The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization, meeting in Paris from 14 November to
15 December 1960, at its eleventh session,
Recalling that the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights asserts the principle of non-discrimination and proclaims
that every person has the right to education,
Considering that discrimination in education is a violation
of rights enunciated in that Declaration,
Considering that, under the terms of its Constitution,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
has the purpose of instituting collaboration among the nations
with a view to furthering for all universal respect for human
rights and equality of educational opportunity,
Recognizing that, consequently, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, while respecting the diversity
of national educational systems, has the duty not only to proscribe
any form of discrimination in education but also to promote equality
of opportunity and treatment for all in education,
Having before it proposals concerning the different aspects
of discrimination in education, constituting item 17.1.4 of the
agenda of the session,
Having decided at its tenth session that this question
should be made the subject of an international convention as well
as of recommendations to Member States,
Adopts this Convention on the fourteenth day of December
1960.
Article 1
1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term "discrimination"
includes any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which,
being based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political
or other opinion, national or social origin, economic condition
or birth, has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing equality
of treatment in education and in particular:
(a) Of depriving any person or group of persons of access
to education of any type or at any level;
(b) Of limiting any person or group of persons to education
of an inferior standard;
(c) Subject to the provisions of article 2 of this Convention,
of establishing or maintaining separate educational systems
or institutions for persons or groups of persons; or
(d) Of inflicting on any person or group of persons conditions
which are incompatible with the dignity of man.
2. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "education" refers
to all types and levels of education, and includes access to education,
the standard and quality of education, and the conditions under
which it is given.
Article 2
When permitted in a State, the following situations shall
not be deemed to constitute discrimination, within the meaning of
article 1 of this Convention:
(a) The establishment or maintenance of separate educational
systems or institutions for pupils of the two sexes, if these
systems or institutions offer equivalent access to education,
provide a teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard
as well as school premises and equipment of the same quality,
and afford the opportunity to take the same or equivalent courses
of study;
(b) The establishment or maintenance, for religious or linguistic
reasons, of separate educational systems or institutions offering
an education which is in keeping with the wishes of the pupil's
parents or legal guardians, if participation in such systems
or attendance at such institutions is optional and if the education
provided conforms to such standards as may be laid down or approved
by the competent authorities, in particular for education of
the same level;
(c) The establishment or maintenance of private educational
institutions, if the object of the institutions is not to secure
the exclusion of any group but to provide educational facilities
in addition to those provided by the public authorities, if
the institutions are conducted in accordance with that object,
and if the education provided conforms with such standards as
may be laid down or approved by the competent authorities, in
particular for education of the same level.
Article 3
In order to eliminate and prevent discrimination within
the meaning of this Convention, the States Parties thereto undertake:
(a) To abrogate any statutory provisions and any administrative
instructions and to discontinue any administrative practices which
involve discrimination in education;
(b) To ensure, by legislation where necessary, that there is
no discrimination in the admission of pupils to educational
institutions;
(c) Not to allow any differences of treatment by the public
authorities between nationals, except on the basis of merit
or need, in the matter of school fees and the grant of scholarships
or other forms of assistance to pupils and necessary permits
and facilities for the pursuit of studies in foreign countries;
(d) Not to allow, in any form of assistance granted by the
public authorities to educational institutions, any restrictions
or preference based solely on the ground that pupils belong
to a particular group;
(e) To give foreign nationals resident within their territory
the same access to education as that given to their own nationals.
Article 4
The States Parties to this Convention undertake furthermore
to formulate, develop and apply a national policy which, by methods
appropriate to the circumstances and to national usage, will tend
to promote equality of opportunity and of treatment in the matter
of education and in particular:
(a) To make primary education free and compulsory; make
secondary education in its different forms generally available
and accessible to all; make higher education equally accessible
to all on the basis of individual capacity; assure compliance
by all with the obligation to attend school prescribed by law;
(b) To ensure that the standards of education are equivalent
in all public education institutions of the same level, and
that the conditions relating to the quality of education provided
are also equivalent;
(c) To encourage and intensify by appropriate methods the education
of persons who have not received any primary education or who
have not completed the entire primary education course and the
continuation of their education on the basis of individual capacity;
(d) To provide training for the teaching profession without
discrimination.
