responsibility of public authorities, enterprises and social partners under the overall promotional and coordinating role of Governments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- In France, a law adopted in March 2014 on vocational training, employment and social democracy created a "compte personnel de formation", replacing the previous "droit individuel à la formation". Such an account as a work contract, attached to the person, is meant to follow every person throughout his or her career. The account is funded through a shared investment between the State, regions and social partners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- Financing of lifelong learning programmes is the responsibility of those who should provide learning opportunities: public authorities, the community or the private sector. It is also a responsibility to be assumed by individuals in situations when they seek to enhance their competencies and skills.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- However, many countries still lag behind that evolution in embracing the concept of lifelong learning. They are not adequately equipped with a national legal framework or the policies and strategies necessary to direct their education systems towards lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Concern has been expressed regarding the negative impact of digitization, for example regarding the "reordering of education institutions in line with the logical network" and with respect to network time as a "chronic distraction".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur urges States to ratify and implement the 2013 Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, which calls for the creation of copyright exceptions in national legislation to ensure the accessibility of published works, in any media, for blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled persons.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Copyright law reserves all rights to the author or owner and requires either legislative or licensed exceptions to be set out in an agreement. On the other hand, open licensing allows authors to publish their work for anyone to share and use, while still allowing them to reserve more rights if they choose.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Open educational resources are teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property licence that permits others to use them freely and for different purposes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Digital technologies necessarily involve private partners and agencies that collaborate with universities, both public and private, on the procurement and operationalization of not only hardware but also software. The use of digital technologies in education has led to more consumer-oriented attitudes in universities and is resulting in the commodification of knowledge and the valuing of information in economic terms rather than for its social and cultural significance. Sponsored by a range of entities, including individual proprietors and profit-seeking businesses, private institutions of higher education now constitute the fastest-growing segment of higher education. Corporate funding of higher education raises questions of academic independence, as well as ethical questions. Universities are moving away from their social function. The commercialization of education could divert attention away from the classical type of higher education by accumulating advantages in the most advanced countries and institutions, by discriminating against the most deprived and by contributing to brain drain in many poor countries. There is evidence of an emerging global marketplace and a growing spirit of competition in higher education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- Public policies should give consideration to the creation of an enabling policy environment for drawing upon digital technologies that can serve as valuable tool in the delivery of education. For instance, in order for open educational resources to be available and effective, laws and policies that facilitate and encourage their use are necessary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- Enabling policies and a sound regulatory environment are necessary to promote the development of local and relevant content and services and to increase understanding of the impact of Internet access in terms of sociocultural developments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 117
- Paragraph text
- In the light of the above, and taking into consideration the challenges that digital technologies pose to the right to education, the Special Rapporteur offers the recommendations set out below.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The digital revolution is taking place at a dazzling rate, as digital devices multiply learning pathways and diversify learning approaches.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- In the Qingdao declaration, the challenge of realizing the potential of digital technologies within a humanistic framework was identified.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur emphasizes the role and responsibility that devolves upon the corporate sector in lifelong learning, especially in the process of realizing the right to training and skills development. Employers have the main responsibility to provide for developing the competences of their workforce and can take on wider corporate social responsibilities, for example when they open up their training opportunities and resources to a wider public. They have a vital role in providing work experience opportunities. Employers' responsibility for education, training and lifelong learning for workers in small and medium-sized enterprises, in the informal economy, in the rural sector and in self-employment deserves special consideration.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Education and training for lifelong learning involve "the rights and obligations of all concerned under labour-related laws and other forms of labour regulation". Public authorities are responsible for active labour market measures for the unemployed, and for promoting learning for all, both within and outside the labour market. As noted by the European Commission, trade unions increasingly deliver learning to their members and participate in activities to promote and facilitate learning among members and non-members alike. Together, social partners conduct social dialogue at all levels and negotiate and implement agreements in respect of education and training in the workplace.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Considerations pertaining to labour law are especially important as regards agreements between providers of learning opportunities and their beneficiaries. For example, the Workers Vocational Skills Development Act (2010) in the Republic of Korea has the objective of promoting and stabilizing the employment of workers, raising their social and economic status, improving the productivity of enterprises and thus contributing to social and economic development by promoting and supporting workers' skills development throughout their lives, training the skilled and technical workforces required by industries and conducting projects for industry-academia collaboration, among others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Lifelong learning is rooted in the integration of learning and living, covering learning activities for people of all ages in all life-wide contexts through a variety of modalities (formal, non-formal and informal) that together meet a wide range of learning needs and demands. Adult learning and education provides a variety of learning pathways and flexible learning opportunities, including second -chance programmes to make up for lack of initial schooling, including for people who have never been to school, early school leavers and dropouts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that the conceptual developments highlighted above are consolidated in some definitions of lifelong learning, such as the definition formulated by the European Union: "all learning activity undertaken throughout life, which results in improving knowledge, know-how, skills, competences and/or qualifications for personal, social and/or professional reasons". The Special Rapporteur also emphasizes the significance of the definition of lifelong learning resulting from the normative work of ILO: "the term 'lifelong learning' encompasses all learning activities undertaken throughout life for the development of competencies and qualifications".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- In this context, the Special Rapporteur underlines the need for further elucidation of the concept of lifelong learning, taking into consideration its three key pillars: education, training and learning. A holistic approach to quality education, giving paramount importance to the humanistic mission of education rather than its instrumental role, and the mere pursuit of material values, should be central to reflection. It is important to recall that the "full development of the human person" is a key objective of the right to education, assigned to it by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by the international conventions in the field of human rights. Pursuit of that objective is a continuously unfolding process covering the entire life and depending on educational and learning opportunities. The Special Rapporteur considers that it is the primary function of education to kindle in children a love for learning and a longing for lifelong learning for the sake of personal fulfilment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that, in this endeavour, paramount importance should be given to the "full development of the human person" as the essential objective of the right to education as a continuously unfolding process covering the entire life. The process of lifelong learning must also be propelled by a perception of the right to education not only as an individual right but also as a social right, with primary responsibility for its realization resting on Governments as well social partners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers it important to take full cognizance of UNESCO normative work in the early 1970s, which led to the emergence of the "right to lifelong learning". The Third International Conference on Adult Education, convened by UNESCO in Tokyo in 1972, provided a conceptual turning point when it declared its belief that "the right of individuals to education, their right to learn and to go on learning, is to be considered on the same basis as their other fundamental rights, such as the right to health and to hygiene, the right to security, the right to all forms of civil liberty, etc."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also underlines the importance of the work of ILO in supporting the normative bases of lifelong learning, recognizing that "education and training are a right for all" and that, in cooperation with social partners, States should "work towards ensuring access for all to lifelong learning". He notes that such developments were further enriched by UNESCO by endowing the concepts of literacy and adult learning with normative bases. The UNESCO Recommendation on Adult Learning and Education, adopted in November 2015, recognized "adult learning and education as an essential component of the right to education and a key pillar in the education system".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The ILO Human Resources Development Recommendation gives expression to State responsibility with respect to lifelong learning in its various dimensions, considering education and training as the "primary responsibility of Government". States should "facilitate lifelong learning" and take "policy measures designed to create decent jobs, as well as to achieve sustainable economic and social development". With the involvement of social partners, they should establish a "national strategy for education and training", as well as a "guiding framework for training policies", and develop and apply entrepreneurial skills. It is incumbent upon Governments to "guarantee equitable access to adult learning and education, and promote broader and sustained participation by fostering a culture of learning throughout life and by minimizing barriers to participation".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 131
