Privatisation and the Right to Education

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Privatisation and the Right to Education
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Objectives

1. Develop an understanding of the right to
   education
2. Become familiar with key State obligations
   concerning the right to education that may be
   affected by privatisation
3. Gain and understanding of education
   privatisation, including the forms and processes
   that may impact the right to education
4. Practically apply the right to education to
   scenarios and consider the implications
5. Explore strategies for applying a human rights
   based approach to education privatisation

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What Are Human Rights?

• Rights are inherent to all human beings and are
  protected through internationally agreed legal
  standards that States have committed to upholding
  through treaties.

• Human rights are
• Universal
• Indivisible
• Inter-related Inter-dependent

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Equality Non-Discrimination

• Non-discrimination prohibits any distinction,
  exclusion or limitation based on the listed
  grounds

States guarantee these rights without
discrimination of any kind on the grounds of
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political
or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.
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The Right to Education in Law
Main International Human Rights Treaties Containing Provisions on the Right to Education
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education
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What is the Right to Education?

• Free compulsory primary education
• Available accessible secondary technical/
  vocational education that is progressively free
• Equally accessible higher education based on
  capacity and progressively made free
• Fundamental education for those who could not
  access or complete primary education
• System of schools with continuously improved
  conditions enhanced educational access for
  individuals from disadvantaged groups

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What Are the Aims of Education?

• The full development of the childs personality,
  talents and mental and physical abilities
• The development of respect for human rights and
  fundamental freedoms
• The development of respect for the childs
  parents, cultural identity, language and values,
  as well as respect for the values of the childs
  country and other civilisations
• The development of the childs responsibilities
  in a free society, including understanding,
  peace, tolerance, equality, and friendship among
  all persons and groups
• The development of respect for the natural
  environment

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The 4 As
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Educational Freedoms
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Definitions

• Private Education
• Education that is provided by non-State actors,
  including companies, religious institutions,
  NGOs, trusts or private individuals
• Privatisation
• A process of transferring education assets,
  management, functions or responsibilities
  previously owned or carried out by the State to
  private actors

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Human Rights Concerns
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How Is Education Privatised?

• From PERI
• For Profit Schools
• Public-Private Partnerships
• Low Fee Schools
• Private Tutoring
• Philanthropy Schools

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The Nature of State Obligations
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Progressive Realisation
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Free Education
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Equality Non-Discrimination
Non-discrimination prohibits any distinction,
exclusion or limitation based on the listed
grounds
DISCRIMINATION includes any distinction,
exclusion, limitation or preference that has the
purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing
equality of treatment in education
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Monitoring Regulation
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Education Financing
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Continuous Improvements to Quality
States must continuously improve the material conditions of teaching
Trained and qualified teachers paid competitive salaries continuing education
Access to appropriate learning materials
Relevant and culturally appropriate curricula and child-centred teaching methods
Non-discrimination in education delivery
Adequate school infrastructure and safe environment
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Participation Transparency
Privatisation programmes should be open and
transparent and should include the participation
of the affected community. States should take
care to avoid creating imbalances of power
between private actors and communities through
experimental privatisation programmes.
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Effective Remedies
The right to an effective remedy forms part of
the human rights framework, and States must
ensure that effective remedies are available in
order to address violations that may occur
pertaining to private education or privatised
services.
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Gathering Evidence

• Look for existing data / evidence apply human
  rights analysis
• Gather new data / evidence from the field
• Influence other actors (e.g., academia) to carry
  out research on key privatisation topics or areas
  of concern
• Analyse existing government policy documents
  regarding privatisation against human rights
  standards

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Gathering Evidence Example
Example Accountability for Quality Teaching Example Accountability for Quality Teaching Example Accountability for Quality Teaching
Outcomes Policies Human rights standards
Salaries of public school teachers Salaries of private school teachers Highest qualification level attained by public school teachers Highest qualification level attained by private school teachers Completion of continuing education etc. National requirements for public teacher pay scales and minimum qualifications National requirements for private teacher pay scales and minimum qualifications National requirements for continuing education for public school teachers National requirements for private school teachers Individual school policies on salary, qualifications, and continuing education Availability of teacher training providers and placements etc. Right to work - Fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value   Right to education Minimum teacher qualifications, adequate teacher training, domestically competitive teacher salaries
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Inquiry

• Send requests for information to the government
  (usually a formal process)
• Set up a meeting with key ministry officials to
  inquire about privatisation policies represent
  civil society concerns as a coalition
• Organise public meetings on education
  privatisation invite government officials,
  parents, teachers, community leaders, etc.
• Organise a workshop to share information on
  privatisation with key stakeholders

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Developing a Campaign
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Resources

• Right to Education Project (RTE)
  www.right-to-education.org
• Privatisation in Education Research Initiative
  (PERI) www.periglobal.org
• Global Campaign for Education (GCE)
  www.campaignforeducation.org
• Education International (EI) www.ei-ie.org
• Save the Children www.savethechildren.org

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