Education – Page 2 – Realising Rights

The Right to Education post-2015

The fundamental right to education must include quality education – and standardised measures of outcomes must be introduced to ensure equality, quality and accountability. The future development agenda should be committed to its enforceability. These were some of the conclusions following two days of thought-provoking presentations and discussions during a conference held last month.

The conference, “The Justiciability of the Right to Education in the post-2015 Development Agenda”, and was held on the 25 & 26 May 2015 in India, by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), in collaboration with the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR). See the CLPR to download the presentations.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Dr Kishore Singh, opened proceedings by highlighting the fact that this right is justiciable in many countries, with India leading the way. In relation to the development agenda, Singh highlighted the fact that, for various reasons, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have not been achieved as envisaged. Two of the principal reasons for this are a lack of financing and a lack of monitoring – issues that would need to be addressed in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Kishore Singh addressing conference — UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Dr Kishore Singh

Overview of presentations

Swati Sharma of Centurion University discussed the role of public-private partnership and corporate social responsibility in respect of education. She emphasised that, while state investment in education was a priority, the burden should be shared with the private sector, arguing that skills development was a key factor in achieving quality education and that businesses can play a key role in skills development and ensuring the right to education generally.

Professor Sandra Fredman of Oxford University gave a very informative overview of the right to education. She explored the relationship between development goals and human rights. She highlighted the fact that, as the MDGs focussed on enrolment, there was no measure of the quality of education. She noted that the SDGs are more ambitious and focus on “equitable quality education” and “lifelong learning for all”.

Professor Salomao Ximenes of the Sao Paulo Federal University informed participants of the education litigation which has taken place in Brazil. In particular, a recent case concerned the lack of pre-school places available in Sao Paulo. In 2012, the court ordered that a public hearing be convened to deal with the matter, and ordered that 150,000 pre-school places be made available, and that the municipality had six weeks in order to present a plan to the court setting out how this would be done.

Sarah Sephton, Cameron McConnachie and Jason Brickhill of the Legal Resources Centre provided details of the cases litigated in South Africa, and the remedies and enforcement mechanisms available through the courts. The strategy used has been to start with smaller cases, addressing issues such as furniture, then move onto larger and more complex cases. They have not yet tackled the issue of the quality of education, an area of litigation the LRC are hoping to embark on.

Jason Brickhill spoke about enforcement measures, such as the recent appointment of a “claims administrator” to oversee the correct payment of R82 million of teachers’ salaries. He ended on a positive note emphasising that the successes of the litigation so far.

Jayna Kothari, Aparna Ravi and Varsha Iyengar from CLPR began the second day of the conference by presenting on education litigation in India. The most important legislation passed in respect of education in India has been the Right to Education Act 2009, which provides for free and compulsory education for 6 – 14 year olds. Controversially, the Act contained a clause which stated that private schools must admit 25% of children from disadvantaged areas, for a fixed amount of compensation to be paid by the state. This has produced unintended consequences. Private schools challenged this through the courts, resulting in funded and un-funded minority schools being exempt. This has opened a floodgate of schools which claim they should be exempt as they are a “minority” school.

Kothari gave a presentation on remedies in India, explaining the challenges that have been met in designing remedies for education cases. Carefully worded remedies are necessary. However, the court has refused to grant orders and, instead, put in place a High Powered Committee to deliberate a plan for the right to education, to meet every month. On the one hand, this process creates a participatory process whereby stakeholders are able to be engaged with the enforcement of the RTE Act, and to design policy in relation to it. However, on the other hand, it has been very difficult to suggest accountability or monitoring measures to the government.

Cameron McConnachie with other conference speakers — Cameron McConnachie with staff of the CLPR

Niranjan Aradhya of the Centre for the Child and the Law in India gave an in-depth analysis of the rights and limitations as set down in the Right to Education Act 2009, explaining that, despite the Act, inequalities in the education system in India remain glaring. He made suggestions for the post-2015 development agenda; that 15% of GDP of states is spent on education, as well as checks on privatisation, commercialisation, corporatisation of education, and a re-emphasis on education as a social good.

Ramya Jawahar and Gowthaman Ranganathan of the Alternative Law Forum (ALF) spoke of the various methods employed by ALF to enforce socio-economic rights. They use an inter-disciplinary approach combining research and the law to achieve the greatest effect. They also highlighted the wider issue of the government’s tightening of funds in the non-profit sector, referring to recent cases whereby the accounts of Greenpeace, the Ford Foundation and Amnesty International had been frozen.

