Full implementation of the Convention will also facilitate the implementation of other UN instruments. Children of future generations, raised under conditions where their rights are fully protected, will be better able to take advantage of their rights and to fulfill their responsibilities towards others. Protection of their fundamental rights will be a major step toward equipping them to build a society in which all human rights are respected, and in which the collective aspirations expressed in numerous United Nations declarations and instruments become a reality. Within the Convention, certain articles deserve special consideration. Among these are Articles 28 and 29, which address rights and responsibilities related to education.
Education is a powerful social force that both transmits and shapes culture and beliefs.
Properly conceived and implemented, education reveals and develops the potentialities inherent in each individual and prepares those individuals to contribute to the well-being of themselves, their families, their communities, and to humankind as a whole. The individual and his environment are profoundly interconnected. The human relationships, cultural norms and values, the social structures and processes which compose the child's environment all influence and shape the individual, but the individual, whether child or adult, in turn moulds and influences that environment. The two act upon one another, and every abiding change in the life of humankind is the result of their mutual interactions. Without effort and activity on behalf of others, the individual is unable to develop fully virtues and talents, but likewise, without individual transformation, lasting social change is impossible.