PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN AUSTRALIA
5
MAY 2004
FACT SHEET
Education Rights
CASE STUDY
School closures
In 1994, when Jordan was 6
years old and in Year 2, his
primary school in rural North-
East Victoria was closed. He
liked his school and teacher,
even though there were only 20
other students at the school.
Since then Jordan has had to
travel one hour each way to get
to the closest school. When he
was younger he was often so
tired by the time he got to
school that it was hard to
concentrate.1
Research shows that 20–25%
Victorian students in Years 9 and
10, many of whom were affected
by school closures and increased
class sizes in 1993–1995, have
reading and maths skills below the
state’s minimum standard.2
CASE STUDY
Access to education
Brother and sister, Marguerite
and Paul, attend a public high
school in the western suburbs of
Melbourne. In 2003, they were
in Years 8 and 9, but were not
allowed to use the school
computers during or outside
class time because they had not
paid the computer fee of $180
each the school required. While
their mother, a single parent
earning a low income, received a
government subsidy of $127 per
child, it wasn’t enough to cover
the cost of uniforms, books,
school camp and computers. All
the other students in Marguerite
and Paul’s classes did their
assignments on the computer.
They felt singled out because
they couldn’t afford the fees.3
The right to education in
international conventions
“Everyone has the right to
education. Education shall be free,
at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary
education shall be compulsory.”
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Article 26.
Article 13 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
establishes that governments must
provide:
• compulsory and free primary
education
• secondary education that is
available and accessible and
progressively made free
• higher education that is equally
accessible to everyone, and
progressively free; and
• intensified education for those
who have not com