THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

The right to education is a human right that belongs to the so-called second generation of human rights. Today, the right to education is protected by a number of international and national legal acts. In principle, the right to education implies a positive obligation of the state. This means that the state has an obligation to respect, promote and fulfill the right to education, depending on its resources and capabilities. In this regard, the right to education is also qualified as a public service or a public good in the states. According to the International Human Right Law, the primary goal of education is to ensure human dignity and the holistic development of the human person. Education also transforms society, promotes economic growth, and fosters sustainable development in modern democracies. Education can be defined in a wider and narrower sense. Consequently, the European Court of Human Rights states as follows: “the education (of children) is the whole process whereby, in any society, adults endeavor to transmit their beliefs, culture and other values to the young, whereas teaching or instruction refers in particular to the transmission of knowledge and to intellectual development.” The subject of this paper is a normative analysis of the right to education, with particular focus on higher education, in correlation to the democratic society development. In terms of methods, the authors will apply the normative method, the comparative method, as well as case law method.