Realizing the Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education: Human Rights, Public Education, and the Role of Private Actors in Education
EDITED VOLUME

Realizing the Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education: Human Rights, Public Education, and the Role of Private Actors in Education

May 2021

‘Realizing the Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education: Human Rights, Public Education, and the Role of Private Actors in Education is edited by Frank Adamson, Assistant Professor of Education Leadership at California State University; Sylvain Aubry, Research and Legal Advisor at The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Mireille de Koning, Program Officer in the Open Society Education Support Program at Open Society Foundations and Delphine Dorsi, Director of the Right to Education Initiative (RTE).

This is the third volume of the open-access book series entitled NORRAG Series in International Education and Development, published by E. Elgar Cheltenham, UK. The books in the series intend to generate an international debate on emerging trends in education and provide space for authors that represent diverse perspectives and knowledge communities.

This insightful book analyses the process of the first adoption of guiding human rights principles for education, the Abidjan Principles. It explains the development of the Abidjan Principles, including their articulation of the right to education, the state obligation to provide quality public education, and the role of private actors in education.

Multidisciplinary in approach, both legal and education scholars address key issues on the right to education, including parental rights in education, the impact of school choice, and evidence about inequities arising from private involvement in education at the global level.

Focusing on East African and Francophone countries, as well as the global level, chapters explore the role and impact of private actors and privatization in education. The book concludes by calling for the rights outlined in the Abidjan Principles not to remain locked in text, but for states to take responsibility and be held to account for delivering them, as promised in international human rights treaties.

Interpreting human rights law as requiring that states provide a quality public education, this book will be a valuable resource for academics and students of education policy, human rights, and education law. It will also be beneficial for policy makers, practitioners, and advocacy groups working on the right to education.

How to read Realizing the Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education:

Related content

Watch the launch event, recorded on 15 June 2021

A series of videos were also produced in which the chapters’ authors presented the main idea of their contribution to the book. Watch the video presentations in our  showcase: