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	New UN resolution again urges States to take action on commercialisation of education by Right to Education Initiative, agencies   October 2017   Over 80 francophone organisations worldwide meet in Dakar to oppose privatisation of education, by Sylvain Aubry.   A week after France and Senegal announced that they would co-host in Senegal the replenishment of a major education development initiative, more than 80 organisations and State representatives from 24 Francophone countries ware due to meet in October at the Institut de la Francophonie pour l’éducation et la formation in Dakar to discuss the commercialisation and privatisation of education.   Noting the alarming growth of private actors in education, they will strategize to provide appropriate responses to preserve the right to free and quality education in all countries, in what will be on of the biggest civil society conferences on the issue.   This mobilisation follows the Francophone call against commercialisation of education of November 2016, which gathered the signatures of more than 300 organisations. The involvement of private actors in the education sector and its commercialisation for profit, was questioned by a network of civil society organisations, several UN declarations and the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education.   The impact of this trend in terms of quality of educational contents, discrimination and social inequalities makes it a major challenge for advocates of the right to education.   The meeting will articulate experiences derived from field work. It will aim at finding collective answers, bearers of meaning and innovation, facing the commercialisation of education. The meeting will also be an opportunity for Francophone actors to comment and express their views on the Human Rights Guiding Principles on the obligations of States regarding private actors in education, which are currently being drafted.   The meeting is taking place a few weeks after the commitment made by French President Macron and Senegalese President Sall, to organize a global meeting on education in February 2019 in Dakar. It is taking place in the context of a renewal of the voice of Francophone institutions and civil society organizations in international debates on education.   In November 2016, the International Organisation of La Francophonie recognised the problems inherent to the commercialisation of education, and the 57 heads of member States committed themselves in the Declaration of Antananarivo to act for public education and to regulate the private education sector. An informal network of Francophone organisations has since been set up to follow up on the declaration and work in this direction with the States. This meeting will enable to develop common lines of work for the coming years.   News organisations are invited to the Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Éducation et la Formation for the opening ceremony of the Francophone meeting on privatization in education. http://bit.ly/2xZEQXQ   Privatisation of education: http://bit.ly/educprivat Situation in francophone countries: http://bit.ly/privfr Press release in French: http://bit.ly/2xTeV3W   http://globalinitiative-escr.org/advocacy/privatization-in-education-research-initiative/   June 2017   New UN resolution again urges States to take action on commercialisation of education   In a new important UN resolution adopted today, States have reaffirmed the urgency to address the negative impacts of the commercialisation of education, which could undermine human rights.   The resolution, which was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council by consensus, urges all States “to put in place a regulatory framework for education providers, including those operating independently or in partnership with States, … that… addresses any negative impact of the commercialization of education” (para. 2.e).   It also calls on States to “regulate and monitor education providers, and to hold accountable those whose practices have a negative impact on the enjoyment of the right to education”. (para. 4), while “recognizing the significant importance of investment in public education” (para. 3).   This resolution comes against a background of a massive growth of private education providers in developing countries in the last 15 years, sometimes with the support of donor States and agencies, which has raised multiple human rights concerns.   “This UN resolution confirms once again that the current global trends towards commercialising of education constitutes a major human rights risk that needs to be monitored and addressed urgently, with the risk otherwise to see inequalities and tensions in communities raise to an unbearable point. This is not about opposing private schools; it’s a recognition that an adequate regulatory framework is essential to ensure that children and parents are not abused by unscrupulous actors, and that there’s no other way but to invest in public education to address inequalities” said Sylvain Aubry, a Legal and Research Advisor at the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.   This resolution confirms a previous landmark statement made last year by the Human Rights Council, demonstrating the urgency and increasing consensus in regulating and monitoring private education providers, particularly in the current context of the commercialisation of education.   “This strong statement is very welcome and important in the current context where more and more multinational companies operate schools that challenge national regulations in developing countries. It is also very relevant to reflect on the development policies of donor States, as some of them, such as the UK, have been supporting commercial chains of schools, even when it undermines human rights” said Delphine Dorsi, the Executive Coordinator of the Right to Education Initiative.   This year’s resolution also made a new addition urging States to assess the quality of education, “including through independent assessments”. This statement was added in a context where independent scrutiny of private schools has been stopped several times in the last months, including when a researcher was arrested in Uganda, and an independent research stopped in Liberia – leading to a protest letter signed by over 30 leading academics.   