“A humanistic approach to education and development is the common thread that weaves together the diversity of contributions into a rich tapestry on learning. The approach is grounded in a vision of development that is economically inclusive, socially just and environmentally sustainable. A vision that acknowledges the diversity of knowledge systems, worldviews and conceptions of well-being, while reaffirming a common core of universally shared values. It is a vision that promotes an integrated approach to learning, acknowledging the multiple personal, social, civic and economic purposes of education…” Stefania Giannini
Humanistic futures of learning. Perspectives from UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks. Published in 2020 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France. © UNESCO 2020. ISBN 978-92-3-100369-1. This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). (p. 127-129)
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Public education is not for sale to the highest (or lowest) bidder
Ann Skelton, UNESCO Chair of Education Law in Africa, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
In this piece, the author highlights the human rights obligations of states to provide public education and regulate private involvement in education. She makes the argument that innovation can be incorporated into public education without having to commercialize it.
“Education is the primary vehicle by which the socially and economically marginalised adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities.” ((CESCR, General Comment 13 (1999)). The Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights envisages that the way to provide equal access to education is through the provision of public schools. If we want a system of education that truly leaves no one behind – as states have committed to doing through the sustainable development goals – then it must be accessible to everyone, including the poor and the marginalized. Yet, in discussions on the future of education, many people turn to the private sector for new ideas. It seems that many lack faith in governments as innovators. If thinking out of the box needs to happen, people seek ideas from entrepreneurs. Innovation is very much needed in a changing world where so many children still do not enjoy equal access to quality education, but the problem with asking entrepreneurs for answers is that when education becomes a commodity to be bought and sold, the idea of education as a common good, something that everyone must have access to, is at grave risk. We may need entrepreneurs to help redesign the future education system – but let them be social entrepreneurs.
New demands for inclusive education
The content of education and the way we teach is changing. It is highly likely that it will undergo a metamorphosis in the future as we see developments, such as more home-schooling and increased reliance on distance and digital learning, in response to a demand for an education that is adapted to the different needs of individuals and the current challenges our global society is facing. We certainly do need to reflect on the way we educate in the rapidly changing world we live in. Education for a sustainable environment, for instance, is of crucial importance. In this regard, children themselves are leading the way, with child activists, including 16-year-old Greta Thunberg educating her peers – and many adults – on the vital importance of saving the planet. She asks, “why should I be studying for a future that soon will be no more, when no one is doing anything whatsoever to save that future? And what is the point of learning facts within the school system when the most important facts given by the finest science of that same school system clearly means nothing to our politicians and our society?” (Thunberg, 2018).
Schools as we know them today, may disappear or reform, which may transform the role and the form of public education. However, if we want education to contribute to the common good of humanity and respond to ongoing inequalities and exclusions in our society, states have a central role to play in the delivery of education – no matter the form it takes – particularly in providing free quality education.
Abidjan principles: Refocusing attention on the role of the state in education
The importance of public education has recently been the subject of attention from a group of eminent experts from around the world, culminating in the Abidjan principles on the human rights obligations of states to provide public education and to regulate private involvement in education. These principles were welcomed by the UN Human Rights Council in their resolution on the right to education on the 9th of July 2019. Drawing from international human rights law, its overarching principle recalls that “states must provide free, public education of the highest attainable quality to everyone within their jurisdiction as effectively and expeditiously as possible, to the maximum of their available resources” (Human Rights Council, 2018). The Abidjan principles were developed in response to the rapid expansion of the involvement of private actors in education to provide clarity and guidance regarding the state’s obligations in this new and changing education context.
Where states struggle to implement the right to free public education for all due to the lack of resources or capacities – often exacerbated by structural adjustment programmes – the involvement of private actors in education is often ‘sold’ to them as the solution to the growing demand for education. Regrettably, even donors have in some instances opted to fund private education, including commercial low-cost private schools, instead of supporting the receiving state in strengthening its public education system.
Transforming education for individuals and society
A free quality public education is transformative, both for the individual and for society. Within a generation, children can move from the margins of society to a life in which they can reach their full potential through the engine of free public education. The last two centuries clearly demonstrated this. For centuries before, only the children of the wealthy were able to access education. During the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, children in industrialised nations moved from being the poorest paid workers in the industrial revolution workforce to accessing education in public schools. Today, it is widely accepted by all nations that all children should be at school – and not at work. So, we have witnessed the power of education as a lever to lift people out of poverty and contribute to an inclusive and fair society.
But now, 20 years into the twenty-first century, some states are slipping back to a situation in which only children of parents who are willing or able to pay can receive a good education. In countries where education has been massively privatised, research shows an increase in inequalities and segregation, which perpetuates or further exacerbates inequalities and segregation seen in societies. In addition, the standard of education in low-fee private schools is not always good – in some cases, parents are not only paying for what should be provided to their children free of charge, but many are being short-changed in the process.
Of course, it is true that human rights treaties also make allowances for the liberty to establish and maintain private educational institutions, provided that they are regulated by the state. This liberty is grounded in ideas such as freedom of religion and culture, and also protection against an authoritarian or neglectful state that does not provide access to education that is acceptable to individuals or groups. The inclusion of this liberty in international law instruments has created a space for non-profit education providers, many of which have good intentions and are in fact providing education for the poor and marginalized in situations where the state simply is not. However, the downside is that this has led to situations in some states where governments have simply reneged on their obligation to provide free quality public education for all, content to let others fill the gap. It has also created situations where commercial entities have moved to fill this gap in what they see as a market, and sought to take advantage of this by commodifying learning and taking quality education out of the reach of many, leaving poor children stranded in worsening public education systems.
The Abidjan principles direct states back to their fundamental obligations to ensure equal access to quality education for all children, including those who are poor and marginalized. States need to become education innovators themselves. Of course, they can and should engage the best thinkers in the world, including entrepreneurs and private sector specialists to help them think ‘out of the box.’ They should certainly ask Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai and other children and young people around the world about what the education system of the future should look like. However, states should not sell the education system to the highest (or lowest) bidder, because it belongs to all of us, to the common good.
References
Abidjan Principles. 2019. Guiding Principles on the human rights obligations of States to provide public education and to regulate private involvement in education Côte d’Ivoire: Abidjan Principles Greta Thunberg. 2018. Ted Talks. Text available at https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/greta-speeches.
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 13: The Right to Education (Art. 13 of the Covenant), 8 December 1999, E/C.12/1999/10, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4538838c22.html [accessed 13 November 2019]