Government officials, development agencies and NGOs need greater assistance in ensuring that the provisions contained in the major international human rights treaties inform educational policies and are integrated into national education systems. Both the Dakar Framework for Action and core fundamental human rights obligations identify the need for free and compulsory education, of good quality, for all children. Under the various key international treaties, governmental legal obligations are to make education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable.
However, to achieve this in practical terms has so far proved difficult. Indeed in Cambodia, if a strong growth in school enrolments has been noticed, with an increase of 14% in primary and 19% in secondary enrolments, and a 23% increase in Grade 6 girls between 2000/2001 and 2001/2002, however, there are still approximately 350,000 primary school aged children out of school.
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR), are organizing National Consultative Meeting on Rights-based Education in Cambodia from 3 to 4 February 2005 at the Seminar Room of the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
The overall objective of the Meeting would be to learn about human rights obligations in Education and to share experiences on the best national practices used to put Rights-Based Education into operation in Cambodia.
