Page 34 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 3-4: Convention on the Rights of the Child: Educational Opportunities and Social Justice, eds. Zdenko Kodelja and Urška Štremfel
P. 34
šolsko polje, letnik xxxi, številka 3–4
cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a
view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy
throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and tech-
nical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In this regard, par-
ticular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.”4
The state has an important role in ensuring that the right to educa-
tion is respected, fulfilled and protected. The ‘obligation to respect’ re-
quires states to avoid measures that hinder or prevent the enjoyment of
the right to education, whereas the ‘obligation to protect’ demands that
states take measures which prevent third parties from interfering with en-
joyment of the right to education. The ‘obligation to fulfil’ obliges states
to adopt positive measures that enable and assist individuals and commu-
nities to enjoy the right to education. The state must act as a guarantor
of the right to education (UNESCO, 2015b, p. 75). Unfortunately, prac-
tice is quite different to that required by rights law pertaining to humans
and children (Klees and Thapliyal, 2007, pp. 502–503). Various studies
(Kaur and Singh, 2014; UNDP Bangladesh, n.d.; Zhang, Li, and Xue,
2015) have found significant differences in education between rural and
urban areas. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the
United Nations (FAO), in 2015 about 57 million primary-school-age chil-
dren did not attend school. Over four out of five of these children live in
rural areas (FAO, 2020). This difference in knowledge and education lev-
els between rural and urban areas is called the “urban–rural education di-
vide”. It is the main barrier to achieving universal primary education and
also seen as a key obstacle to the eradication of poverty and hunger, the
promotion of gender equality, and empowerment of women (FAO, n.d.).
People’s mobility, whether voluntary (e.g. marriage, work) or forced
(e.g. war refugees, disaster-induced displacement), also affects the growth
of cultural diversity and children’s right to education. Especially occur-
rences related to violence (e.g. terrorism, drug-related violence, wars,
4 Also, Article 3 of the Slovenian Zakon o osnovni šoli (Basic School Act) states that basic
education in Slovenia is compulsory. The boundary between ISCED level 0 (pre-primary
education) and level 1 (primary education) coincides with the transition point in the edu-
cation system where systematic teaching and learning in reading, writing, and mathemat-
ics begins. The only entry requirement at this level – primary education – is the age of the
child (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012, pp. 29–30). The legal age of entry to basic
education in Slovenia is 6 years. Since basic education in Slovenia is compulsory, parents are
obliged under Article 45 of the Basic School Act to enrol children in the first grade of basic
school who will reach the age of 6 in the calendar year in which they start attending school.
Parents are allowed to choose between public schools, private schools and home-school-
ing. On the parents’ suggestion, a suggestion of the healthcare service, or based on a deci-
sion on guidance, the child may be postponed by 1 year if it is established that the child is
not ready to start school.
32
cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a
view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy
throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and tech-
nical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In this regard, par-
ticular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.”4
The state has an important role in ensuring that the right to educa-
tion is respected, fulfilled and protected. The ‘obligation to respect’ re-
quires states to avoid measures that hinder or prevent the enjoyment of
the right to education, whereas the ‘obligation to protect’ demands that
states take measures which prevent third parties from interfering with en-
joyment of the right to education. The ‘obligation to fulfil’ obliges states
to adopt positive measures that enable and assist individuals and commu-
nities to enjoy the right to education. The state must act as a guarantor
of the right to education (UNESCO, 2015b, p. 75). Unfortunately, prac-
tice is quite different to that required by rights law pertaining to humans
and children (Klees and Thapliyal, 2007, pp. 502–503). Various studies
(Kaur and Singh, 2014; UNDP Bangladesh, n.d.; Zhang, Li, and Xue,
2015) have found significant differences in education between rural and
urban areas. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the
United Nations (FAO), in 2015 about 57 million primary-school-age chil-
dren did not attend school. Over four out of five of these children live in
rural areas (FAO, 2020). This difference in knowledge and education lev-
els between rural and urban areas is called the “urban–rural education di-
vide”. It is the main barrier to achieving universal primary education and
also seen as a key obstacle to the eradication of poverty and hunger, the
promotion of gender equality, and empowerment of women (FAO, n.d.).
People’s mobility, whether voluntary (e.g. marriage, work) or forced
(e.g. war refugees, disaster-induced displacement), also affects the growth
of cultural diversity and children’s right to education. Especially occur-
rences related to violence (e.g. terrorism, drug-related violence, wars,
4 Also, Article 3 of the Slovenian Zakon o osnovni šoli (Basic School Act) states that basic
education in Slovenia is compulsory. The boundary between ISCED level 0 (pre-primary
education) and level 1 (primary education) coincides with the transition point in the edu-
cation system where systematic teaching and learning in reading, writing, and mathemat-
ics begins. The only entry requirement at this level – primary education – is the age of the
child (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012, pp. 29–30). The legal age of entry to basic
education in Slovenia is 6 years. Since basic education in Slovenia is compulsory, parents are
obliged under Article 45 of the Basic School Act to enrol children in the first grade of basic
school who will reach the age of 6 in the calendar year in which they start attending school.
Parents are allowed to choose between public schools, private schools and home-school-
ing. On the parents’ suggestion, a suggestion of the healthcare service, or based on a deci-
sion on guidance, the child may be postponed by 1 year if it is established that the child is
not ready to start school.
32
