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The UK
Constitutional Law and the Right to Education |
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The UK
Constitutional Law and the Right to Education |
UK has a long constitutional tradition that goes back to Magna
Carta (1215), but nowadays there is no “written”
Constitution; Britain’s constitution is to be found partly
in conventions and costums and partly in statute. Moreover, the
respect for rights is based on the so-called “residual”
principle: what is not explicitly forbidden by law is allowed.
Because of Britain's membership of the European Community,
Community law is part of British law.
About education in Victorian Britain
1870- Education Act (or Forster Act): it established
the right of all children to schooling.
1880- Education Act: it obliged all children between 5 and
10 to attend school. The state school became compulsory and
literacy increased. Many schools were now built, but they were
dull places; there were 60 to 80 children in each class, with
only one teacher and a helper to look after them. The teacher was
very strict and hit the children with a cane when they made
mistakes. At first, poor parents didn’t like their children
going to school instead of working to earn money for the family.
Constitution finder
This index offers constitutions, charters, amendments, and other
related documents
http://confinder.richmond.edu
The
Human Rights Act of 1998
Schedule 1, THE ARTICLES
Part II, the 1st protocol
Article 2
Right to Education
No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise
of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to
teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure
such education and teaching in conformity with their own
religious and philosophical convictions.
http://www.lcd.gov.uk/hract/hramenu.htm
The Human Rights Unit's main responsibility
is to ensure the successful implementation of the Human Rights
Act 1998, which incorporates into UK law rights and freedoms
guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. The Unit
also maintains and develops the UK's position under various Human
Rights Treaties.
Study Guide - 2nd Edition October 2002
Human Rights Act 1998
http://www.lcd.gov.uk/hract/studyguide/index.htm#p3-protocol0102
Protocol 1, Article 2: Education
Children
3.117 You have a right not to be denied access to the educational
system, and a right to an effective education. Education embraces
the whole process where adults seek to transmit their beliefs,
culture and other values to children. Teaching means the
transmission of knowledge and intellectual development. This
right is not necessarily confined to the education of children at
school.
Parents
3.118 Parents have a right to make sure that their religious or
philosophical beliefs are respected when public bodies provide
education or teaching to their children. This important concept
is reflected in the current UK laws on education which permit a
wide range of educational establishments, whether funded by the
state or otherwise.
3.119 The fact that a parent’s wishes are a minority view does not necessarily mean that the majority’s view prevails. A balance must be achieved which ensures a fair and proper treatment of minority views. Any abuse of a dominant position is to be avoided.
3.120 But parents cannot stop schools teaching about things like sex education if they are reasonable things for the school to teach, so long as it is not trying to indoctrinate the children. However, parents can remove their children from sex education classes.
Limits on the right to education
3.121 The general right to education is not an absolute right to
learn whatever you want, wherever you want. The Government has
made a special reservation to the ECHR in this area so
that education provided by the state is limited to the extent
that this is necessary to provide an efficient education and
within public spending limits. You might not have a right to the
most expensive form of education if there are cheaper
alternatives available, but the Government or local education
authority must balance the right not to be deprived of an
education against the spending limits it imposes. Our Government
has stressed that the cost of providing education is a relevant
factor in making these decisions.
Punishment in schools
3.122 Schools may legitimately impose penalties (provided they do
not amount to ill-treatment within Article 3) on pupils as a form
of discipline. A school that imposes a penalty on a pupil will
have to show that such a penalty was necessary and a
proportionate punishment.
3.123 A purely educational sanction (such as an exclusion) will be acceptable provided it does not breach the parents’ right to ensure the education conforms to their own religious and philosophical convictions.
3.124 The right to education under Protocol 1, Article 2 may be relevant to areas such as: special educational needs provision; access to, or expulsion or exclusion of children from, schools (when taken with Article 14); the provision of, or exclusion from, education which is discriminatory as between sexes, races or other categories.
