Page 65 - 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. 65
Realization of the Right to Education
in Slovenia1
Marjan Šimenc, Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana
and Educational Research Institute, Slovenia
Zdenko Kodelja, Educational Research Institute Slovenia
The right to education is a right which has a strong normative foun-
dation in international law. It was first directly defined in Article
26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and afterwards in
a number of other international documents, including the International
Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the European level, another
very important document regarding this topic is the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The right to ed-
ucation is otherwise included among cultural rights (Nowak, 1995, p. 189),
although it is closely interrelated with other human rights.
According to experts, the goals of the right to education are worked
out in greatest detail in Articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. This Convention is the most universally valid and acknowl-
edged document on human rights, as it was as of today ratified by all ex-
cept two UN member states.
The attention towards the right to education is by no means acciden-
tal, as the right to education is important for both children, to whom it
refers directly, and for modern society which is supposed to be a society of
knowledge, and hence the education is of key importance for it. However,
the right to education holds a special meaning also due to its specific po-
sition among human rights: it is a precondition for number of other hu-
man rights (Nowak, 1995, p. 189). On the one hand, it helps to guaran-
tee the possibilities to form autonomous individuals and for obtaining
1 This article is a revised, upgraded and translated version of the previously published article
(Šimenc and Kodelja, 2015).
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(3-4)63-79 63
Original scientific article
in Slovenia1
Marjan Šimenc, Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana
and Educational Research Institute, Slovenia
Zdenko Kodelja, Educational Research Institute Slovenia
The right to education is a right which has a strong normative foun-
dation in international law. It was first directly defined in Article
26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and afterwards in
a number of other international documents, including the International
Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the European level, another
very important document regarding this topic is the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The right to ed-
ucation is otherwise included among cultural rights (Nowak, 1995, p. 189),
although it is closely interrelated with other human rights.
According to experts, the goals of the right to education are worked
out in greatest detail in Articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. This Convention is the most universally valid and acknowl-
edged document on human rights, as it was as of today ratified by all ex-
cept two UN member states.
The attention towards the right to education is by no means acciden-
tal, as the right to education is important for both children, to whom it
refers directly, and for modern society which is supposed to be a society of
knowledge, and hence the education is of key importance for it. However,
the right to education holds a special meaning also due to its specific po-
sition among human rights: it is a precondition for number of other hu-
man rights (Nowak, 1995, p. 189). On the one hand, it helps to guaran-
tee the possibilities to form autonomous individuals and for obtaining
1 This article is a revised, upgraded and translated version of the previously published article
(Šimenc and Kodelja, 2015).
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(3-4)63-79 63
Original scientific article