Avni Rastogi of Transparent Cities Network and the Community Service and Outreach team gave a detailed explanation of the mapping and data collection methods which can be used to collect accurate data to present to the court. The methods provide imaginative and reliable solutions which could support education litigation.

Conclusion

The conference concluded with a discussion of three principal themes which had emerged: i) the role of litigation, ii) the issue of equitable and quality education, and iii) education in relation to other issues. In relation to litigation, a principal concern is that litigation needs to change on the ground and engage with communities. In respect of quality education, a principal issue is that of monitoring and measuring outcomes. As an input method to achieve better outcomes, a suggestion was further teacher-training and improving the quality of teachers. Governments need to be held accountable if they are not attaining the goals set out in the post-2015 development agenda. Governments must invest more in education and regulate the private sector.

Dr Kishore Singh closed the conference with confirmation that he will ensure the issues discussed at the conference will be incorporated to discussions surrounding the post-2015 development agenda. It is clear that principal concerns are the measurability of quality education and accountability of governments. In terms of litigation, the countries represented at the conference have developed jurisprudence whereby the right to education is enforceable through the courts, and it is hoped that many more jurisdictions will follow suit.

Please see the CLPR website to download the presentations.

– By Shona Gazidis

Cameron McConnachie and Kishore Singh — Cameron McConnachie and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Dr Kishore Singh

Amid state of crisis, schools demand scholar transport

Thousands of learners in the Eastern Cape continue to walk long distances each day to attend school; sometimes for more than 12 kilometres and for over four hours, through bushes, next to busy roads, and over flooded streams. Their routes are often unsafe, with armed threats and thefts a common occurrence, making it a feat to get an education.

Walking for so far to attend school means learners have less time to study at home. Some have to miss final exams and repeat grades. Sihle*, a learner at Mizamo High School, reaches home at 20:00 and has no time left to study before getting up at 4:30 to walk to school in the morning. He has had to repeat a grade and keeps getting lower marks. Many learners cannot attend school on rainy days and have to stop going to school altogether during the winter months, when it is too dark to walk to and from school. Pumza*, also from Mizamo, walks two hours each way. She had to miss her final exam last year, when a dam flooded the path, making it impossible to cross. Lini* has also failed a grade. She was recently threatened with a knife by two men, who took her money, phone, and books. She has now stopped attending school in the winter because it is too dangerous when it is dark.

Some children prefer not to risk taking their textbooks to school, in case these are stolen, along with their money and phones. Anna*, of Solomon Mahlangu Senior Secondary School, has had her watch and school bag stolen on the way to school and has been approached and threatened several times. Out of precaution and fear of losing her books again, she now leaves them at home. School shoes are not off limits for thieves; when Zama* of Mizamo High School tried to stop some thieves from stealing his school shoes and his school bag, they hit him and threatened to kill him.

Female learners are also afraid of being raped on the journey. Walking to school one day, Siya*, a learner at Mizamo HS, was the unfortunate witness of an event no child should ever experience. Three men approached a little girl walking in front of her and asked her for money and her cell phone. Since the little girl had neither, they proceeded to rape her and threatened to kill her. Afraid for her own life, Siya ran away, leaving the other girl alone. “My heart felt so heavy because I couldn’t help her,” she says, “It killed me inside.” Afterwards, Siya was afraid she would suffer the same fate and thought about dropping out. If it had not been for her sick mother and difficult situation at home, and her desire to improve her life, she might have. Three men attempted to rape Yolisa*, of Solomon Mahlangu HS, but she screamed enough to make them run away. Yolisa walks for four hours each day to attend school and is now afraid to keep up her education.

Current Policy

The current scholar transport programme is not implemented equitably. Thousands of applications from learners every year receive no response from the National Department of Basic Education. Meanwhile, even the policy recommended by the Minister of Basic Education, the Department, the MEC for Education and the Eastern Cape Department of Education, provides transport only to learners who live more than 5 kilometres from school, denying transport to anyone below that cut-off or who can access public transport or a closer school. The Department has transported the same number of learners (56 000) annually for the last four years. And yet, in that same period, the scholar transport budget has more than doubled; from R210 million in 2011 to R430 million in 2015.

