Submission focuses on final three years of secondary

The Commissioner’s Young Advisors have told the United Nations what they think about aspects of the right to education in Scotland. 

The Young Advisors worked with the Commissioner’s team on a response to the proposal for a new optional protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on education. 

In the submission, the Young Advisors focused on the final three years of secondary school and barriers to learning, attainment, and attendance.   

They noted that young people’s right to education could be badly affected by long-term illness and mental health conditions, difficulty with transport, and poverty. They said that costs – like providing equipment, books, and school trips – mount up for families, even though education is free. 

Barriers to learning included differences in teaching styles and attitudes, and resources in schools, with one Young Advisor saying: “Teachers should be resourced well enough to handle all the different needs in a class.”   

The Young Advisors highlighted that children did not always get the additional support they needed. They were aware that resources were limited, that some services had been cut, and that accessing support was not always straightforward. 

One Young Advisor shared their own concerns around support in school, saying: “I have quite high support for learning needs and I’m so worried about the new school I’m taking some subjects at – what will the department be like, what will the culture be like? Will they be welcoming?” 

Optional protocols are significant as they make a permanent addition to the UNCRC. They expand the rights obligations on governments who choose to ratify them. The UN is looking at extending the right to education to include pre-school education and free public secondary education. 

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ working group will consider the submission when it meets in September.