Right to education

The right to education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free, primary education for all, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all with the progressive introduction of free secondary education, as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education, ideally by the progressive introduction of free higher education. In 2021, 171 states were parties to the Covenant.^[1]

In 2021, the new total of out-of-school children reached 250 million, with social inequality as a major cause.^[2] Around the world, 16% of youth were not attending any sort of schooling in 2023, with the primary level of education sitting at 1 out of 10 children not attending. 48% of the population not attending school were girls and young women.^[3]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative^[4] measures the right to education for countries around the world, based on their level of income.^[5]