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts.htm
click on search engine and fill in the keyword “education”
to find out how many education acts there are
International Constitutional Law
http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/index.html
United Kingdom Index
Click on “Legal System (1992)”
”The outcome of some cases has led to changes in British law
to improve human rights, for example the abolition of corporal
punishment in state schools”
http://www.europarl.eu.int/charter/default_en.htm
at the bottom of the page (full text in English)
http://www.europarl.eu.int/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf
Right to education
1. Everyone has the right to education and to have access to vocational and continuing training.
2. This right includes the possibility to receive free compulsory education.
3. The freedom to found educational
establishments with due respect for democratic principles and
the right of parents to ensure the education and teaching of their children in conformity with their religious, philosophical and pedagogical convictions shall be respected, in accordance with the national laws governing the exercise of such freedom and right.
Diritto all'istruzione
1. Ogni individuo ha diritto all'istruzione e all'accesso alla formazione professionale e continua.
2. Questo diritto comporta la facoltà di accedere gratuitamente all'istruzione obbligatoria.
3. La libertà di creare istituti di insegnamento nel rispetto dei principi democratici, così come il
diritto dei genitori di provvedere all'educazione e all'istruzione dei loro figli secondo le loro convinzioni religiose, filosofiche e pedagogiche, sono rispettati secondo le leggi nazionali che ne disciplinano l'esercizio.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948)
http://www.hrea.org/erc/Library/hrdocs/un/udhr/english.html
Article 26
1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
We usually translate “istruzione”
in Italian with “education” in English
Education
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: (
http://www.m-w.com ):
the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and
learning in schools
Cambridge International Dictionary of English ( http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
) :
educate verb [T] : to teach (someone), esp. using the
formal system of school, college or university, or to give
knowledge or understanding of a particular subject to (someone)
Encyclopædia Britannica ( http://search.britannica.com/) discipline that is concerned, in this context, mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools or schoollike environments as opposed to various informal means of socialization
See also :
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
Instruction
Cambridge International Dictionary of English ( http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
)
instruct (TEACH) verb [T]
to teach (someone) how to do something
I need someone to instruct me in how to use the computer.
Have you seen the instruction manual for the washing machine?
“To instruct” si riferisce spesso a insegnamenti pratici e limitati
In
UK education is compulsory from the age of five to the age
of sixteen ( Nel Regno Unito l’ istruzione è obbligatoria
dall’età di 5 a 16 anni)
Mr Brown is an educated man. (E’ un uomo colto, di
buona cultura )
Mr Brown has good manners; he is well-mannered /polite. ( E’ ben educato, ha buone maniere )
http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/sf00000_.html
Section 29 Education
(1) Everyone has the right -
(a) to a basic education, including adult basic education; and
(b) to further education, which the state, through reasonable
measures, must make progressively available and accessible.
(2) Everyone has the right to receive education in the official
language or languages of their choice in public educational
institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In
order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of,
this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational
alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into
account -
(a) equity;
(b) practicability; and
(c) the need to redress the results of past racially
discriminatory laws and practices.
(3) Everyone has the right to establish and maintain, at their
own expense, independent educational institutions that -
(a) do not discriminate on the basis of race;
(b) are registered with the state; and
(c) maintain standards that are not inferior to standards at
comparable public educational institutions.
(4) Subsection (3) does not preclude state subsidies for
independent educational institutions.
The European Convention
http://european-convention.eu.int/
European Schoolnet
http://www.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/index_eun.html
European
Schoolnet
is an international partnership of more than 20 European
Ministries of Education developing learning for schools, teachers
and pupils across Europe. Teachers find resources,
news, practice
examples
and collaboration
opportunities
at eSchoolnet,
our educational portal for schools in Europe.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/introduction_en.html
Education is a primary concern of government in all European
countries, but the structures of education systems differ
considerably, both within and between countries. There is a great
variety of responsibilities in Europe for the funding, management
and evaluation of education and training. There are different
approaches to private and specialist schools, apprenticeship and
vocational training, higher and further education, examinations
and qualifications.
Moreover, as the blackboard gives way to the keyboard and the
concept of lifelong learning becomes a reality, acquiring skills
and knowledge is increasingly a matter of individual
responsibility.
While each Member State remains responsible for the content and
organisation of its education and training systems, the EU
provides:
http://europa.eu.int/futurum/index_en.htm
Questions to discuss
What about the use of multimedia technologies and the Internet for learning?
Other links
http://www.citizen21.org.uk/index/links.html
http://www.citizen.org.uk/links.html
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/keydoc/2002/progobj_en.pdf