This policy continues to fail thousands of children. The proposed policy does not consider other challenges learners face that factor into their journey; including weather and safety. It does not give families and learners the opportunity to choose between different programmes at schools, limiting them to the closest school. Moreover, though public transportation may be available at some locations, it is often a costly additional burden on already limited family resources.

Mandira from the Grahamstown office walks with learners as they make their way to school. Thousands of learners walk far distances and for many hours in order to get an education.

Litigation

Mr Bathini Dyantyi, who represents the Tripartite Steering Committee of three schools, and more than 150 learners, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, are approaching the Grahamstown High Court on Thursday, 11 June 2015, seeking an order that will give them scholar transport. If they are successful, it will also set in motion a process that will provide transport for thousands of learners who qualify for scholar transport but don’t receive it. They seek transportation within 30 days, a comprehensive database of qualifying learners within 30 days, and transport for all of those children within 90 days.

As reasons for their failure to provide scholar transport, the government cites the lack of infrastructure in rural areas, poor coordination between different departments, corruption, ineffective compensation, poor monitoring of the system and limited funding. The government has asked for the application to be dismissed or, at least, postponed in order to give them an opportunity “to get their house in order” and finalise a scholar transport policy.

But while we wait for the government to get their house in order, thousands of learners continue to face serious dangers on the way to school and are deprived of their constitutional right to education. These learners do not have the means to provide transport for themselves – it is the government’s responsibility to do so.

By: Patricia Alejandro

*Not their real names

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the Realising Rights bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of the Legal Resources Centre. The Legal Resources Centre is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the bloggers.

Realising the Right to Education in Uganda

Workshop report: Realising the Right to Education in Uganda

LRC and ISER create a space for learning and collaboration in Uganda

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC), in collaboration with the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), hosted a two day workshop on 18-19 March 2015 in Kampala, which focussed on using strategic litigation to realise the right to education in Uganda.

A range of local organisations attended the event; including the Legal Brains Trust, the Ugandan Human Rights Commission, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, as well as Women for Uganda and Girls’ Education Movement. Over 40 participants attended over the two days.

ISER, an independent human rights organisation responsible for promoting the effective understanding, monitoring, implementation and realisation of economic and social rights in Uganda, has recently embarked on litigation in respect of education, and welcomed the opportunity to receive advice and guidance from the LRC.

The workshop was officially opened by Justice Lydia Mugambe, a Ugandan High Court Judge, who encouraged advocates to “think outside the box” and employ innovative methods when litigating socio-economic rights cases. She explained that the time is right to launch socio-economic litigation, and that courts are ready to hear these cases.

Salima Namusobya, executive director of ISER, gave a presentation on the current education system in Uganda, and outlined the major concerns. She described the fact that there is declining investment in public education, while there is an increase in investment in private education. Many classrooms in public schools have no furniture or sanitation, and children are forced to share textbooks and other equipment. Children of different ages and in different classes are forced to sit in the same cramped classrooms. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of low-fee private schools with the support of the state. The concern is that these schools are unregulated and enable the state to relinquish their obligation to provide a good quality education in state schools.

Ms Namusobya explained that ISER launched a case in respect of the right to education last year, in an attempt to prevent the state cutting school capitulation grants from Shs 7,000 to Shs 4,000 per pupil per annum. The registrar who initially heard the case denied the order, with the State arguing that it would stop the reading of the budget taking place, and thus financially affecting the whole country. Therefore, the case is still before the court. The case did, however, highlight the issue, and the Minister of Education confirmed in parliament that the grant would be maintained this year and, perhaps, even increased next year.

Sarah Sephton, an attorney with the LRC, presented on the education system in South Africa and the successful litigation which has been undertaken there. It became clear that many of the problems in Ugandan public schools were very similar to those addressed in the LRC’s cases. Sephton explained that cases had dealt with “mud schools,” whereby the state had been ordered to rebuild schools made of mud and makeshift material. Other successful cases had seen the state ordered to provide furniture in schools, provide school infrastructure and to appoint and pay teachers.