Signatories: Amnesty International, Amnesty International Sénégal, Centre d’Actions pour la Sécurité Alimentaire et le Développement Durable (Bénin), Coalition Education (France), Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education (Liberia), East African Centre for Human Rights (Kenya), Equal Education Law Centre (South Africa), Fédération Internationale des Céméa, Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, Global Campaign for Education, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Initiative for Economic and Social Rights (Uganda), Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education, Program on Human Rights in the Global Economy, Re-Sources Enfances Bruxelles, Right to Education Initiative, Solidarité Laïque (France) http://bit.ly/2tewv44   * July 2017 (Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, agencies)   174 civil society organisations from around the world have have released a statement calling on investors to cease support for Bridge International Academies, a company running over 500 commercial private schools in the Global South with the support of international donors and investors.   This statement comes two years after a similar one that was addressed to the World Bank. It has been signed by a broad range of organisations from 50 different countries, including human rights, development, community-based, and faith-based organisations, as well as trade unions, demonstrating increasing, broad-based, and large-scale concerns regarding the commercial operations of Bridge Academies:   http://globalinitiative-escr.org/174-organisations-call-investors-to-cease-support-to-bridge-international-academies/   July 2017   Nigeria has ''largest number of children out-of-school'' in the world. (BBC News)   Nigeria has the largest number of children in the world who are not being educated, the government has said.   Acknowledging the scale of the problem the education ministry''s permanent secretary Adamu Hussaini said it was "sad to note" that Nigeria had 10.5 million children out of school.   This is the first time senior officials have admitted the size of the problem. Cultural factors have been blamed but critics point to a lack of money going to publicly funded schools.   The UN''s children''s agency, Unicef, has been campaigning on this issue as well as a number of other groups.   On a visit to the country last week, education activist Malala Yousafzai met acting president Yemi Osinbajo and asked him to declare what she called "an education state of emergency in Nigeria".   Mr Hussaini said those most affected were girls, street children and the children of nomadic groups and added that economic prosperity can only be achieved with an "inclusive and functional education system".   But BBC Hausa editor Jimeh Saleh says the failure in the education system is also due to a lack of government funding, rather than any cultural factors as suggested by the ministry.   "Government funded schools in Nigeria have practically collapsed over the years because of poor funding leaving children from poor homes with nowhere to go but the streets," he says.   Unicef estimates that 60% of Nigerian children not attending school live in the north of the country. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40715305   April 2017   How governments are failing on the right to education. (Action Aid)   This report presents important new findings on the right to education from citizen-led research in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Nepal. Unlike most such studies it is the product of research and analysis by children, parents, teachers and community organisations who have actively scrutinised the performance of their local schools against core dimensions of the right to education. The process has helped to deepen people’s engagement as citizens in holding their government schools and their public education systems to account.   Ten areas are highlighted where the right to education has been undermined and promises have been broken. Government spending is unnecessarily constrained meaning too many children remain out of school and too many costs are passed on to parents. Girls and children with disabilities face particular disadvantage, sometimes including violence. Infrastructure is often inadequate and governance systems are often weak and not inclusive. Teachers often face overwhelming class sizes, making it hard for children to learn:   http://www.actionaid.org/publications/how-governments-are-failing-right-education Visit the related web page
	The Safe Schools Declaration: Protecting Schools During Wartime by Carlos Conde, Bede Sheppard Human Rights Watch, agencies   25 July 2017   Philippine President’s appalling threat to bomb tribal schools, by Carlos Conde.   Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened airstrikes on schools for indigenous children on the southern island of Mindanao that he alleged are teaching “subversion and communism.”   “I will bomb those schools,” Duterte said on Monday. “I will use the Armed Forces, the Philippine Air Force…because you’re operating illegally and you’re teaching the children to rebel against government.”   Duterte issued the threat at a press conference minutes after his State of the Nation Address, in which he vowed to continue his “war on drugs,” a murderous campaign in which thousands of suspected drug dealers and users have died. His tirade against “subversive” schools that teach indigenous Lumad children came after he declared an end to the peace negotiations with the Communist New People’s Army (NPA), which has been waging a Maoist insurgency for nearly five decades and, according to the government, has made tribal areas in the countryside its base of operations.   By calling for an attack on schools, Mr. Duterte is directing the military to commit war crimes. International humanitarian law – the laws of war – prohibits attacks on schools and other civilian structures unless they are being used for military purposes. Deliberately attacking civilians, including students and teachers, is also a war crime.   