Transcript

NARRATOR:

The rights model declares that education is everyone’s right. Every child worldwide, regardless of gender or abilities, should have access to education. Education is viewed as having value in itself rather than for what it achieves.

Whilst governments may sign up to this, not all will take the steps necessary to achieve it. For example, there may not be sufficient buildings to house the schools or enough trained teachers. Also, where there is conflict, drought, or other trauma, the right to access education may be a low priority.

A rights-based education system must seek out learners, acknowledge what the learner brings, provide a conducive environment for learning, consider the content, and enhance learning processes.

The top-down approach of the rights-based model may result in an education system that is set apart from the local context. For example, girls may be exposed to violence as they try to attend school. Poverty also may be a barrier to a child taking up education.

A quality education must be responsive to the lived realities of learners and educators in those contexts. Accepting education as a moral right also has wider implications, as then everybody, not just families, should be ensuring that education is available to every child globally.

The rights model has much to recommend it. But there must be far more than rhetoric to ensure that young people can successfully access their rights through education.