Children’s Rights: A global imperative for local

changeLaura Lundy

Professor of Education Law and Children’s RightsCentre for Children’s Rights

School of EducationQueen’s University, Belfast

l.lundy@qub.ac.ukwww.qub.ac.uk/ccr

Outline

• The international human rights of children

• The right of equal access to higher education

• Children’s right to have their views given due weight.

• An example of rights-based participation in practice

• The value of human children’s rights-based approaches in securing

equal access to education.

What are Human Rights?

“The rights one has simply because one is a human being”

Dignity - Equality - Respect

International Human Rights Laws are politically negotiated agreements by governments to ensure these rights to people in their territory.

Children’s Rights are Global Human Rights

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

• Most universally ratified of all the UN Instruments

• The obligations are legally binding on the states who ratify them.

• “..undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights”. (Art.4)

Fundamental children’s rights principles

Equality

• Article 2: States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.

Best interests• Art. 3 In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or

private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

Participation• Art. 12: States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming

his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

Right of Equal Access to

Higher Education

The Right to Education (Art. 28, UNCRC)

States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:

(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;

(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need; (c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means;

(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children;

(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.

The aims of education(Art. 29 UNCRC)

States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: • (a) The development of the child's personality, talents and mental and

physical abilities to their fullest potential; • (b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental

freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;

• (c) The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;

• (d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;

• (e) The development of respect for the natural environment.

The Right to Education: Tomasevski’s 4 A framework

“Most children enter primary school but a fraction reaches the university. Pre-requisites for moving upwards are apparently objective and justified, and are rarely challenged as a violation of the right to education. And yet, the very design of

education denies an equal opportunity to reach the pinnacle to the majority of those who start school. Failures are necessary because each

step upwards, the education pyramid accommodates fewer people”

Tomasevski, 2006, p.103

The right to participate

“States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in

all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in

accordance with the age and maturity of the child.”

Article 12 of the UNCRC

The significance of Article 12

• One of the most innovative (and controversial) provisions in the CRC.

• “recognises the child as a full human being with integrity and personality and the ability to participate freely in society.” (Freeman, 2000).

• Not just a right in itself but also a means of realising other rights and so a barometer for children’s rights more generally.

“A boy not getting a say in a conversation”

Article what?

The Voice of the ChildThe Right to be Heard

The Right to ParticipateThe Right to be ConsultedThe Right to Have a Say

Each of these abbreviations is an imperfect summary of Article 12 and can potentially undermine its

implementation (Lundy, 2007)

SPACESafe and inclusive

opportunity to form and express

a view

VOICEFacilitated to

express views freely in medium of

choice

AUDIENCEThe view must be

listened to

INFLUENCEThe view must be

acted upon

The right to express

views

The right to have views given due weight

ARTICLE 12

‘Voice’ is not enough…

An example of children’s rights-based participation

• Research for The Wellcome Trust on children’s attitudes to science assessment in primary schools in England and Wales

• Worked with Children’s Research Advisory Groups (CRAGS) in each country to design questionnaires and interpret the results.

(C. Murphy, L. Lundy, K. Kerr and L. McEvoy, Attitudes of Children and Parents to Key Stage 2 Science Assessment and Testing, 2010)

What is the best way to assess primary school

science?

Assisting children to (in)formed views

(Lundy and McEvoy, 2012)

Helping children to reach“a clarified decision”

Providing space to express views freely

Facilitating children’s views

90% of participants indicated that they found it either useful or very useful to have other children’s

views

• ‘It was quite interesting to hear about how other people think about science because you can decide if you have same opinions or not’

• ‘It was giving you confidence to say how you feel about science’

Encouraging fuller responses

Participant responses in ‘free response’ boxes were noticeably more extensive and detailed: participants wrote an average of 15 words in their responses compared to an average of 6.4 words when other children’s views not provided.

• ‘i would assess science by doing a project and getting marks on that and maybe have a small test after. The project could be like a revision thing but better and funner’.

• ‘I would let the children bring their own experiments into the classroom and explain how to do them. I would encourage them to research new ideas to make it enjoyable and interesting’

• ‘I would ask the class how they would like to do it’

Why adopt a children’s rights-based approach?

The value of a children’s rights framing

• Global and legal legitimacy

• International fora for action… “the mobilisation of shame”.

• Emphasis on state accountability.

• Requirement to engage with children and young people as rights-holders and agents of change.

• Participation is “the right of the child and not the gift of adults.

A language of and for action

Rights are not mere gifts or favors…for which gratitude is the sole fitting response. A right is something that can be demanded or insisted upon without embarrassment or shame. …A

world with claim rights is one in which all persons are dignified objects of respect.”

(Joel Feinberg)