UN Convention Against Discrimination in Education – Girls & Women

Convention against Discrimination in Education

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Adopted by the General Conference of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
on 14
December 1960

Entry into force: 22 May 1962, in accordance with
article 14

The General Conference of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization , meeting in Paris from 14
November to 15 December 1960, at its eleventh session,

Recalling that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts
the principle of non-discrimination and proclaims that every person
has the right to education,

Considering that discrimination in education is a violation of
rights enunciated in that Declaration,

Considering that, under the terms of its Constitution, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has the
purpose of instituting collaboration among the nations with a view
to furthering for all universal respect for human rights and
equality of educational opportunity,

Recognizing that, consequently, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, while respecting the diversity
of national educational systems, has the duty not only to proscribe
any form of discrimination in education but also to promote equality
of opportunity and treatment for all in education,

Having before it proposals concerning the different aspects of
discrimination in education, constituting item 17.1.4 of the agenda
of the session,

Having decided at its tenth session that this question should be
made the subject of an international convention as well as of
recommendations to Member States,

Adopts this Convention on the fourteenth day of December 1960.

Article 1

1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term
“discrimination” includes any distinction, exclusion, limitation or
preference which, being based on race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
economic condition or birth, has the purpose or effect of nullifying
or impairing equality of treatment in education and in particular:

( a ) Of depriving any person or group of persons of access
to education of any type or at any level;

( b ) Of limiting any person or group of persons to
education of an inferior standard;

( c ) Subject to the provisions of article 2 of this
Convention, of establishing or maintaining separate educational
systems or institutions for persons or groups of persons; or

( d ) Of inflicting on any person or group of persons
conditions which are incompatible with the dignity of man.

2. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “education”
refers to all types and levels of education, and includes access to
education, the standard and quality of education, and the conditions
under which it is given.

Article 2

When permitted in a State, the following situations shall not be
deemed to constitute discrimination, within the meaning of article 1
of this Convention:

( a ) The establishment or maintenance of separate
educational systems or institutions for pupils of the two sexes, if
these systems or institutions offer equivalent access to education,
provide a teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard as
well as school premises and equipment of the same quality, and
afford the opportunity to take the same or equivalent courses of
study;

( b ) The establishment or maintenance, for religious or
linguistic reasons, of separate educational systems or institutions
offering an education which is in keeping with the wishes of the
pupil’s parents or legal guardians, if participation in such systems
or attendance at such institutions is optional and if the education
provided conforms to such standards as may be laid down or approved
by the competent authorities, in particular for education of the
same level;

( c ) The establishment or maintenance of private
educational institutions, if the object of the institutions is not
to secure the exclusion of any group but to provide educational
facilities in addition to those provided by the public authorities,
if the institutions are conducted in accordance with that object,
and if the education provided conforms with such standards as may be
laid down or approved by the competent authorities, in particular
for education of the same level.

Article 3

In order to eliminate and prevent discrimination within the
meaning of this Convention, the States Parties thereto undertake:

( a ) To abrogate any statutory provisions and any
administrative instructions and to discontinue any administrative
practices which involve discrimination in education;

( b ) To ensure, by legislation where necessary, that there
is no discrimination in the admission of pupils to educational
institutions;

( c ) Not to allow any differences of treatment by the
public authorities between nationals, except on the basis of merit
or need, in the matter of school fees and the grant of scholarships
or other forms of assistance to pupils and necessary permits and
facilities for the pursuit of studies in foreign countries;

( d ) Not to allow, in any form of assistance granted by the
public authorities to educational institutions, any restrictions or
preference based solely on the ground that pupils belong to a
particular group;

( e ) To give foreign nationals resident within their
territory the same access to education as that given to their own
nationals.

Article 4

The States Parties to this Convention undertake furthermore to
formulate, develop and apply a national policy which, by methods
appropriate to the circumstances and to national usage, will tend to
promote equality of opportunity and of treatment in the matter of
education and in particular:

( a ) To make primary education free and compulsory; make
secondary education in its different forms generally available and
accessible to all; make higher education equally accessible to all
on the basis of individual capacity; assure compliance by all with
the obligation to attend school prescribed by law;

( b ) To ensure that the standards of education are
equivalent in all public education institutions of the same level,
and that the conditions relating to the quality of education
provided are also equivalent;

( c ) To encourage and intensify by appropriate methods the
education of persons who have not received any primary education or
who have not completed the entire primary education course and the
continuation of their education on the basis of individual capacity;

( d ) To provide training for the teaching profession
without discrimination.

