Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) states that 'No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions'. What does this mean for FE and HE?
The "Right to Education" is concerned primarily with elementary education and not advanced studies and is quite limited on its own in relation to further and higher education. It may, however, have effect in combination with a discrimination claim under Article 14 of the ECHR.
Information on how Human Rights affect the education sector can be found on the website of the European parliament.
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Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the ECHR provides for a "Right to education" in a negative formulation: "No person shall be denied the right to education". This provision applies to school instruction only, for which the European Court of Human Rights draws from this Article two obligations on the part of States: ensure access for all to existing scholastic establishments without discrimination, and guarantee official recognition of completed studies.
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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/libe/elsj/charter/art14/default_en.htm
Case law appears to suggest that selective access to further and higher education is permitted. The court held, in a case taken against the UK (X v United Kingdom [1980] 23 DR 228), that -
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where certain, limited, higher education facilities are provided by a state, in principle it is not incompatible with Article 2 of Protocol 1, to restrict access thereto to those students who have attained the academic level required to most benefit from the courses offered.
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