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Education is a Human Right, Not an Economic Good - UN Expert

 

INTERVIEW - UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Vernor Munoz Villalobos

 

Geneva - There is a need to recognize education as a human right rather than an economic good, and member States have an obligation to implement this right, according to UN rights expert Vernor Muñoz Villalobos.

 

Muñoz Villalobos, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education of the Commission on Human Rights, said in an interview that the human rights dimension of education needed to be strengthened without looking at education from an utilitarian perspective that guarantees an economic result.

 

"I have noted that a lot of people see education as a service, business or a way to improve the economic struggle against poverty", he said.

 

"But the aim of education is linked to human dignity and to the realization of the individual's rights that Member States have an obligation to implement", Muñoz added.

 

According to Muñoz, the main obstacle to progress on the right to education is that it has been “de-linked” from a culture of respect for human rights.

 

"In order to overcome this obstacle human rights learning and education are mechanisms that could allow us to transform patriarchal practices that reduce education to a mechanism that perpetuates existing social and cultural traditions and practices, regardless of their impact on human rights", he said.

 

The other areas the Special Rapporteur identifies as hurdles to the enjoyment of the right to education are tuition fees, lack of teachers and poverty, combined with the inferior position given to education in national budgets.

 

The Rapporteur has focused much of his work on primary education.

 

"Primary education is the foundation of the whole system. If we can improve it, improve access and avoid drop outs at primary level, we will have a strong basis to ensure continuation to secondary level."

 

In his last report to the Commission the Special Rapporteur noted an increase in school attendance in Kenya, Malawi, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda following the abolition of tuition fees.

 

However he also stated that education is regarded more as a cost than an investment and is often relegated to second or third place in the budget priorities of medium income countries.

"It is a combination of poverty and lack of commitment. In some countries military budgets are given priority over the education budget”, Muñoz said.

 

The lack of teachers also poses a major problem in increasing access to primary education. According to the United Nations Development Programme, the estimated number of additional teachers required by 2015 ranges from 15 to 35 million, including more than 3 million in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the area of education will not be achieved by 2015.

"I am afraid we will not reach the goals set forth by the Millennium Development Summit, particularly in the area of education for girls. I would like to carry out research that would allow us to understand why", he said.

 

According to the Rapporteur's report the total cost of meeting the MDGs by the year 2015 in low-income countries alone will be in the region of $ 9,700 million a year until.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest proportion of students completing primary education, followed by South Asia with 70 per cent of students doing so. The rates in the Middle East and North Africa are around 74 per cent. In Europe and central Asia it is at 92 per cent, with 85 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean and 84 percent in East Asia.

 

Gender disparity is also a major concern as in many countries girls have lesser access to education than boys. Patriarchal structures, cultural and traditional roles and poverty are among the factors that prevent the education of girls.

 

The Rapporteur, however, cited Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Gambia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia as countries that have made impressive progress on girls' right to education.

 

One of the Rapporteur's strategies to identify the obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to education, especially gender disparity, is to develop human rights indicators to facilitate and formulate policy.

 

"The problem is a complex one, and its gender dimensions are not always visible", he said. "That makes it very important to develop quantitative and qualitative indicators and collect disaggregated data".

 

"I intend to focus my next report on the right to education of girls as a way to achieve the MDGs", he said.

 

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