Education as a Right: Agreements, Agendas and Scopes in the Latin American Region

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Education as a right has a prominent role in its international recognition by international human rights law and by States. However, its conditions of validity must be studied in order to avoid generalizations. Then, the conceptual definition of the right to education might be study not only from a normative perspective, but also from the public policies implemented by the States. METHODS. This article analyzes some of the international and regional commitments that have been signed in Latin America since the 1970s, as well as statistical series, until 2015. RESULTS. Firstly, a conceptual definition of this right, based on the human rights perspective, is provided in order to analyze, from a comparative standpoint, the regional agreements. Secondly, international commitments in the Latin American region are analyzed in order to propose a particular study of the right to education and its normative scope in this context. DISCUSSION. It should be noted that, although the region has advanced in terms of regional agreements in relation to this human right, even prior to the 1990 global agenda (with a marked dissemination at the normative level), this is not evident at the level of effectiveness, in terms of schooling results.