Article 5
1. The States Parties to this Convention agree that:
(a) Education shall be directed to the full development
of the human personality an d to the strengthening of respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms; it shall promote understanding,
tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious
groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations
for the maintenance of peace;
(b) It is essential to respect the liberty of parents and,
where applicable, of legal guardians, firstly to choose for
their children institutions other than those maintained by the
public authorities but conforming to such minimum educational
standards as may be laid down or approved by the competent authorities
and, secondly, to ensure in a manner consistent with the procedures
followed in the State for the application of its legislation,
the religious and moral education of the children in conformity
with their own convictions; and no person or group of persons
should be compelled to receive religious instruction inconsistent
with his or their conviction;
(c) It is essential to recognize the right of members of national
minorities to carry on their own educational activities, including
the maintenance of schools and, depending on the educational
policy of each State, the use or the teaching of their own language,
provided however:
(i) That this right is not exercised in a manner which
prevents the members of these minorities from understanding
the culture and language of the community as a whole and from
participating in its - activities, or which prejudices national
sovereignty;
(ii) That the standard of education is not lower than the
general standard laid down or approved by the competent authorities;
and
(iii) That attendance at such schools is optional.
2. The States Parties to this Convention undertake to take all
necessary measures to ensure the application of the principles
enunciated in paragraph 1 of this article.
Article 6
In the application of this Convention, the States Parties
to it undertake to pay the greatest attention to any recommendations
hereafter adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defining the measures
to be taken against the different forms of discrimination in education
and for the purpose of ensuring equality of opportunity and treatment
in education.
Article 7
The States Parties to this Convention shall in their periodic
reports submitted to the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on dates and in
a manner to be determined by it, give information on the legislative
and administrative provisions which they have adopted and other
action which they have taken for the application of this Convention,
including that taken for the formulation and the development of
the national policy defined in article 4 as well as the results
achieved and the obstacles encountered in the application of that
policy.
Article 8
Any dispute which may arise between any two or more States
Parties to this Convention concerning the interpretation or application
of this Convention which is not settled by negotiations shall at
the request of the parties to the dispute be referred, failing other
means of settling the dispute, to the International Court of Justice
for decision.
Article 9
Reservations to this Convention shall not be permitted.
Article 10
This Convention shall not have the effect of diminishing
the rights which individuals or groups may enjoy by virtue of agreements
concluded between two or more States, where such rights are not
contrary to the letter or spirit of this Convention.
Article 11
This Convention is drawn up in English, French, Russian
and Spanish, the four texts being equally authoritative.
Article 12
1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification or
acceptance by States Members of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization in accordance with their respective
constitutional procedures.
2. The instruments of ratification or acceptance shall be deposited
with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization.
Article 13
1. This Convention shall be open to accession by all States
not Members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization which are invited to do so by the Executive Board of
the Organization.
2. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument
of accession with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Article 14
This Convention shall enter into force three months after
the date of the deposit of the third instrument of ratification,
acceptance or accession, but only with respect to those States which
have deposited their respective instruments on or before that date.
It shall enter into force with respect to any other State three
months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance
or accession.
Article 15
The States Parties to this Convention recognize that the
Convention is applicable not only to their metropolitan territory
but also to all non-self-governing, trust, colonial and other territories
for the international relations of which they are responsible; they
undertake to consult, if necessary, the governments or other competent
authorities of these territories on or before ratification, acceptance
or accession with a view to securing the application of the Convention
to those territories, and to notify the Director-General of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
of the territories to which it is accordingly applied, the notification
to take effect three months after the date of its receipt.
Article 16
1. Each State Party to this Convention may denounce the
Convention on its own behalf or on behalf of any territory for whose
international relations it is responsible.
2. The denunciation shall be notified by an instrument in writing,
deposited with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization.
3. The denunciation shall take effect twelve months after the
receipt of the instrument of denunciation.
Article 17
The Director-General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization shall inform the States Members
of the Organization, the States not members of the Organization
which are referred to in article 13, as well as the United Nations,
of the deposit of all the instruments of ratification, acceptance
and accession provided for in articles 12 and 13, and of notifications
and denunciations provided for in articles 15 and 16 respectively.
Article 18
1. This Convention may be revised by the General Conference
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Any such revision shall, however, bind only the States which shall
become Parties to the revising convention.
2. If the General Conference should adopt a new convention revising
this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new convention
otherwise provides, this Convention shall cease to be open to
ratification, acceptance or accession as from the date on which
the new revising convention enters into force.
Article 19
In conformity with Article 102 of the Charter of the United
Nations, this Convention shall be registered with the Secretariat
of the United Nations at the request of the Director-General of
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
DONE in Paris, this fifteenth day of December 1960, in two authentic
copies bearing the signatures of the President of the eleventh session
of the General Conference and of the Director-General of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which shall
be deposited in the archives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization, and certified true copies of which shall
be delivered to all the States referred to in articles 12 and 13 as
well as to the United Nations.
The foregoing is the authentic text of the Convention duly adopted
by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization during its eleventh session, which was
held in Paris and declared closed the fifteenth day of December
1960.
IN FAITH WHEREOF we have appended our signatures this fifteenth
day of December 1960.
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