“Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Today, August 26th, we celebrate Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Education is the fundamental bedrock of any people or nation. We tend to think of education in its most typical forms, such as public schooling or higher education; yet we know that education can take on many dimensions and shapes, and does not have to be “one size fits all.” No matter what an individual becomes later in life, education stands as the hallmark to ensuring said person is informed, knowledgeable and has opportunity for success. Moreso, education can be a tool to creating global citizenry, communities of people driven to make change and promote human rights in impactful ways.
We also must acknowledge that the right to education is sometimes limited and violated in the most insidious ways around the world. Whether it’s the worldwide deficit of 120 million children not attending schools annually, or more direct limitations such as cultural or state sponsored persecution against educational opportunities and outlets, there are direct threats to the right to education we as a world community must address robustly.
Despite this, there is good work happening, both here in the United States and around the world to support the right to education. The link below outlines some organizations doing incredible work worldwide to support this basic and most sacred right:
7 Organizations Supporting the Right to Education
Moreover, the American Federation of Teachers CT for example, has worked tirelessly to defend the rights of teachers and fight for exceptional educational outcomes across our state.
As students and staff head back to school these next two weeks, we at the Connecticut Human Rights Partnership and the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT campaign would like to wish everyone the best in their new school year. We’d ask everyone to reflect on why the right to education matters in our lives, and how we can best fulfill that central promise of this right, “the full development of the human personality…and the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
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