Mr. Duterte should publicly retract his threat of violence against tribal schools before the military acts on them. And although the Philippines has legislation and Department of Education guidelines prohibiting military use of schools, they are often ignored.   Instead of denying Filipino children their right to safe education, Duterte should sign the Safe Schools Declaration, an inter-governmental political commitment for the protection of students, teachers, schools, and universities from attack during times of war.   Sixty-seven countries have now signed the declaration. It’s clearer than ever that the Philippines should do likewise.   June 2017   The Safe Schools Declaration: Protecting Schools During Wartime, by Bede Sheppard. (Human Rights Watch)   The blood stains on the classroom walls couldn’t be washed away following the Taliban attack on the middle school in Postak Bazaar village in Afghanistan. ‘We had to chip it away from the wall with an axe,’ a school official told Human Rights Watch.   But the blood wasn’t that of the school’s students. It was that of seven members of the Afghan National Police, a counter-insurgency force that had set up their military base inside the school. That attack was in 2010. After the Taliban retook the area, their fighters too slept in the school.   By 2015, government forces were back, and established their base with sandbagged positions on the second floor, while students tried to continue their schooling below.   Alarmed school officials obtained a letter from the Kabul authorities ordering the forces to leave, but their commander ignored it. At exam time, school officials again presented the letter, but the soldiers fired their guns toward the assembled teachers and students, who fled.   Since the Australia-supported military intervention in Afghanistan began in 2001, foreign donors have invested heavily in education, building schools and providing textbooks across the country. The expansion of education in Afghanistan, especially for girls, has been one of the success stories of the past 15 years.   But as the security situation has deteriorated, schools throughout Afghanistan have been under threat, not only from resurgent Taliban forces but also from the Afghan state security forces mandated to protect them.   But it’s not just in Afghanistan that schools are under attack, or are being taken over by military forces. In the majority of countries with armed conflict around the world, schools are being attacked and used for military purposes, often converted into military bases or barracks. As the middle school in Postak Bazaar illustrates, the military use of schools not only turns schools into targets for attack, but the presence of armed forces inside a school can also interfere with education even if the school continues operating.   On 1 June, Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced the government would contribute $2 million to improve education for children in emergencies, including facilitating safe places to learn.   But there’s one more thing Australia could do to protect children’s education in emergencies, and it doesn’t cost a cent: endorse the Safe Schools Declaration. The Safe Schools Declaration marks an inter-governmental political commitment where countries pledge to protect students, teachers, schools and universities from attack during times of war. Last month marked its two-year anniversary.   So far 66 nations have endorsed the declaration aimed at ending the use of schools by militaries or armed groups. But Australia isn’t yet one of them. The declaration builds a community of nations committed to respecting the civilian nature of schools and developing and sharing examples of good practices for protecting schools during war.   Countries that join agree to restore access to education faster when schools are attacked, and to make it less likely that students, teachers and schools will be attacked in the first place. They seek to deter such attacks by promising to investigate and prosecute war crimes involving schools. And they agree to minimise the use of schools for military purposes so they don’t become targets for attack.   On 13 February, some members of the Australian Parliament urged the government to join an international effort to protect students, teachers and schools in countries affected by war.   MPs Chris Hayes, Trent Zimmerman, and Maria Vamvakinou laid out the chilling details of how students and schools are all too frequently deliberately attacked during armed conflict, pointing to examples in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria.   In response to a question on notice on 17 March, the Attorney-General George Brandis stated that the government had decided not to endorse the Safe Schools Guidelines and Declaration ‘as we assess they do not reflect existing international humanitarian law’. But in fact, countries such as the Netherlands and Switzerland, which have centuries-old traditions of professional militaries, were among the first to join the declaration.   The Declaration doesn’t create a legal obligation, but is a political commitment. Indeed, the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is traditionally seen as the guardian of international humanitarian law, has actively disseminated the guidelines to its staff.   As both Hayes and Zimmerman noted, when Australia was on the United Nations Security Council in 2014, it felt it appropriate to encourage other countries to take action to protect schools. Australia used its vote to encourage all countries to consider concrete measures to deter military use of schools.   Australia’s Ambassador to the UN, Gary Quinlan, told the Security Council members that using schools for military purposes gravely endangers the lives of children. ‘We need to do more to protect schools, teachers, and students during conflict,’ Quinlan relayed to the UNSC. ‘The child victims around the world count on us.’   Quinlan, representing the Australian government, was spot on. On 15 May UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all UN member states to endorse the declaration. It’s now time for Australia to rediscover the position it held in 2014. http://bit.ly/2ryxiZM   http://www.protectingeducation.org/ Visit the related web page
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