- Paragraph text
- Civil society organizations and the intellectual community, as well as students, parents and community associations, should expose the negative effects of digital technologies on the right to education, underlining, in particular, the essential objectives laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights conventions. They should voice their concerns about the need to safeguard human values in respect of the right to education in the face of digital modes of education. Their advocacy work to foster social justice and equity is valuable in countering market-based approaches promoting the use of technology in education. Research, events and expert consultations on the right to education in the digital age should be encouraged and supported.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 122
- Paragraph text
- Public authorities should ensure that the use of digital technologies is considered as a means of education, not as a substitute for face- to-face education. They should recognize that human contact in education is essential to the teaching and learning process. Public authorities should also take the measures necessary to build the capacity of teachers to use digital technologies while retaining freedom in their pedagogic approaches. Teachers must have the competence and be free to adapt digital technologies to local contexts, and the authority to rearrange online teaching materials and methodologies to best serve the country's education requirements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- There is no real or conclusive evidence that online learning leads to better learning outcomes for students.A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found that over the past 10 years there has been no appreciable improvement in student achievement in reading, mathematics or science in countries that have invested heavily in information and communications technologies for education. These findings must worry policymakers and Governments that hope to find salvation in expensive technological purchases.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Universities as centres of learning are diversifying their offers with courses and content tailored to the knowledge and skills needed for the economy. They are thus becoming "the main meeting places for learning throughout life, opening their doors to adults who wish either to resume their studies or to adapt and develop their knowledge or to satisfy their taste for learning in all areas of cultural life ". The concept of "education as a continuum" is now intertwined with the "continuum of learning".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Lifelong learning has developed not only from a right to education perspective; its development manifests a broader human rights-based approach, linking lifelong learning to other human rights. UNESCO recognizes that "in the framework of lifelong learning, … literacy and adult learning and education contribute to the realization of the right to education that enables adults to exercise other economic, political, social and cultural rights". The aim of adult learning and education is to empower people in that perspective.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- Open educational resources capture the idea that knowledge is a public good that should be freely shared by all and not restricted for private profit. This concept was further developed at the World Open Educational Resources Congress, held in Paris from 20 to 22 June 2012, on which occasion the 2012 Paris Open Educational Resources Declaration was adopted. The signatories to the Declaration called upon States to support, promote and make greater use of open educational resources.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 120
- Paragraph text
- All States have the responsibility to achieve the right to education progressively and to the maximum extent of their resources. Implementation strategies must take into account the Sustainable Development Goals and the obligations on the right to education. Disaggregated indicators and annual reports must indicate whether investments are improving the education outcomes of students or creating unintended negative outcomes that require remedial action.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- In the 1998 World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Vision and Action, signatories called upon higher education institutions to give the opportunity to students to fully develop their own abilities with a sense of social responsibility, educating them to become full participants in democratic society and promoters of changes that will foster equity and justice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes the considerable attention being given to developing "a national qualifications framework" for "the assessment, certification and recognition" of skills and competencies acquired in the course of lifelong learning. The establishment of national qualifications frameworks and the adoption of national assessment systems for learning achievements in multiple settings denote the value attached to the pursuit of lifelong learning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Under the overall role of State authorities, the social partners as stakeholders have a shared responsibility as regards financial support for providing opportunities for lifelong learning. In the field of technical and vocational education and training, industry partners can share that responsibility, either directly through co-sponsorship of schools or programmes or indirectly by contributing teaching resources, traineeships or job placement programmes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- A cost-sharing approach makes good sense under the principle that those who benefit should also pay. Learners will be motivated to make better choices when they are required to contribute to the cost of their education and training. Technical and vocational education and training programmes that provide learners with the skills needed by industry and for gainful employment can be so devised as to allow learners to repay their education and training costs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The Accessible Books Consortium (a multi-stakeholder partnership comprising the World Intellectual Property Organization, organizations that serve people with print disabilities and organizations representing publishers and authors) is converting books into formats to make them available to people who are blind, have low vision or are otherwise print disabled. Such partnerships should be encouraged to ensure human rights in education are met.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur refers to the declaration adopted at the sixth BRICS summit, held in Fortaleza, Brazil, from 14 to 16 July 2014, in which the signatories agreed that the use and development of information and communications technologies through international cooperation and universally accepted norms and principles of international law is of paramount importance in order to ensure a peaceful, secure and open digital and Internet space.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- In this respect, the Special Rapporteur commends the position taken by ILO with regard to corporate social responsibility and the call upon multinational enterprises "to provide training for all levels of their employees in home and host countries, to meet the needs of the enterprises and contribute to the development of the country".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- The use of digital technologies in education must be in full accordance with the right to education. Such use must increase access, not limit it. It must promote equity, not exacerbate existing disparities in society. It must eliminate discrimination, not create new barriers. It must improve the quality of education, not undermine it.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The introduction of technology in the classroom does, however, have an important impact on the role of the teacher. Electronic materials should complement the existing classroom practices, as videos or online exercises supplement traditional learning. Through face-to-face interactions the teacher can more easily gauge the level of understanding and participation of learners and implement interventions to address issues.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The use of digital technology risks creating divisions within society. Devices such as computers, tablets and smartphones, and broadband services, are required to access the Internet. People in urban areas receive access of better quality first, leaving those in remote areas disadvantaged or cut off. Reliable access to electricity to charge devices is often a problem in the developing world.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- In line with a normative framework, Governments should adopt the necessary policies and strategies for lifelong learning. A number of frameworks from countries mentioned in the present report may serve as inspiration but should be implemented in consultation with interested stakeholders to address each State's circumstances.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Universities, as the moral seat of learning, must foster the common human values so much in need today, in the face of the challenges of globalization. Fostering the humanistic mission of education is of paramount importance to counter the trend towards the pursuit of material values and a merely instrumental role for education. This is critically important, as the humanistic mission of education is being vitiated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 55/63, the General Assembly expressed concern that technological advancements have created new possibilities for criminal activity, in particular the criminal misuse of information technologies, and noted the value of making the general public aware of the need to prevent and combat the criminal misuse of information technologies. Education plays an important role in raising awareness on the issue.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- It is important to look into intellectual property rights and the use of digital technology in education and learning, bearing in mind the 1971 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the 1951 UNESCO Universal Copyright Convention, among other international treaties.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 107
- Paragraph text
- Punitive regulations are required to address fraudulent practices, including the awarding of fake degrees and diplomas. It is important that corrupt and fraudulent practices be investigated and that operators who act illegally be prosecuted.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- One of the main challenges for higher education today is how it can respond to the massive global demand for professional qualifications while maintaining its key role in research. This must be seen in the context of the online provision of education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 107
