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| The future of any country is its children |
The right to education is relatively well defined: universal access to free and compulsory primary education, universal availability/accessibility of secondary education, in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; equal access to higher education on the basis of capacity, in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.
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| Investing in children is an investing in the future |
In more than one country, many children continue to be deprived with their Right to education while it’s has been recognised and protected by the international, regional and internal legal instruments of Human Rights. At the international level there are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989. In Africa, at the regional level, we have the Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights of June 27, 1981 while at the national level it is the case of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of 18 February 2006.
As the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Katarina Tomasevski, developed for the education to be a meaningful right it must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable (4 As). It is one of the best ways to assess and act upon the situation.
The 4 As have been summarized as follows: Availability mean that education is free and government-funded and that there is adequate infrastructure and trained teachers able to support education delivery. For Accessibility, the system is non- discriminatory and accessible to all, and that positive steps are taken to include the most marginalized. For its part Acceptability mean that the content of education is relevant, non-discriminatory and culturally appropriate, and of quality; that the school itself is safe and teachers are professional. And Adaptability -that education can evolve with the changing needs of society and contribute to challenging inequalities, such as gender discrimination, and that it can be adapted locally to suit specific contexts.
The Republic democratic of Congo has signed and ratified, international conventions supra cited and many provisions have been integrated into the national Constitution of 18 February 2006. Indeed, in this thought document, my intention will be focused on the analysis of the different instruments which provide the Right to education and the challenges of its implementation in Republic Democratic of Congo.
Education is imperative to the promotion of human rights; it is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realising other human rights. Now the question at this step, would like to know what is provided by the different legal instruments?
Ø Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Right to education is provided in the article 26 in the following term:
(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.
Ø Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
The African Charter does not provide explicitly the right to education but it is seen as an obligation of society. The citizens have the right to require that benefit from the state. Its why the article 25 provide that States parties to the present Charter shall have the duty to promote and ensure through teaching, education and publication, the respect of the rights and freedoms contained in the present Charter and to see to it that these freedoms and rights as well as corresponding obligations and duties are understood.
Ø The DRC’s Constitution of 18 February 2006[1]
The Constitution provides in the articles 43 and 44 for free compulsory in primary education and eradication of illiteracy.
However, since the adoption of the Constitution in 2006 the educational system is primarily supported by the parents in DRC. Consequently, the low enrolment and completion rates for children are often tied to the financial hardships of their parents.
In 2009, according to the UNICEF report, the Government of DRC allocated around 8 per cent of its gross domestic product to supporting education, which is insufficient to cover all of the country’s educational operating expenses. The remaining funding burden falls heavily on parents, who are expected to pay an average of $65 a year, per child, to supplement teacher salaries, maintenance expenses and other operating costs. For the typical Congolese family earning, on average, only $140 per year, these costs can make it impossible for parents to send all of their children to school. Schoolteachers with their own children also struggle.
According to Pierrette Vu Thi, the UNICEF Representative in DRC, “the future of any country is its children, and I think in many countries it has been an uphill struggle to convince governments that investing in children is an investment in the future”. She says also that UNICEF has advocated abolishing school fees to the government, but budgetary issues have thus far been difficult to overcome. “We have been advocating and we slowly but surely are making some progress”.
In August 30, 2010, the President of DRC, Joseph Kabila, has instructed the government to take all necessary steps to ensure as soon as the school year 2010-2011, the provision of free primary education in public schools. The official statement of the Presidency of the Republic on the measure calls on all Congolese people to get involved in promoting children's education, future of the country in accordance with the Constitution, the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals and those education for all who favor including the right to education for all children, regardless of gender.
The official statement of the Presidency of the Republic has been declared while the percent allocated to the educational system still insufficient. It means that in the middle of the year and during the implementation of the budget, the type of decision is difficult to be executed. That’s why after the first mouth the Schoolteachers have gone to strike; lack of the salary.
Indeed, education is imperative to the promotion of human rights; it is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights. It is the precondition for the enjoyment of many economic, social and cultural rights; for instance, the right to receive a higher education on basis of capacity, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and the right to choose work can only be exercised in a meaningful way after a minimum level of education is reached. Similarly, in the ambit of civil and political rights, the freedom of information, the right to vote and the right to equal access to public service depends on a minimum level of education, i.e. literacy. As a vehicle for empowerment, education can give marginalized adults and children the means to escape from poverty and participate meaningfully in their societies. Education is vital to empowering women, safeguarding children from exploitation and hazardous labour, to the promotion of human rights and democracy and to the protection of the environment.
To come up to the conclusion, it’s very urgent for the Government of the Republic Democratic of Congo to increase the national budget for education (the percent allocate). This policy could eliminate the system for the parents to pay the “prime de motivation” and allow children to have access and enjoy their right to education. It could also decrease the number of street children who could return to school because the Constitution provide to its articles 43 (4), the compulsory and free in public schools.
For all whom delayed primary school and others who did not finish for the lack school fees, it requested for the government to establish various forms of education available, easily accessible and to introduce progressively several forms of free education.
SELECTIVE BIBIOGRAPHY
Magdalena Sep. lveda, Theo van Banning, Gudr.n D. Gudmundsd.ttir, Christine Chamoun and Willem J.M. van Genugten, Human Rights Reference Handbook, University for Peace, Costa Rica, 2004, p 291
Right to education project, available at http://www.right-to-education.org/node/233
Shantha Bloeman, Low enrolment rates prompt efforts to invest in education in DR Congo, available at http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/drcongo_51031.html
DRC Presse présidentielle, Joseph Kabila: la gratuité de l'enseignement primaire dès l'année scolaire 2010-2011, available at http://www.presidentrdc.cd/actupdt320810.html
[1] This Constitution is the first which integrated the Right to education in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the independency. The previous instruments to provide this right were only the legislation (law).
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