# _2. Access to Education_

Receiving a good education is arguably the most important factor for the development of a child into a mature and productive member of society. If children receive substandard education and are discriminated against throughout their formative years, they will not develop the skills and the confidence they need to be competitive in the labor market.<sup>48</sup> That is especially true in today’s emerging knowledge-based global economy, and numerous studies demonstrate that “Education is key to a better life and the foundation of every strong society—but far too many children are still being left behind. To realize all our development goals, we need every child in school and learning.” Anthony Lake, executive director, UNICEF (UNICEF 2015) learning and skills play an increasingly important role in shaping prospects for economic growth, shared prosperity, and poverty reduction (Leitch 2006; Sapir 2003). Unfortunately, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 2010, 5) reports, “Around a third of all children in developing countries, or 175 million annually, enter primary school having experienced malnutrition that irreparably damages their cognitive development.” Often, such deprivation is the consequence of circumstances beyond the control of the children and their families. “Marginalization in education is the product of inherited disadvantage, deeply ingrained social processes, uneven power relationships, unfair economic arrangements—and bad policies. The overall effect of marginalization is to restrict opportunity as a result of circumstances over which children have no control, such as parental wealth, gender, ethnicity, and language” (UNESCO 2010, 272).

The access to education indicator examines legislation related to the access of minority groups to education and whether those laws differ from those applicable to the majority groups. In some countries—such as the Netherlands—education is well developed and offers children and their families a variety of educational curricula and the opportunity to choose a school according to one’s ethnic, religious, and cultural preferences.<sup>49</sup> Liberal legislation in education, however, is not necessarily a guarantee of equal opportunity for all, as demonstrated by the recent discussions in the Netherlands on the segregation of children of Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese, and Netherlands Antillean origins to so-called black schools (Hamilton 2015) (see box 2).

In addition to identifying the minority gap in accessing education, the indicator attempts to measure the quality of education and, in particular, the quality of the national school curriculum. That measurement is very important in overcoming prejudicial attitudes. A national study on structural discrimination in education in Pakistan highlights the many ways in which prejudice against religious minorities is reinforced by biased and outdated curricula that contain stereotypes of non-Muslims. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom found that textbooks used in Pakistani primary and secondary schools foster prejudice and intolerance of religious minorities, especially Hindus and Christians (Hussain and Salim 2011, 9). According to its report, Hindus are repeatedly described in social studies textbooks as extremists and eternal enemies of Islam (Hussain and Salim 2011, 15). Finally, the sections of the three surveys covering access to education attempt to capture discrimination or nondiscrimination laws and policies at all stages of education, including primary, secondary, and tertiary education. That distinction is motivated by the vast literature in the field that suggests that intervention at the early stages of a child’s education is important to address systematic inequalities (Human Rights Commission of New Zealand 2012, 30; see also Bishop 2010, 61).

> 48 For more information on the importance of quality education, see Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education, <u>http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/.</u>

> 49 Center on International Education Benchmarking, “System and School Organization,” http://www.ncee.org/programsaffiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/netherlands-overview/netherlands-system-andschool-organization/. See also Patrinos (2014).

Anti-Discrimination Law and Shared Prosperity 17