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur thus emphasizes the need for States to create a comprehensive regulatory framework to control public-private partnerships in education that is prescriptive, prohibitive and punitive.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- It is an established principle of human rights law that the State remains responsible for its obligations, even when they are privatized. The European Court of Human Rights has held that, under the European Convention on Human Rights, a State cannot absolve itself from responsibility by delegating its obligations to private school bodies. This position is reinforced by the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which emphasize that when States delegate their responsibilities to businesses, they remain responsible for ensuring that their human rights obligations are being met by those companies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Privatization of education, where it has a negative impact, violates many of the legal and moral norms upon which the right to education is established.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Advertising that portrays private schools as providers of better-quality education lures ill-informed students and parents. The phenomenon of low-fee private schools is projected as an affordable means of obtaining quality education. However, there is no evidence that "private schools do anything different to induce more learning than do public schools ... many private schools do worse than public schools". Quality is also compromised by the high prevalence of underqualified teachers or instructors employed, on a temporary basis, in private schools run by small and large enterprises. This is in direct contravention with the UNESCO-International Labour Organization recommendation on status of teachers, which lays down a normative framework for the teaching profession and applies to teachers of both public and private schools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- For-profit education is contrary to the concept of education as a public good, and the Special Rapporteur would like to mention national legislation in several countries that outlaws for-profit schools. For example, the Education Act of the Bahamas establishes that "the school shall not be established or maintained for the private profit of any person or persons". In Qatar, private schools are required to be authorized by the Supreme Education Council and "shall not be profit-oriented". The Education Law of China provides that "educational activities must conform with the public interest of the State and society" and that "no organization or individual may operate a school or any other type of educational institution for profit". National legislation and policies in Finland give paramount importance to education as a public function of the State and as a public good. The law in Finland states that "basic education may not be provided in pursuit of financial gain".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- Prescriptive regulations relate to the establishment and operation of private schools, setting minimum standards, including conditions for their recognition and operations, curriculum requirements, minimum qualifications for teachers, infrastructure standards and quality measures, and recognition of degrees or diplomas issued. These are basic requirements for any institution. Such regulations describe reporting obligations, including performance measures and financial reporting, and require compliance with monitoring and oversight agencies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- Regulations must ban for-profit education and prohibit fee-based discrimination because it creates and entrenches social and economic inequalities. Prohibitive regulations can ban the registration of private schools as companies, the recruitment of unqualified teachers or those employed in public schools, the closure of schools during an academic year, indulgence in false commercial propaganda to lure insufficiently informed students and parents, the charging of capitation fees and the extraction from students or parents of any undeclared financial contribution over and above the approved fee. Regulations must prohibit school selection on the basis of ability, social or ethnic origin, or any form of psychometric tests.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- According to one scholar, "the failure to enforce and monitor the regulatory framework within which private schools are to function has left the educational landscape open to corrupt practice and manipulation". In addition to being prescriptive and prohibitive, the regulatory framework should also be punitive, including withdrawal of operating licences for lack of compliance with regulations. This is necessary to control non-compliance with regulations as well as to take action against private providers who indulge in fraudulent and corrupt practices, such as false declarations of profits or of salaries paid to teachers and tax evasion. It is important that corrupt and fraudulent practices are investigated, and operators and owners of schools who act illegally or abscond with student fees are prosecuted in the criminal system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 122
- Paragraph text
- Learning from the devastating impact of structural adjustments on education as an essential public service, and in the face of the prevalent market ideology and surging privatization in education, States must expand educational opportunities, recognizing the paramount importance of public investment in education as their essential obligation. Under no circumstances should a State provide financial support to private providers of education or allow private companies to operate multiple schools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur considers that regulations on public-private partnerships in education should include three elements: (a) Screening for all private partners engaged in for-profit businesses and pursuing private interests through a controlling environment; (b) Promoting and supporting contributions to education in a philanthropic spirit; (c) Creating an enabling environment to establish partnerships which promote technical and vocational education and training.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 115
- Paragraph text
- It should be mandatory for private providers to be transparent. That is necessary to allow students, teachers and the community as stakeholders to take up with the public authorities those matters in public-private partnerships which are not in conformity with the right to education and seek remedies, especially in matters such as the management of schools under public-private partnerships. Care must be taken to ensure that negotiations for public-private partnerships are fully transparent and are not kept confidential.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 120
- Paragraph text
- The rapid expansion of privatization, owing to the deregulation and liberalization of the education sector, has led to a push towards more public-private partnerships. With a wide range of arrangements and modalities, public-private partnerships in education, linked to privatization, are becoming endemic at all levels. Lured by false propaganda, Governments turn to the private sector in search of financial support, better management of education and even for running the education system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- These developments have their genesis in the education sector strategies of the World Bank, which have stressed since the 1980s the key role of the private sector in education and compelled developing countries to initiate significant cuts under structural adjustments to their public services, including education. The most recent World Bank education strategy, the education sector strategy 2020 (released in 2011), gives increased prominence to private-sector engagement in education; as does the Global Partnership for Education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 112
- Paragraph text
- Education benefits both the individual and the society and must be preserved as a public good; social interest in education must be protected against its commercialization. The corrosive impact of privatization on the right to education must receive foremost consideration in education laws and public policies. The commercialization of education should have no place in a country's education system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 129
- Paragraph text
- Regulations for public-private partnerships in education should be composed broadly of: (a) Screening all private partners engaged in business and pursuing private interests through a controlling environment; (b) Promoting and supporting contributions to education in a philanthropic spirit; (c) Creating an enabling environment to establish partnerships that promote technical and vocational education and training.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Many examples of philanthropy exist. For example, the Azim Premji Foundation in India cooperates with the Government in expanding education opportunities in the country. The Fondation nationale des sciences politiques in France is another example of public-private partnerships in education serving the public purpose. Engaged in imparting quality and excellence in education, it also involves private support, serving education as a social cause rather than a commercial pursuit.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- One can witness today the broad neoliberal policy trend towards the private provision of historically public services. Privatization is being driven by an increasing number and range of public and private actors at the global, regional and national levels. The rapidly changing global landscape of education, with the phenomenon of public-private partnerships as a form of management and service delivery in education, is in part prescribed by the donor community and international financial institutions. The private sector is now deeply embedded in education at all levels from policy and research work to delivering learning in classrooms. States cease to be fully responsible for the provision of education directly to their citizens but rather assume the role of a contractor of services delivered by a range of private providers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The dual system practised in industrialized countries, such as Australia, Germany and Switzerland, whereby students, while pursuing technical and vocational education and training programmes, also take on an apprenticeship in an enterprise, is premised upon public-private partnerships. There is huge potential for the private sector to contribute to infrastructure and equipment in schools, training programmes for instructors in technical and vocational education and training and giving students a stipend when they undertake training in an enterprise. Private partners from industry and enterprises should also contribute to developing technical and vocational education and training programmes in schools, in particular when they collaborate with foreign enterprises.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Governments should abolish voucher systems which support private providers at the cost of public education systems. States should instead take promotional measures in line with their obligations concerning the right to education, including through the introduction of schemes of financial support. Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides for "an adequate fellowship system" among its provisions on the right to education and, in its general comment No. 13 on the right to education, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights stated that "the fellowship system should enhance equality of educational access for individuals from disadvantaged groups". Similarly, article 3 (c) of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education lays down the criteria of "merit or need" with regard to "grant of scholarships or other forms of assistance to pupils".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The modalities of public-private partnerships when local public authorities work with communities and NGOs to construct or establish schools are different to those in which Governments enter into partnership with individual proprietors or private enterprises. In some circumstances, community schools may be sources of innovation, leading to novel teaching methods, curricula or school management practices that can improve the public system. In that respect, the Special Rapporteur refers to the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (A/69/315) in which it acknowledged that "philanthropy, i.e., voluntary activity by foundations, private citizens and other non-State actors, has significantly expanded in its scope, scale and sophistication". In its report, the Committee stated that policymakers had recently shown considerable interest in a class of development financing opportunities called "blended finance", which pooled public and private resources and expertise. Those included structured public-private funds and innovative "implementing partnerships" among a wide range of stakeholders, including Governments, civil society, philanthropic institutions, development banks and private for-profit institutions. The Committee further stated that "it is important to note, however, that poorly designed public private partnerships and other blended structures can lead to high returns for the private partner, while the public partner retains all the risks". Careful consideration needs to be given to the appropriate use and structure of blended finance instruments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Governments enter into contracts with the private sector for designing, financing, constructing and operating the infrastructure of public schools. Outsourcing non-educational services allows the private sector to provide services at costs that Governments can rarely match. School supplies, cleaning services, operating school canteens, student transport, computers and technology, or maintenance services are typical examples. It must be recognized, however, that the provision of non-educational services and constructing educational establishments in accordance with agreed norms and standards is a factor in quality education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 122
