Education is our human right!
On the same day that a university graduation ceremony took place in Australia, far away in Pakistan a school was stormed and 142 people executed. Polly Chester says education is a human right that we shouldn’t take for granted.
I awoke on the 17th of December 2014 with a gargantuan champagne headache, last night’s lipstick on my pillow, and a sleepy, satisfied smile.
The night before had been my university graduation ceremony, during which I’d been awarded with a Bachelor of Social Work with Distinction. I’d delivered the valedictory speech to an audience of approximately 1500 people. In my speech, amongst other things, I spoke about the value of education, and insisted that we must loudly and clearly maintain the view of education as a human right, and that as a social worker (and a humanist) I consider it my role to advocate for equal access to education for all people, across the world.
Later that morning, with cup of tea in hand, I absentmindedly switched on the radio – for the first time since early on the previous morning. The first piece of information I heard was about the school massacre in Peshawar, Pakistan. The breaking news was that 142 people had died at the hands of Taliban soldiers, and that most of those executed were students. The Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, articulating that the militants who had stormed the school had been ordered to shoot older students, in retaliation to a major military offensive in the region.
As the reporter went into detail about the attack, including the horrifying account of how students were forced to watch their teachers being burned alive, I ran to the toilet and vomited. I ran a cold shower and sat on the tiled floor, crying, for about 15 minutes. The crying didn’t stop when I got out of the shower; I cried for most of the day. As I sit here typing, I am crying again.
How is it fair that on the same morning my university colleagues and I are still glowing from our graduation ceremony, in another part of the world the halls of a school are awash with blood and peppered with bullet holes?
Education is a powerful tool that helps establish equity, equality and egalitarianism in society. It is through the power of education that people are brought together, regardless of age, race, culture, ethnicity and gender.
Education is many children’s route out of poverty. Education is a catalyst for social mobility. Children who are educated have a better chance at thriving and surviving in adverse circumstances. Lives are improved through the valuable knowledge and skills that are gained during education.
The horror show that unfolded in Pakistan on the same day as my university graduation ceremony demonstrates that access to education is much harder in some parts of the world than others. At last count in 2011, the United Nations found that worldwide, 57 million children were not attending school, that a large proportion of these children were women and girls, and that roughly half were living in conflict zones.
In Australia, governments have been trying, rather unsuccessfully, to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous literacy levels as a means to eradicating Indigenous disadvantage. Research has suggested that a needs-based funding model is required, which acknowledges barriers between Indigenous peoples and education, such as family demands that stem from living in overcrowded homes, in lower socio-economic areas – which is only one aspect of the ongoing impacts of the massacre and dispossession of land that occurred during colonisation.
A few months ago, I was writing a lot about the 2014 Federal budget, and particularly about the potential negative impacts that would be the result of the deregulation of Australian university fees; access to education should never be limited by a person’s financial status. But this is only one facet of a much larger issue.
The problem underlying our Australian education system, and the systems of the rest of the world, is that governments are largely thumbing their noses at the principle of education as a human right.
Whether it’s war, patriarchy and paternalism in developing countries, or the free market, privatisation or just a general shirking of State responsibility in developed countries, there are currently a hell of a lot of barriers to accessing a quality education.
The most shameful part of the situation is that it’s governments who erect those barriers, or refuse to knock them down.
Education is our human right. We shouldn’t have to fight for it, but it looks like we’re going to have to!
Polly Chester is a thinker and writer with a Bachelor of Social Work. She has passions for human rights, caring for the environment, social justice, social policy, epistemology, philosophy and psychology.
frankiejean
April 3, 2015 at 7:37 am
Very helpful
You got a very helpful weblog I've been right here reading through for about an hour or so.
rltuition
September 16, 2016 at 6:33 am
education
Education is the right of everyone by birth. Everyone has right to get good education without any discrimination. Governments should take care that every child or every person is getting quality education. Thanks for this beautiful post.