A Poisonous Mix - Human Rights Watch

The Minimum Age Convention also permits light work from the age of 13. Light work is defined
as work “which is not likely to be harmful to their health and development; and not such as to
prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational orientation or training
programs […] or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received.” 53
The Right to Education
Both the CRC and the ICESCR lay down the principle of free and compulsory primary
education. 54 In addition, higher education, including secondary schooling as well as
vocational training, should be made available and accessible to all. 55 States are required
to protect children from work that interferes with their education. 56
While the rights under the ICESCR are subject to progressive realization, states have a
“minimum core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, minimum
essential levels of each of the rights.” These are not subject to progressive realization but
have to be fulfilled immediately. 57 In particular, states have to “provide primary education
for all, on a non-discriminatory basis. 58 They also have to ensure that primary education is
free of charge and compulsory. To realize the right to primary education, states have to
develop and implement plans of action; where a State party is clearly lacking in financial
resources, the international community has an obligation to assist. 59
The CRC urges states to implement measures, where necessary, within the framework of
international cooperation. 60 Similarly, the African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of
the Child provides that “every child has the right to an education” and stipulates that free
and compulsory basic education should be achieved progressively. 61
53 Minimum Age Convention, art. 7.
54 CRC, art. 28(1)a; ICESCR, art. 13(2)a. The Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, art. 7, also stipulates that States shall
take measures to “ensure access to free basic education.”
55 CRC, art. 28; ICESCR, art. 13.
56 CRC, art. 32.
57 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 3, art. 2, para. 1, The Nature of
States Parties Obligations, UN Doc. E/1991/23, annex III at 86 (1990), para. 10.
58 CESCR, General Comment No.13, art. 13, The Right to Education, UN Doc. E/C.12/1999/10 (1999), para. 57.
59 CESR, General Comment No.11, Plans of Action for Primary Education, UN Doc E/C.12/1999/4 (1999), paras 6-9.
60 CRC, art. 4.
61 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, art. 11. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa urges states to “promote the enrolment and retention of girls in schools
and other training institutions” (art 12, 2(c)), http://www.africaunion.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/Text/Protocol%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20Women.pdf
(accessed September 8, 2011).
A POISONOUS MIX 24