Sephton explained that the cases had not been straightforward and that, although eventually successful, the LRC had to repeatedly return to court when the state defied court orders, and that there are on-going problems with implementation. However, she explained that litigation had now become a successful and important tool in forcing the government to fulfil its obligation to provide each child with a decent education. The LRC also distributed “Ready to Learn…. a legal resource for realising the right to education,” a publication which sets out each of these cases in detail and provides examples of court documents.

The workshop was also an opportunity to consider the role of litigation in relation to other advocacy methods. Shona Gazidis of the LRC prompted a discussion regarding other strategies, such as providing public information, social mobilisation and establishing community advice centres, and how litigation can be used in conjunction with these strategies to produce the best results.

Although the workshop was an opportunity to discuss issues in an African context, the right to education is a global issue and therefore the workshop also considered the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the proposed post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on the role of education in the global development agenda. Litigating the right to education not only improves conditions for children in the respective countries, but contributes to the achievement of the wider global development goals.

Finally, a discussion was led by Isaac Kimaze of the Legal Brains Trust with regard to what possible cases could be litigated in Uganda. It is anticipated that this discussion will continue, with the guidance and advice of the LRC.

The workshop was an opportunity to increase collaboration between African organisations, thus strengthening the African human rights network and contributing more generally to the global human rights agenda. It is hoped that the success of the workshop will result in successful litigation in respect of education and other socio economic rights in Uganda, and lead to improving the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society.

– Shona Gazidis

Realising the Right to Education: Pratham Programmes in India

Pratham is an innovative learning organisation, established to improve the education system in India. One of their principal projects is the Urban Programme, which seeks to provide learning support through a variety of interventions in the community.

Visits to informal schools are conducted by staff of the project such as Pratyush Bose, pictured below. Cameron McConnachie and Shona Gazidis from the Legal Resources Centre travelled to India to learn more about Pratham and joined Pratyush in visiting different initiatives which form part of the Urban Programme.

cameron and shona — Cameron and Shona with pre-school learners

The first stop was a visit to a Balwadi pre-school for children aged 3-5 years. Through the project, staff aim to provide pre–school education to children who are currently not enrolled in a formal pre–school.

The classes take place in the teacher’s home, which is a tiny room that she shares with her husband and two children. The classes are for 3 hours every afternoon, from Monday to Friday. The classes are taught in Urdu, as the area is predominantly Muslim and Urdu speaking. The children learn English as well as other subjects on the curriculum. The aim is that they will be just as prepared as other children for the start of school at the age of 5. Once they finish pre–school they go on to enrol in mainly government schools.

PCVC — The informal pre-school taking place in the teacher’s house

Mobile Library

A further component of the Urban Programme is libraries. Pratham run mobile libraries in the slums. Each area of the slum has a librarian who carries a bag such as the one pictured below to each house/ room and loans library books to the children. They have books for different ages and abilities and books are exchanged each week.

At the same time, they carry out surveys at the houses to try to assess the level of learning of the children. They ask the children to complete simple tests and questions.

They also run support classes to supplement learning, as well as classes for parents and children. These classes are to assist the parents to interact with the children and help them with schoolwork, as well as to generally improve child-parent relationships.

Child labour

The Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children (PCVC) programme aims to reduce the incidences of child labour in India and engage children in learning programmes. This particular class was a music lesson, which takes place once a week, and is open to all children. The venue was close to a large rubbish dump outside Mumbai. The rubbish dumps attract many children who go through rubbish to find food and items to sell, instead of being in school.

Pratham Stands

Pratham has established stands in the slums areas, such as pictured below, which are used as information booths. Anyone can approach them with any child’s rights issues, and they will then make a note of each case and refer them to the relevant contact for help. They follow up each case to see what has happened and ensure it has been resolved. The stands run on certain days and times each week, which are advertised on flyers. People also find out about them through word of mouth.

A resounding principal of the Pratham programmes is that these initiatives are implemented in the heart of communities, where children and parents are easily able to access them. We were particularly impressed with the innovative mobile library initiative, whereby the books are taken to the children, rather than the children having to travel to a library. This ensures that all children in the slums have access to reading material of their learning level. It also engages the parents in their children’s learning. Equally, the Pratham stands serve as an easy to access information point where people can get help and advice they would not otherwise have access to.

These are innovative programmes that are inexpensive and easily replicable. They have been established and achieved good results in areas across India. Children in the townships and rural areas of South Africa could benefit from similar initiatives.

By: Shona Gazidis