United States Senate Education Division

Executive Education Order

Education is not a privilege. It is a human right. Education as a human right
means:
• The right to education is legally guaranteed for all without
discrimination
• States have the obligation to protect, respect and fulfill the right to
education
• There are ways to hold states accountable for violations or
deprivations of the right to education
Where is the right to education Guaranteed?
International Human Rights law guarantees the right to education. The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, proclaims in
Article 26: ‘everyone has the right to education’
Since then, the right to education has been widely recognized and
developed by a number of International Normative Instruments elaborated
by the United Nations, Including the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (1966) the Convention of the rights of the child
(1989) and the UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in
Education.(1950)
The right to education has also been reaffirmed in other treaties covering
specific groups (women and girls, persons with disabilities, migrants,
refugees, Indigenous Peoples, etc.) and contexts (education during armed
conflicts). It has also been incorporated into various regional treaties and
enshrined as a right in the vast majority of national constitutions.
United States Senate Education Division

Why is the right to education Fundamental?

Both individuals and society benefit from the right to education. It is
fundamental for human, social, and economic development and a key
element to achieving lasting peace and sustainable development. It is a
powerful tool in developing the full potential of everyone and ensuring
human dignity, and in promoting individual and collective wellbeing.
In brief:
• it is an empowerment right
• it lifts marginalized groups out of poverty
• it is an indispensable means of realizing other rights
• it contributes to the full development of the human personality
What is the content of the right to education?
The right to education encompasses both entitlements and freedoms,
including the:
• right to free and compulsory primary education
• right to available and accessible secondary education (including
technical and vocational education and training), made progressively
free
• right to equal access to higher education on the basis of capacity
made progressively free
• right to fundamental education for those who have not received or
completed primary education
• right to quality education both in public and private schools
• freedom of parents to choose schools for their children which are in
conformity with their religious and moral convictions
• freedom of individuals and bodies to establish and direct education
institutions in conformity with minimum standards established by the
state
• academic freedom of teachers and students
United States Senate Education Division

What are the states obligations?

When a state has ratified a treaty that guarantees the right to education, it
has obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil this right. Some obligations are
immediate. Others are progressive.
Obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil:
• respect: refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of the right (e.g.,
the state must respect the liberty of parents to choose schools for
their children)
• protect: prevent others from interfering with the enjoyment of the right
usually through regulation and legal guarantees (e.g., the state must
ensure that third parties, including parents, do not prevent girls from
going to school)
• fulfil: adopt appropriate measures towards the full realisation of the
right to education (e.g., the state must take positive measures to
ensure that education is culturally appropriate for minorities and
indigenous peoples, and of good quality for all)
Immediate and progressive obligations:
As with other economic, social and cultural rights, the full realisation of the
right to education can be hampered by a lack of resources and can be
achieved only over a period of time, particularly for countries with fewer
resources. This is the reason why some state obligations are progressive,
for instance, the introduction of free secondary and higher education.
However, no matter how limited resources are, all states have immediate
obligations to implement the following aspects of right to education:
• ensure minimum core obligations to meet the essential levels of the
right to education, which includes prohibiting discrimination in access
to and in education, ensuring free and compulsory primary education
for all, respecting the liberty of parents to choose schools for their
children other than those established by public authorities, protecting
the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct
educational institutions
United States Senate Education Division

• take appropriate steps towards the full realization of the right to

education to the maximum of its available resources. A lack of
resources cannot justify inaction or indefinite postponement of
measures to implement the right to education. States must
demonstrate they are making every effort to improve the enjoyment of
the right to education, even when resources are scarce
• not take retrogressive measures. This means that the state should
not take backwards steps or adopt measures that will repeal existing
guarantees of the right to education. For instance, introducing school
fees in secondary education when it had formerly been free of charge
would constitute a retrogressive measure

What can you do to help realize the right to education?

• raise awareness on the right to education. If individuals knows their
rights they are empowered to claim them
• monitor the implementation of the right to education and report
regularly on deprivations and violations
• advocate and campaign for the full implementation of the right to
education, holding the state accountable
• seek remedies when there are violations of the right to education

____________________________
Secretary of Education

____________________________
Speaker of the House
Education Division

____________________________
President of the United States
United States Senate Education Division