Abstract
Enshrined in different conventions nationally and internationally, education is a fundamental right of every child irrespective of identity and location worldwide. Despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 and the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, education is not accessible and affordable for every child globally due to several entwined factors. Focusing on Pakistan’s Sindh Province, this article identifies the numerous factors that lead to school dropouts and illustrates their interconnectedness. Employing Sen’s Capabilities Approach, we show a relation between freedom and function, whereby a capability can only be a function if there is an opportunity. We conclude and suggest that since the basic right of education is denied in Pakistan owing to sociocultural, economic, and political factors, there is a need to make necessary efforts at the parental as well as national policy level to address it. We also ask for ethnographically rich studies that should comparatively and thoroughly bring this dropout problem to the center stage for generating a comprehensive understanding so that this basic right is given to every child of this country.
Highlights
EDUCATION AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTThe right to education has been internationally recognized as one of the fundamental rights for all
Even though education is a fundamental right of every child that is enshrined in different conventions nationally and internationally, such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 and the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, in Pakistan’s Sindh Province, as in many other areas of the country, education is neither accessible nor affordable for many children due to the various entwined factors we have described above
Since the basic right of education is being denied to many children in Pakistan owing to individual, family, sociocultural, economic, and political factors, there is a need to make necessary efforts at the parental and school levels, as well as at the national policy level, to address these multiple factors
Summary
The right to education has been internationally recognized as one of the fundamental rights for all. Several conventions and treaties on both international and national levels have been signed to safeguard and ensure access to education irrespective of any identity such as race, gender, ethnicity, caste, and class. The most pervasively ratified include the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)and the 1989 United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 26 of the 1948 UDHR states: 1) “Everyone has the right to education. At least in the elementary and fundamental stages. 2), “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.” (ibid.)
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