New UN resolution once again urges states to take action on the commercialisation of education
PRESS RELEASE
(Geneva, 22 June 2017) In an important UN resolution adopted today, states have reaffirmed the urgent need to address the potential negative impacts of the commercialisation of education on human rights.
Realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl
This report was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 32/20.
RTE newly established as an independent organisation in the UK
We are pleased to announce that on 19 May 2017, RTE was officially registered as a Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) under UK law with the Charity Number 1173115 and the name ‘Right to Education Initiative’.
American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People adopted
On 15 June 2016 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) adopted the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This followed a seventeen year-long period of discussion and negotiation between members of the Organization of American States. The full text of the Declaration has recently been published and can be accessed, here.
Investing in the crisis: private participation in the education of Syrian refugees
Of the 57 million children worldwide without access to education, over one third lives in settings of conflict and fragility (UNESCO, 2015).
Strategic litigation impacts: Equal access to quality education
‘This study is about the impacts of strategic litigation on equal access to quality education in Brazil, India, and South Africa.
France commits to act against commercialisation of education in international cooperation
PRESS RELEASE
The French Minister of State for Development and Francophonie, Jean-Marie le Guen, declared yesterday that ‘France will act against any attempts at commercialisation of education’ in international cooperation. He added that France considers that ‘education is a public service’ and ‘a common good that cannot be profited from’.
Court rules that Swiss Muslim girls must attend mixed-sex swimming lessons
In a judgment (in French) handed down on 10 January 2017, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that Switzerland had not violated the right to freedom of religion under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to grant an exemption to two Muslim girls from attending mixed-sex swimming lessons.
Kenyan court upholds the closure of Bridge International Academies schools over failure to respect standards
Nairobi, Kenya, 17 February 2017
Barely a month after the High Court of Kampala, Uganda, allowed the Ugandan Government to close all schools run by Bridge International Academies (BIA) in the country, the High Court of Kenya in Busia County yesterday announced, in a similar case, that the Busia County Education Board could proceed in closing ten Bridge schools operating in Busia county, for failing to meet education standards.