- What constitutional rights do children have to education?
- What influences educational enrollment?
- How does teacher training differ across countries?
For example, Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that, “States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular: (a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all; (b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need; (c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means; (d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children; (e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.”
The right to education free from discrimination has also been recognized in documents such as the Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).
In order to shed light on the steps that countries take to protect children’s futures, we investigated education policies and regulations that are currently in place in all UN member states. Our findings about constitutional rights to education, access to free and compulsory education, and the quality of education that is available to children are displayed on the maps in this section.