“I Had a Dream to Finish School”

The Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee has also maintained that
access to secondary education should not be dependent on a student's apparent
capacity or ability, and should be distributed throughout the state in such a way
that it is available on the same basis to all. 79 There is wide support for the notion
that assessments should be used by States to demonstrate that they have fulfilled
their obligation to ensure all children complete primary education of good quality,
and that they are given access to good quality secondary education. 80
Governments should guarantee equality in access to education as well as education free
from discrimination. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
discrimination constitutes “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference or other
differential treatment that is directly or indirectly based on the prohibited grounds of
discrimination and which has the intention or effect of nullifying or impairing the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise [of rights] on an equal footing.” 81
In addition to removing any forms of direct discrimination against students, governments
should also ensure indirect discrimination does not occur as a result of laws, policies, or
practices which may have the effect of disproportionately impacting on the right to
education of children who require further accommodation, or whose circumstances may
not be the same as those of the majority school population. 82
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Convention against
Discrimination in Education—ratified by Tanzania in 1979—also articulates strong
obligations on governments to eliminate any form of discrimination, whether in law, policy,
or practice, which could affect the realization of the right to education. Under the
Convention, states are obligated to develop policies that “tend to promote equality of
opportunity and of treatment in education in the matter of education and in particular [t]o
79 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “General Comment No. 13, “The Right to Education (Art. 13),” para. 13.
80 UN General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, “Assessment of the
educational attainment of students and the implementation of the right to education,” A/HRC/26/27, May 2, 2014,
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/26/27 (accessed August 10, 2016), paras. 79, 81.
81 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “General Comment No. 20, “Non-discrimination in economic,
social and cultural rights (art. 2, para. 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights),”
E/C.12/GC/20 (2009), http://www.refworld.org/docid/4a60961f2.html (accessed May 20, 2016), para. 10 (b).
82 Ibid.
“I HAD A DREAM TO FINISH SCHOOL” 38