- Paragraph text
- The corrosive impact of public-private partnerships in education needs careful consideration. It must not lead to public disinvestment in education to the advantage of the private sector; nor must the State relinquish responsibility for providing quality public education. It must not undermine the norms and principles of the right to education; nor must it negatively affect education as a public good. Governments should take full care that public-private partnerships in education are not intertwined with the commercialization of education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 123
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers it important that Governments take a critical view of the euphoria around partnerships in the context of the sustainable development goals, analysing the implications of public-private partnerships for the right to education and the repercussions for education as a social good. For multi-stakeholder initiatives, as well as public-private partnerships, they should ensure that those partnerships do not impede access to quality education for all, free of cost, as called for in proposed sustainable development goal 4. The pursuit of private interests and the commercialization of education should have no place in the education system of a country or in any future education agenda.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 125
- Paragraph text
- A differentiated approach to public-private partnerships is necessary to distinguish partners with for-profit business interests in education from those who are committed to a social interest in education, especially those with a genuine philanthropic spirit. When seeking partners, States should accord priority to those who act out of philanthropic interest and solicit partnerships with those who act in a public spirit. Governments should foster philanthropy, encouraging its contribution to education as a social cause. They should also encourage community participation in education. Governments should ensure that public-private partnerships in education do not lead to the private sector increasing its influence over education systems at the expense of the public interest. The norms and principles of the right to education should provide a framework for partnerships to be predicated upon convergence rather than divergence of interests.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 127
- Paragraph text
- Regulating public-private partnerships in education is a complex and challenging task and requires strong public institutions and a sound regulatory framework. Regulations must ensure that public-private partnerships in education are harnessed to the broader public interest and reflect the humanistic mission of education. Regulatory frameworks governing public-private partnerships in education should be centred on the concept of education as a social good. They should seek to ensure responsible business practices, with effective enforcement in accordance with national education priorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Chile has embarked on a transformative, regulatory approach to undoing the devastating impact of 30 years of market-based policies in education, which have led to high levels of school segregation and stratification. The Special Rapporteur hopes the current reforms will dismantle the underlying neoliberal economic policies and restore education as a public service through new, socially just and equity-focused legislation. He also hopes that the negative consequences of privatization in Chile will dissuade countries such as Peru from following that path. Nearly 25 per cent of Peruvian schools are private and, rather than protecting the public interest in education, Peru has issued legislative decree No. 882, which leaves it to the national consumer protection agency to regulate private schools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- In Sweden, the Government launched a major review to abolish the motivation of profit for providing education after falling in the Programme for International Student Assessment league tables and intends to bring in legislation by 2016 that would force private companies to reinvest all profits back into their schools. "The Swedish free school experiment shows that allowing for-profit providers into the school market has not led to increased performance and improved schools, but instead permitted another vested interest into education".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 105
- Paragraph text
- The repercussions of privatization in education and the need for regulation is being increasingly recognized by the United Nations treaty bodies, notably the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Thus, in its concluding observations with respect to Morocco (CRC/C/MAR/CO/3-4), the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern with the rapid expansion of private education, especially at the primary level, without the necessary supervision, leading to the reinforcement of inequalities in the enjoyment of the right to education. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has also sought information from Morocco about the development of private education and on the impact of privatization on education system (see E/C.12/MAR/Q/4).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 106
- Paragraph text
- The questioning of the privatization of education in Ghana by both the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (see CEDAW/C/GHA/Q/6-7) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (see CRC/C/GHA/Q/3-5) is a welcome development. In October 2014, the Committee on the Rights of the Child asked Ghana to provide detailed information on the reasons behind the increase in private education, which limits access to quality education for children who cannot afford private school tuitions (ibid.). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has asked the Government of Uganda to provide information on the impact of the growth of private education on the right to education of girls and children living in poverty (see E/C.12/UGA/Q/1).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- As many private providers seek to maximize the profits from education, rules and regulations to control school fees must be imposed. Otherwise, the economic accessibility of education for specific groups of the population is endangered. Public authorities can establish maximum permissible fees to be charged by private providers, with a ban on raising those fees without prior approval. The Guidelines for Private Schools in Bhutan, for instance, require private schools to set and declare yearly lump-sum school fees for a student for one academic year. In Cameroon, the fees in private schools are fixed by the State under a contract, in consultation with providers of education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The commercialization of education necessarily involves the pursuit of material values to the detriment of the humanist mission of education. Private schools propagate a commercial value system and establish a learning system devoid of cultural diversity, as they cater to particular social strata. The "cultural-valuational currency" they breed is derogatory to the "moral worth" of the very poor. Privatization eclipses a holistic approach to education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- In this respect, the Special Rapporteur refers with concern to the 2014 report on assessing progress in Africa towards the Millennium Development Goals, which contains a recommendation to speed up private sector investment in education. This disrespects the proposal by the Open Working Group and undermines the right to education. The conclusions in the report that "Africa must build a vibrant private sector that supports the development of a dynamic primary education system ... establishing a liberal and attractive regulatory framework that is conducive to profitable returns on investment" overthrows States' responsibility for education as an essential public function. Ensuring free education of good quality for all is a core obligation of States, as established in, among others, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which provides that every individual shall have the right to education. The Special Rapporteur therefore commends a joint statement by civil society organizations calling for the withdrawal of that report.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 110
- Paragraph text
- Building an inclusive education system is a main thrust of the future development agenda and requires measures to curb privatization, which breeds exclusion and inequities and jeopardizes human development. Privatization impedes access to free basic education for the poor and marginalized; preventing this must be an overriding development concern, since education is a key instrument for ending poverty. The post-2015 development agenda should contain firm commitments by Governments to fostering social justice and equity and accordingly devise national implementation strategies for effectively regulating privatization in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Various non-State providers or stakeholders in education - the private sector, NGOs, civil society organizations, communities and foundations - have different motives and interests and may pursue different objectives. The private sector generally pursues its business interests and is motivated by profit, whereas community and civil society organizations and foundations are often devoted to social services in a philanthropic spirit and should be distinguished from the for-profit private actors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- The importance of a regulatory framework has been recognized by the United States Supreme Court: even in the case of traditional private education, individual States have the power to reasonably regulate all schools, to inspect, supervise and examine them, their teachers and pupils and to ensure that teachers are of good moral character and patriotic disposition, that certain studies plainly essential to good citizenship are taught and that nothing is taught that is manifestly inimical to the public welfare.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Entitlement to education in terms of universal access is an essential prerequisite for the exercise of the right to education. However, privatization breeds exclusion, as those who are disadvantaged are unable to access private schools. This aggravates existing disparities in access to education, further marginalizing the poor. Furthermore, voucher schemes purported to provide economically disadvantaged parents with the means to select a private school in fact promote group differentiation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 124
- Paragraph text
- Public authorities should not allow the pursuit of material values to the detriment of a humanist mission of education or the propagation by private schools of a value system solely conducive to the market economy, with learning systems devoid of cultural diversity. States must ensure that the education imparted in private schools is in conformity with the objectives of education laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in international human rights conventions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 126
- Paragraph text
- Governments should strengthen existing human rights mechanisms such as national human rights institutions and ombudspersons or create special mechanisms to regularly oversee operations of private providers. Such mechanisms should have suo motto investigatory power, with a mandate to look into alleged violations by private providers and any abusive practices. Recommendations made by such mechanisms should be implemented by Governments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Any modality or arrangement for public-private partnerships should always be driven by a human rights approach, giving paramount importance to the norms and principles of the right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Reduced public investment in education can be seen in many developing countries, resulting from privatization and public-private partnerships in education. Governments turn to donors, non-governmental funding and the private sector to overcome resource constraints. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that devoting maximum resources to the right to education as a foundation for development is a human rights obligation of States. He commends the Incheon Declaration on inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all, adopted at the World Education Forum in May 2015, in which Governments are encouraged to commit between 15 and 20 per cent of national budgets, or between 4 and 6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), to education. Public investment in education as a high development priority is not only a legal obligation of Governments, it is also their moral obligation to respect education as a public good.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- International and regional human rights monitoring mechanisms have noted that States have an obligation to protect individuals from human rights abuses committed by private parties. Public accountability of privatized schools and availability of remedies and recourse from their decisions should be specifically and unambiguously provided for by law. The regulatory role of the State is clearly within the scope of the obligation to protect. Existing jurisprudence enables a better understanding of the obligations that the right to education imposes upon private providers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Independent judicial systems and independent human rights mechanisms are necessary for ensuring that laws and regulations are enforced. It is also important that judges be well-versed in the international obligations of States on the right to education. Regulations on private providers should be widely publicized so as to make them better known, especially among parents, teachers and community members and organizations, and should allow for any entity or individual to initiate legal action in cases of abusive or illegal practices by private providers. Supporting public interest litigation safeguarding the right to education against forces of privatization is also important.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Omega International, a chain of for-profit, low-fee private schools run according to a business model in Ghana, requires fees representing up to 40 per cent of poor households' income and makes a mockery of education by not following the national curriculum and by employing unqualified instructors. The Special Rapporteur notes that providing tax relief or subsidies to private schools, rather than establishing good-quality public ones, violates the Constitution of Ghana, which provides that every person shall have the right, at his own expense, to establish and maintain a private school or schools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 130
- Paragraph text
- States, in particular developing countries, must develop innovative modalities for public-private partnerships, harnessed for skills development, to respond to the rising aspirations of young people, with institutionalized collaboration between institutions offering technical and vocational education and training and enterprises. They should also valorize the social esteem of technical and vocational education and training and lay down a legal framework that makes it imperative for industry and institutions offering technical and vocational education and training to collaborate to their mutual advantage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 116
- Paragraph text
- Courts are recognizing that, when private providers contract to provide public services, they have an obligation not to impair human rights. In the case of the Juma Musjid primary school, where a public school was operated on property owned by a private trust, the South African Constitutional Court ruled that, while there was no positive obligation on the trust to provide education, there was an obligation on the trust not to impair the learners' right to basic education by evicting the school from its premises. The Court held that the failure of a private textbook provider to deliver textbooks to all schools constituted a violation of the constitutional right to education, thus establishing that private providers become jointly responsible to the people whom they are serving. The Court also held that private companies providing a public service became accountable to the people in relation to the public power that they acquired and the public function that they performed. The commercial part of the organization "dependent on, or derived from, the performance of public functions is subject to public scrutiny, both in its operational and financial aspects".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- A recent in-depth study on privatization has shown that education as a sector is increasingly being opened up to profit-making and trade, and to agenda-setting by private, commercial interests that conceptualize the learner as a consumer and education as a consumer good. The reconfiguration of public services within neoliberal globalization has placed education squarely in the headlamps of the private sector and international trade agreements such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services and the Trade in Services Agreement. Low-fee private schools in developing countries are a glaring example of the commercialization of education, characterized as "edu-business". A potentially very large proportion of these schools are unregistered.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- The concept of "private" in public-private partnerships must be looked at from the perspective of the human rights framework. A public service supplied by any private provider is a "public" function, for which they are socially responsibility under human rights law. Any arrangement, contractual or otherwise, between the public (Government) and the private (a private entrepreneur, enterprise or entity) is and remains subject to human rights laws. All modalities and arrangements for public-private partnerships in education are therefore subject to the norms and principles of the right to education as being of overriding importance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 121
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur stresses that the State is responsible for providing the right to education as the apex of its public service functions. Even when Governments collaborate with non-State providers in education through public-private partnerships, the State remains both the guarantor and regulator of the right to education, on account of its obligation to respect, protect, promote and realize the right to education. That education is provided through public-private partnerships does not change the nature of the right to education and the related obligations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 125
- Paragraph text
- Regulations should prescribe full financial and performance reporting requirements for all private schools. It should be obligatory for all private providers to report regularly to designated public authorities on their financial operations, in line with prescriptive regulations, covering matters such as school fees collected and salaries paid to teachers, and to declare, in a fully transparent manner, that they are not engaged in for-profit education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 123
- Paragraph text
- When States alone cannot fully meet public demand for education, community schools should be encouraged, as they can play a meaningful complementary role. Public authorities should, therefore, engage with communities for the realization for the right to education. Similarly, the foundations of public utilities established for philanthropic motives should be encouraged to contribute to education as a public good.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 1.1 on privatization and commercialization in and of education, the seventh World Congress of Education International, held in Ottawa in July 2015, deplored the fact that, in many countries, Governments had abrogated their core responsibility to ensure the right to education for all through a fully accountable free, quality public education system and were increasingly turning to partnering with, or subsidizing, private actors to deliver education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have been key proponents of public-private partnerships and have been particularly instrumental in facilitating the replication of what they consider to be successful pilots or experiments in partnerships between Governments and the private sector. A small cluster of large, powerful, global management firms have taken large interests in such public-private partnerships. Outsourcing education activities to profit-making corporations opens the space for them not only to make a profit, but also to steer education agendas in ways that may not be in the best interest of students, parents and teachers and thus societies as a whole.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- The State has the primary responsibility for the provision of public education. Other stakeholders, including private partners, have a social responsibility when they offer to join hands with Governments to complement their efforts and serve education as a social cause. In all situations, public-private partnerships must be underpinned by State responsibility, as well as a societal interest in education. That responsibility is ignored by the proponents of public-private partnerships who advocate the need for an "enabling environment" conducive to the interests of the private sector.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- With a wide range of arrangements and modalities, public-private partnerships in education, like privatization, are becoming endemic in education at all levels. Proponents of public-private partnerships see them as the best way to overcome ineffective government mechanisms and as a potential means to introduce innovations in teaching strategies, increase flexibility, broaden participation and complement the strengths and resources of the State through the provision of books, infrastructure and other goods and services for basic education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- In her introductory remarks to an online workshop on the challenges of public-private partnerships in realizing the right to education, organized by the Oxford Human Rights Hub and the Open Society Foundations, the Director of the Human Rights Hub stated that public-private partnerships, where States incorporated private sector actors in one form or another in the provision of education, were rapidly growing, often in areas of disadvantage and poverty. However, that move has not been driven by human rights concerns. On the contrary, a human rights perspective has often been absent from the discourse.