English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
V.7.3 RELEVANT LEGAL PROVISIONS
Indicator 65 Equal Access to Education
Indicator 65(a) Is there a guarantee of equal access to education by
women and girls
Indicator 65(b) Is there a legislative prohibition against non-enrolment or
expulsion from school based on pregnancy and maternity
The Law on Education states that the national education system is composed of the following
areas or levels of education: (a) pre-school education; (b) general education, which is
comprised of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels; (c) professional
education, which includes professional secondary and vocational education; and (d)
undergraduate and postgraduate education, which includes college, university, masters and
doctoral degrees 405 . It further states that the State must adopt policies to develop continuing
education, which will be reflected in the following programs: (a) illiteracy eradication and postliteracy
education programmes; (b) educational programmes to meet learners’ needs, update
their knowledge and skills, and technology transfer; (c) programmes on training, fostering and
raising professional qualifications; and (d) programmes on education to obtain diplomas of the
national education system. 406
Article 10 of the Law on Education states that learning is a right and obligation of
citizens: “All citizens regardless of their ethnicity, religion, belief, gender, family background,
social status or economic condition are equal in learning opportunities.” It further states that
the State must create conditions for everyone to get access to education, including children of
ethnic minorities, children of families in the areas meeting with extreme socio-economic
difficulties, beneficiaries of preferential policies, disabled and handicapped people, and
beneficiaries of other social welfare policies. 407 The Decree No. 49/2005/ND-CP of April 11,
2005 on Sanctioning of Administrative Violations in Education (Decree on Education
Violations) prohibits a number of acts that prevent access to education, including hindering
students of universalized levels from going to school, 408 disciplining learners by forcing them
to drop their schooling, 409 and enrolling in excess of quotas. 410
Article 28 of the Law on Children provides for the responsibility to ensure the child’s right
to study:
Article 28: Responsibility to ensure children’s right to study
196
(1) Families and the State are responsible for ensuring children exercise their right to
study and complete the universal education programme, and for creating conditions
that allow children to continue their studies at higher levels.
(2) Schools and other educational establishments are responsible for providing
405
Law on Education, Article 4
406
Ibid., Articles 44 and 45
407
Ibid. , Article 9
408
Ibid., Article 21
409
Ibid., Article 20
410
Ibid., Article 11
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW