EL PAGO POR INTERNET

4.8.1 The 4 - As of adequacy

Having established the right to an adequate education it is necessary to set out the practical dimensions comprised in the standard. As noted above, Article 2(1) of ICESCR instructed States to take steps towards the progressive realisation of the obligations under the treaty. ‘All appropriate means including the adoption of legislative measures’ are to be used. General Comment 3 notes in relation to this provision that in fields such as education, legislation may be indispensable.521 In addition the CESCR interprets the phrase ‘by all

517

Education Act 1994 (Tas); Education Act 1972 (SA); Education Act (NT).

518

Vyvyan Rose, Educational Malpractice: Implications for classroom teaching and school administration (Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne 1995) 53.

519

Purvis v New South Wales [ 2003] 217 CLR 92, 102

520

See section 7.5.2 below.

521

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appropriate means’ in its full and natural meaning as including judicial remedies with respect to rights which are considered justiciable by the national legal system.522 Therefore

legislative measures should exist with regard to the right to education, and judicial remedies should exist if the right is considered justiciable. Tomaševic noted that the conceptualisation of the right to education has not advanced as far as providing an answer to the question: when is the right to education realized.523 However, it is possible to find essential elements of the right against which the progress made towards its realisation may be measured.

The ‘4-A’ components of the right to education have been referred to since the United Nations’ General Comment 13 of 1999.524

This states that for education to be adequate it must be available, acceptable, accessible and adaptable. The 4-As are not meant to be definitive, 525 but serve as a useful checklist of the dimensions of adequacy.

Education must be ‘available’ in terms of facilities, teachers and resources; ‘acceptable’, that is, relevant, appropriate and of good quality, in a safe and democratically disciplined

environment; ‘accessible’ physically, educationally and economically; and ‘adaptable’, meaning flexible and catering to students’ circumstances in a changing society.

Aspects of education provision need to meet each of the 4-As that apply. Many aspects such as gender parity, for example, need to meet all of the 4-As. Schooling must be available to both sexes, accessible to both, acceptable in having non-discriminatory methods and materials and adaptable to the needs of both sexes. On the other hand, some aspects of education provision are strictly relevant to only one or two ‘A s’. For example, physical access to buildings for children with a disability is relevant to only accessibility and adaptability.

In addition to the 4-As there are the Maastricht Guidelines which set out the government obligations considered necessary to ensure the 4-As are met.526 Under a human rights framework, governments have the obligation to use the maximum resources that are

522

Ibid, §4, 5.

523

‘Removing obstacles in the way of the right to education’ Right to Education Primer No 1 (2001).

524

General Comment 13 (UN Doc E/C.12/1999/10) by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and reiterated in reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education.

525

Education and the 4As: Framing education in the 4As <http://www.right-to- education.org/node/226> at 6 July 2012.

526

Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Maastricht, January 22-26 1997< http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/Maastrichtguidelines_.html> at 3 November 2012.

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available to ensure the right to education.527 They must ensure that education meets the basic learning needs of all students.528 They must guarantee equity and non-discrimination in education in class, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, immigration status, disability or other factors.529 Governments are also instructed by the Maastricht Guidelines to monitor the right to education and provide remedies when the rights of students or parents are violated. They are also to guarantee effective participation of parents, students and broader civil society in decision making.

4.9 Availability

The first of the 4-As of the right to adequate education concerns availability. There must be an adequate number of school buildings, trained teachers receiving competitive salaries, and teaching materials to meet the needs of all students. In well-resourced countries such as Australia it is also expected that there should also be libraries, computers and information technology available for all.530

Articles 13(2)(a) of ICESCR and 28(1)(a) of CROC require primary education to be free and compulsory. Where it is not universal, free and compulsory, a plan with a reasonable time frame must be developed (ICESCR Article 14). There is also an obligation to take concrete steps towards achieving free secondary and higher education (ICESCR Article 13(2)(b)(c)). As noted earlier, the international community has also made pledges to meet the terms and objectives of Education for All (EFA).531 These include ensuring that by 2015 all children have access to free and compulsory primary education. Every country in the world, except the USA and Somalia, is obligated by international human rights instruments to ensure free and compulsory primary education.532 While progressive realisation of the right to education is part of that obligation, commentators have observed that there is no global commitment to finance free and compulsory education internationally.533 This approach to education funding is seen to stem from the influence of World Bank policy and its conditions for loans and debt

527

Ibid. See Availability below.

528

Ibid. See Acceptability and Adaptability below.

529

Ibid. See Accessibility and Adaptability below.

530

The Hon Peter Garrett MP, 16 February 2012 Media Release

<http://ministers.deewr.gov.au/garrett/computers-all-australian-students-2012> at 13 July 2012.

531

8 September, 2000.

532

Katarina Tomaševic, ‘The State of the Right to Education Worldwide: Free or Fee’ 9 <http://www.katarinatomasevski.com/images/Summary.pdf> at 10 July 2012.

533