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Public-private partnerships in education may take many forms and arrangements, such as contractual arrangements with the private sector for public school infrastructure or school management, to operate public schools or manage certain aspects of public school operations. Public-private partnerships can also involve government purchases of education services delivered by private schools or private entities. Capacity-building initiatives, the training of public school teachers and curriculum enhancement programmes delivered by the private sector are other forms of public-private partnerships. Voucher systems, which provide government grants for students from low-income families to enrol in private schools, also amount to public-private partnerships. Another modality of public-private partnerships is the provision of cash and in-kind resources by private sector partners to complement government funding of public schools or "adopt a school" programmes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 68/234, the General Assembly stated that partnerships were voluntary and collaborative relationships between various parties, both public and non-public, in which all participants agreed to work together to achieve a common purpose or undertake a specific task and, as mutually agreed, to share risks and responsibilities, resources and benefits. In the case of the right to education, of which society as a whole is a beneficiary, partnerships have a clear common purpose: to promote human development and social well-being. The norms and principles of the right to education provide a framework for partnerships to be predicated upon convergence rather than divergence of interest. The right to education is not a for-profit venture for public authorities. Nor should education be allowed to become a for-profit venture for private providers or partners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- When entering into partnership with private providers, the State should not divest itself of its responsibility. The European Court of Human Rights has held that, under the European Convention on Human Rights, a State cannot absolve itself from responsibility by delegating its obligations to private school bodies. That position is also reinforced by the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which emphasize that, when States delegate their responsibilities to businesses, they remain responsible for ensuring that their human rights obligations are being met.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Where educational services are provided by private partners, States remain responsible for complying with human rights law. All arrangements for public-private partnerships in education, contractual or otherwise, are ipso facto subject to the norms and principles of the right to education. When collaborating with the private sector in discharging their public service functions, Governments cannot compromise on their international obligations regarding the right to education and must ensure that private providers also meet those standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- A number of examples exist where public-private partnerships can be a social project for educational development, with the interests of various partners converging. For example, in Spain, contractual arrangements (conciertos económicos) between the regions and private education providers are a public-private partnership modality with agreed mutual rights and obligations. Similarly, "socialized education" in Viet Nam, seeking to increase financial and administrative support for schools from the community, is also a variant of a public-private partnership. Collaboration with communities based on social interest in education can lead to reinforcing public education systems. The programme to improve learning outcomes in South Africa represents a unique partnership between public authorities and South African businesses and teacher unions as a way to progressively implement the obligation to provide free quality education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- UNESCO and the International Organization of la Francophonie have expressed concern with sweeping privatization in education reducing education to a commodity: "With diversification in the field of education, the private providers - international or local - are more and more numerous. International consortiums have [become] specialized in 'selling' education. A number of local figures, including many teachers and even educational authorities, are creating schools for profit, turning to rather wealthy families with slogans extolling the quality [of the school] or are turning towards the disadvantaged public with altruistic slogans, which often hide the profit or political character of their endeavours. One can observe, above all, the emergence of a quasi-market phenomenon".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Private providers undermine the right to education, both as an entitlement and as empowerment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, the Act on National Education of 2006 in Argentina provides that education and knowledge are public goods guaranteed by the State and that private management will be based on objective criteria of social justice. The law in the Dominican Republic stipulates that the State must primarily promote education as a "common good". In some countries, private education is required to be a service of "public utility", which thus forbids for-profit education. The concept of education as a social good is also reflected in the Constitution of Brazil.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The State is primarily responsible for respecting, fulfilling and protecting the right to education. The liberty of parents and guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions and the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions provided for in article 13 (3) and (4) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is not unfettered. Such freedom in education is subject to compliance with minimum standards in education, to which all private educational institutions are required to conform. The failure to ensure that private educational institutions conform to the minimum educational standards required in articles 13 (3) and (4) constitutes a violation of the right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- State responsibility for providing basic education free of charge is established in human rights law. According to the interpretation of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, under article 13 of the Covenant, States are regarded as having principal responsibility for the direct provision of education in most circumstances; States parties to the Covenant recommend, for example, that the "development of a system of schools at all levels shall be actively pursued". States have an "unequivocal obligation" to provide primary education free of charge to all, with a detailed plan of action to progressively improve provision, under article 14 of the Covenant. The Committee has stressed that, under article 13, States are regarded as having principal responsibility for the direct provision of education in most circumstances.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- Education provided by private proprietors or enterprises is neither free nor equitable and the Special Rapporteur welcomes the proposal of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals to ensure, by 2030, that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes, as well as to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (see A/68/970 and Corr.1, goal 4 and target 4.1). The underlying obligation for States to realize the right to education, including through enhanced public investment in education as an essential prerequisite, must be emphasized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 111
- Paragraph text
- Education is a fundamental human right and a core obligation of States. It is not a privilege of the rich and well-to-do, it is an inalienable right of every person. Principal responsibility for the direct provision of education lies with the State. However, education as a public function of States is being eroded by market-driven approaches and the rapid growth of private providers, with scant control by public authorities. Privatization negatively affects the right to education both as an entitlement and as empowerment. It breeds exclusion and marginalization, with crippling effects on the fundamental principle of equality of opportunity in education. It also entails disinvestment in public education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 115
- Paragraph text
- The State remains primarily responsible for fulfilling the right to education on account of its international legal obligations. Governments should not allow low-fee private schools and should restore education as their essential public service function. The provision of basic education free of cost is not only a core obligation of the State, it is also a moral imperative. The State must discharge its responsibility as guarantor and regulator of education as a fundamental human right of every child.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, educational establishments set up for philanthropic purposes, which are not profit-driven but promote education as a societal good, are valuable for generating social support for education. Public policies can promote the foundation of public utilities devoted to the cause of education. Corporate social responsibility can support education development and must be fully harnessed. All those valuing education as a public good and a social cause as opposed to for-profit schools can be encouraged by an enabling environment and good governance for developing education, in such innovative ways as special trust funds created for the purpose of maximizing national investment in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- States remain primarily responsible for protecting the right to education. Many countries have national legislation with provisions applicable to non-State providers of education. In most cases, it is broadly conceived, covering freedom for religious and moral education in accordance with article 13 (3) and (4) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international human rights conventions. Except in a few cases, such provisions do not cover privatization in all its manifestations and do not adequately address issues specifically related to the commercialization of education. Laws on private providers exist in only a few countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- With little or no effective control, the negative effects of privatization on the right to education in several countries can already be seen. For example, a phenomenal increase in low-cost private schools in Pakistan, which now enrol over 40 per cent of all students, has exacerbated inequities at all school levels, thereby heightening instabilities and violence in conflict-affected provinces. In Nepal, private providers, who can register as companies and sell education services, continue to flout government guidelines. The growth of fee-paying, for-profit schools in Morocco is creating a system that privileges those with means, with the risk of developing a two-speed education system. In South Africa, where private schools have become increasingly popular among the middle classes, the national human rights commission recently launched investigations into the for-profit Curro Foundation School.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has already mentioned that a differentiated approach to public-private partnerships is necessary to distinguish partners with private business interests in education from those committed to a social interest in education, especially those with a genuinely philanthropic spirit. Moreover, stakes in public-private partnerships in the case of technical and vocational education and training are very different from those in education at basic or higher levels.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- According to a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), "only the State … can pull together all the components into a coherent but flexible education system". Any State in which a significant number of individuals are deprived of the most basic form of education is, prima facie, failing to discharge its obligations under the Covenant. If the Covenant were to be read in such a way as not to establish such a minimum core obligation, it would be largely deprived of its raison d'être.