Article 5

1. The States Parties to this Convention agree that:

( a ) Education shall be directed to the full development of
the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms; it shall promote understanding,
tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious
groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for
the maintenance of peace;

( b ) It is essential to respect the liberty of parents and,
where applicable, of legal guardians, firstly to choose for their
children institutions other than those maintained by the public
authorities but conforming to such minimum educational standards as
may be laid down or approved by the competent authorities and,
secondly, to ensure in a manner consistent with the procedures
followed in the State for the application of its legislation, the
religious and moral education of the children in conformity with
their own convictions; and no person or group of persons should be
compelled to receive religious instruction inconsistent with his or
their conviction;

( c ) It is essential to recognize the right of members of
national minorities to carry on their own educational activities,
including the maintenance of schools and, depending on the
educational policy of each State, the use or the teaching of their
own language, provided however:

(i) That this right is not exercised in a manner which prevents
the members of these minorities from understanding the culture and
language of the community as a whole and from participating in its
activities, or which prejudices national sovereignty;

(ii) That the standard of education is not lower than the general
standard laid down or approved by the competent authorities; and

(iii) That attendance at such schools is optional.

2. The States Parties to this Convention undertake to take
all necessary measures to ensure the application of the principles
enunciated in paragraph 1 of this article.

Article 6

In the application of this Convention, the States Parties to it
undertake to pay the greatest attention to any recommendations
hereafter adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defining the
measures to be taken against the different forms of discrimination
in education and for the purpose of ensuring equality of opportunity
and treatment in education.

Article 7

The States Parties to this Convention shall in their periodic
reports submitted to the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on dates and in a
manner to be determined by it, give information on the legislative
and administrative provisions which they have adopted and other
action which they have taken for the application of this Convention,
including that taken for the formulation and the development of the
national policy defined in article 4 as well as the results achieved
and the obstacles encountered in the application of that policy.

Article 8

Any dispute which may arise between any two or more States
Parties to this Convention concerning the interpretation or
application of this Convention which is not settled by negotiations
shall at the request of the parties to the dispute be referred,
failing other means of settling the dispute, to the International
Court of Justice for decision.

Article 9

Reservations to this Convention shall not be permitted.

Article 10

This Convention shall not have the effect of diminishing the
rights which individuals or groups may enjoy by virtue of agreements
concluded between two or more States, where such rights are not
contrary to the letter or spirit of this Convention.

Article 11

This Convention is drawn up in English, French, Russian and
Spanish, the four texts being equally authoritative.

Article 12

1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification or
acceptance by States Members of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization in accordance with their
respective constitutional procedures.

2. The instruments of ratification or acceptance shall be
deposited with the Director-General of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Article 13

1. This Convention shall be open to accession by all States
not Members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization which are invited to do so by the Executive
Board of the Organization.

2. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an
instrument of accession with the Director-General of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Article 14

This Convention shall enter into force three months after the
date of the deposit of the third instrument of ratification,
acceptance or accession, but only with respect to those States which
have deposited their respective instruments on or before that date.
It shall enter into force with respect to any other State three
months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification,
acceptance or accession.

Article 15

The States Parties to this Convention recognize that the
Convention is applicable not only to their metropolitan territory
but also to all non-self-governing, trust, colonial and other
territories for the international relations of which they are
responsible; they undertake to consult, if necessary, the
governments or other competent authorities of these territories on
or before ratification, acceptance or accession with a view to
securing the application of the Convention to those territories, and
to notify the Director-General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization of the territories to which it
is accordingly applied, the notification to take effect three months
after the date of its receipt.

Article 16

1. Each State Party to this Convention may denounce the
Convention on its own behalf or on behalf of any territory for whose
international relations it is responsible.

2. The denunciation shall be notified by an instrument in
writing, deposited with the Director-General of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

3. The denunciation shall take effect twelve months after
the receipt of the instrument of denunciation.

Article 17

The Director-General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization shall inform the States Members
of the Organization, the States not members of the Organization
which are referred to in article 13, as well as the United Nations,
of the deposit of all the instruments of ratification, acceptance
and accession provided for in articles 12 and 13, and of
notifications and denunciations provided for in articles 15 and 16
respectively.

Article 18

1. This Convention may be revised by the General Conference
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization. Any such revision shall, however, bind only the States
which shall become Parties to the revising convention.

2. If the General Conference should adopt a new convention
revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new
convention otherwise provides, this Convention shall cease to be
open to ratification, acceptance or accession as from the date on
which the new revising convention enters into force.

Article 19

In conformity with Article 102 of the Charter of the United
Nations, this Convention shall be registered with the Secretariat of
the United Nations at the request of the Director-General of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Done in Paris, this fifteenth day of December 1960, in two
authentic copies bearing the signatures of the President of the
eleventh session of the General Conference and of the
Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, which shall be deposited in the archives of
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, and certified true copies of which shall be delivered
to all the States referred to in articles 12 and 13 as well as to
the United Nations.

The foregoing is the authentic text of the Convention duly
adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization during its eleventh session,
which was held in Paris and declared closed the fifteenth day of
December 1960.

In faith whereof we have appended our signatures this fifteenth
day of December 1960.