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- States have obligations to ensure that the liberty of providing education set out in article 13 (4) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights does not lead to extreme disparities of educational opportunity for some groups in society. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 17/3, they should give full effect to the right to education by, inter alia, promoting equality of opportunity in education in accordance with their human rights obligations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Massive open online courses, portrayed as an alternative path to gaining access to higher education, can also involve "creating partnerships between educational institutions in developed and developing countries, Governments, development agencies, or the private sector". However, the commercial interests of providers, which enable them to "enter the higher education market using a [massive open online courses approach]", can be the raison d'être for offering such courses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The impact of public-private partnerships on education needs careful consideration. Key issues include: whether it results in public disinvestment in education to the advantage of private sector; whether it is an abdication of State responsibility to meet its obligation to provide quality public education to all its citizens; the repercussions on education as a public good; and whether it is undermining the norms and principles of the right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Rather than relying on private financial support for education through public-private partnerships, Governments should mobilize maximum national resources for education. In a declaration of 7 July 2015, the participants in the Oslo Summit on Education for Development, held in July 2015, recognized that "the provision of education is a national responsibility". Governments can resort to many other modalities for enhancing national investment in education. They can increase tax-to-GDP ratios and stop giving tax incentives, including long tax holidays, to companies to solicit foreign investment. They can also gain by monitoring and controlling aggressive tax avoidance. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that developing countries lose more than $100 billion a year to tax avoidance, nearly half of which is lost from Africa.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Voucher systems, which support parents to send students to public or private schools, amount to public-private partnership arrangements, which promote privatization. The experience of Chile demonstrates the negative consequences of a voucher system in creating social stratification. Education service contracting in the Philippines, providing a public subsidy for each student opting to enrol in eligible private schools, is fraught with similar consequences, exacerbating inequities and social segregation. The Punjab Education Foundation in Pakistan, which sources funds from donors and financial institutions (in mixed loans and grants) and allocates vouchers to selected private schools, allows private individuals to manage government-created foundations as public-private partnerships, which is detrimental to public investment in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- The key importance of skills development is recognized in goal 4.4. of the proposed sustainable development goals: "By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship". The Special Rapporteur trusts that Governments in developing countries will be able to develop innovative modalities of public-private partnerships, harnessed for skills development, to respond to the imperatives of quality and the rising aspirations of young people.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Universal access is an entitlement under the right to education. That right also empowers learners by providing the knowledge, values and skills needed to participate in society. Full consideration should be given to the impact of public-private partnerships in education on both those dimensions, bearing in mind State obligations to respect, fulfil and protect the right to education, for when a Government enters into partnership or joins hands with the private sector for the provision of education, those obligations remain constant. Public-private partnerships do not alter or diminish State obligations regarding the right to education, as laid down in international human rights conventions; on the contrary, the State remains accountable for its own actions, as well as those of its partner(s) and of all other providers of education within its jurisdiction. It must ensure that the right to education is respected protected and fulfilled, with the latter incorporating an obligation to facilitate and provide.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- Regulating public-private partnerships in education is a complex and challenging task, given that, under such arrangements, public authorities operate jointly with private entities and share responsibility with them. Private partners may have different and even conflicting motives and interests, seeking profit rather than giving primacy to the social interest in education. The State, however, remains the guarantor and regulator to ensure that the norms and principles of the right to education are respected in all situations, including public-private partnerships. Governments in developing countries lack the necessary expertise and experience when faced with the complex legal nature of public-private partnerships, and the specialized legal expertise available to multinational conglomerates operating in education may contribute to unbalanced public-private partnership agreements. Moreover, national legal frameworks for public-private partnerships must be in place before contractual agreements are negotiated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- The need for a sound regulatory framework was also recognized in the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (A/69/315).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- Laws and policies on public-private partnerships exist in many countries, but they are not adequate for facing the challenges that are emerging. In his earlier reports, the Special Rapporteur provided extensive guidance on the role of the State in regulating private providers (see A/69/402 and A/HRC/29/30). That advice applies equally to privately operated schools under a public-private partnership model and includes the need to ensure that public laws, policies and regulations prescribe in detail the rules under which public-private partnerships can be created, how they must operate, the standards that they must meet and the means by which they will be monitored.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- The commercialization of education by all kinds of for-profit operators or with objectives contrary to international commitments by States and national values must be stopped and sanctioned. Corruption by private providers continues owing to a lack of regulations and monitoring, oversight and control mechanisms. As a result, the delivery of primary or basic education can be made a family business by running a school in a private house. Furthermore, few Governments have satisfactory regulations on tutoring by private tutorial companies. Regulations for such companies are also necessary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- A regulatory framework for private providers is thus of critical importance in setting out responsibilities and accountability requirements. The corporate sector has a long track record of attempting to prevent government regulation and numerous corporations have sued Governments for trying to implement regulations that could harm their profits. Governments must be bold in regulating private operators, focusing on education as a public good. Regulations must ensure that education is accessible to all, works towards the broader public interest and reflects a broad humanistic notion of education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 141
- Paragraph text
- States must expand public educational opportunities, recognizing the paramount importance of investment in education as their essential obligation. They must respond to the challenges of restoring public trust in public education systems as regards their capacity to provide quality education. Governments should recognize that the highest-quality education, for the lowest cost, universally available for all, will always come from an effective public system. Public-private partnerships may provide stopgap measures, as States work to progressively realize education systems that fully meet all aspects of the right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 142
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur calls upon civil society organizations and the intellectual community, as well as students, parents and community associations, to expose the negative effects of public-private partnerships in education. He encourages them to voice their concerns more strongly and widely, as an essential function of the social compact for education, in an endeavour to forge a global movement against the negative impact and abusive practices of privatization and public-private partnerships in education, reducing it to a business. Their advocacy work for fostering social justice and equity is valuable to counter market-based approaches in education. Research, events and expert consultations on the effects of public-private partnerships in education and on the exercise and enjoyment of the right to education should be encouraged and supported.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- In developing regulatory frameworks, States can draw upon existing regulatory systems and approaches. Algeria, for example, is noteworthy for controlling private educational establishments; such establishments are subject to prior authorization by the Minister of Education and the conditions of their creation and opening are controlled by strict rules. They are required to follow official programmes and bear civil responsibility towards students and the educational personnel employed. At the time of establishment, and each year thereafter, they must declare their sources of financing, including gifts and legacies, and cannot receive any financing grant or donations from national or foreign associations, institutions or organizations without prior approval by the Minister of Education. Finally, the regulations provide for sanctions in case of non-conformity to the rules by private educational establishments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Singapore is an especially noteworthy example of how States can effectively regulate private education providers with sanctions in cases of abusive practices. According to the country's Private Education Act, private educational establishments must be registered and abide by very strict quality standards and norms. They can be refused permission to operate if the private education institution is not in the public interest. The Act establishes duties and management accountabilities. It provides that "any registered private education institution which contravenes any requirement or restriction imposed … shall be guilty of an offence" and makes acting "fraudulently or dishonestly" or "misleading" the public punishable by law. The Act contains comprehensive provisions on inspection, enforcement and offences, as well as a detailed section on offences by corporate bodies, including unincorporated associations that, when found guilty of an offence, shall be liable to be prosecuted and punished accordingly.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Governments, and through them all providers of education, whether operating independently or jointly with Governments, remain accountable for respecting and fulfilling the right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- In the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled "The future we want" (General Assembly resolution 66/288, annex), the General Assembly underlined the importance of the right to quality education and expressed the resolve of the international community to work for a world that is just, equitable and inclusive. The Special Rapporteur finds it difficult to reconcile this vision with the social implications of privatizing education. Unless social policy becomes transformative in a spirit of (re)distributive justice, progress towards development goals is at risk and violent conflict may result.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- There are other important avenues for meeting demands in education while a State pursues the progressive realization of the right to education. Not-for-profit, NGO, community and religious schools all have different motivations, dynamics and outcomes. Governments can, as in Brazil, categorize various non-State providers in education. In Spain, contractual arrangements between a region and a private school establish mutual rights and obligations. Public support to such educational establishments must, as provided in the Constitution of Cabo Verde, for example, be subject to pursuing the public interest.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Public policies can help communities and NGOs to establish schools. Community schools can play a meaningful complementary role in the realization of the right to education. Such schools may be sources of innovation, leading to new teaching methods, curricula or school management practices that can improve the public system. As in the case of the Bodh Shiksha community schools in India, they can also be integrated into public schools. Ensuring quality in education is important in efforts to ensure "socialized" education, as in Viet Nam, where efforts are made to increase financial and other forms of support to schools in the community. Collaborations looking to pursue the social interest in education can lead to public education systems being reinforced.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education contains similar provisions. It provides that the objective of the establishment or maintenance of private educational institutions should not be to secure the exclusion of any group, but "to provide educational facilities in addition to those provided by the public authorities" and that "the education provided conforms with such standards as may be laid down or approved by the competent authorities, in particular for education of the same level".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 131
- Paragraph text
- Governments should develop adequate reporting requirements and accountability mechanisms for public-private partnerships in education, so as to ensure the full compliance of private partners with the normative framework of the right to education, along with conditions and standards laid down by Governments. The State has the responsibility to establish an oversight mechanism for public-private partnerships in education and must ensure compliance with its laws.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- A number of court rulings worldwide have established that private providers in education are accountable to the State and to the public. The Supreme Court of Nepal found that fees charged by private providers of education were increasing social and economic disparity. It ruled that the educational authorities had to devise reform programmes to regulate private schools: regulating fees, prohibiting the sale of unregistered and overpriced textbooks and limiting the number of private schools being accredited.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The commercialization of education and its unfettered liberalization, open to operators for lucrative purposes or objectives, is contrary to international human rights law. The introduction of private, for-profit education into the national education landscape has a number of serious repercussions. Privatization leads to shrinking public investment. Its negative effects on education must receive foremost consideration in public policies, bearing in mind that education is a social good.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 128
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers it important, in the context of the universal periodic review, to look at the negative effects of privatization on the right to education in countries under review and for Governments to regulate private providers and safeguard education as a public good. State obligations for respecting, protecting and fulfilling the right to education, particularly in the context of privatization, should be a priority concern in such reviews.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 117
- Paragraph text
- Prescriptive regulations clearly establish conditions under which private providers may be permitted to operate within a country, as well as minimum norms and standards with which schools must comply. In the absence of such regulations, unregistered schools may proliferate. Laws on education should spell out the duties and responsibilities of private providers vis-à-vis communities, students, teachers and societies at large.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Policies in the areas of standardized tests and curricula, pedagogy and teacher evaluation are also increasingly being promoted and literally "sold" to Governments in both the global North and South by international institutions and education corporations and foundations, among other private actors. Along with the preparation and supply of learning materials, those policies affect the content and delivery of education, impinging on its very objectives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Qualified and trained teachers are essential for ensuring quality. As recognized in the joint UNESCO-International Labour Organization recommendation concerning the status of teachers (1966), "advance in education depends largely on the qualifications and ability of the teaching staff in general and on the human, pedagogical and technical qualities of the individual teachers". However, "some forms of PPPs frequently employ personnel who lack training and/or qualifications".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- An important role devolves on public-private partnerships in education in the field of technical and vocational education and training. Skills development programmes in that field necessarily involve close collaboration with industry and enterprises. The Special Rapporteur considers that this area has not received consideration commensurate with its importance in the context of public-private partnerships. It calls for much greater recognition and focus.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 112
- Paragraph text
- It is important that States carefully enforce laws, rules and regulations through monitoring and enforcement. Governments should strengthen national human rights mechanisms or ombudspersons so that they function with a reinforced mandate. Moreover, parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in monitoring public-private partnerships, not only in adopting laws, but also in taking up questions related to the enforcement of laws, rules and regulations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Promoting for-profit education, the International Finance Corporation considers laws as financial hurdles and provides guidance to private providers of education to be "very profitable and flourishing enterprises". This is blatantly disrespectful of the human rights obligations of international bodies, including the World Bank, as described in general comment No. 13 (1999) on the right to education of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The State remains primarily responsible for education on account of international legal obligations and cannot divest itself of its core public service functions. As the Supreme Court of the United States of America stated in the historic judgement in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), "providing public schools ranks at the very apex of the function of a State" and "education is perhaps the most important function of State and local governments".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Privatization widens disparities in access to education. Private providers disregard the fundamental principle of equality of opportunity in education common to almost all international human rights treaties (A/HRC/17/29 and Corr.1). Inequalities in opportunities for education will be exacerbated by the growth of unregulated private providers of education, with economic condition, wealth or property becoming the most important criterion in access to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protecting education against commercialization 2015, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- For-profit education is illegal in some countries where the provision of basic education is a constitutional obligation, as in Brazil and South Africa. The Special Rapporteur would like to commend all those countries where for-profit education is forbidden and to appeal to all countries to abolish for-profit education. He considers that it is crucial to generalize this abolition in legislation and public policies, and to establish effective oversight mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- In contrast, one important form of public-private partnership is private sector philanthropy: assistance provided by a private organization or individual ranging from scholarships and sponsorships to supplies, uniforms, teachers' fees, school facilities, furniture and equipment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers that a critical appraisal of public-private partnerships in education is important for public policy responses. He outlines herein some areas which he considers to be of key importance in meeting the challenges of public-private partnerships in education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- It is important to note that, in its general comment No. 13, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated that it would considered "the effects of the assistance provided by all actors other than States parties on the ability of States to meet their obligations under article 13".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Without taking preventive measures against the deteriorating quality of education in public schools and lured by propaganda and false claims of better quality by private providers, Governments turn to the private sector in search of better management of education and even for running the education system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- When a private entity operates in education in collaboration with a public entity, the larger cause of education as a social good should not be compromised. The provision of education cannot be made subservient to private interests. Education is a public good and a social cause and public-private partnerships must be protected from the growing influence of a market-based model of private education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- The norms and principles underlying the right to education should be fully respected in any arrangements of public-private partnerships in education. That should be the overriding concern in considering any proposal for such partnerships, in giving shape to them and throughout their operation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Public-private partnerships in education also present a number of concerns relating to social justice and human rights. States must ensure that education is valued and safeguarded as a public good. The principle of social justice, which is at the core of the global mission of the United Nations to promote development and human dignity, also underpins human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Public-private partnerships in education 2015, para. 117
- Paragraph text
- Such cases create an important precedent that should be observed by all States. While the State retains primary responsibility for meeting its human rights obligations, whenever it enters into agreements with private providers, those agreements should stipulate that the private partner or company acknowledges the public responsibilities that they are taking on to respect the right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph