Why I care about the right to an education
By Usman, 16
In 2008 I attended the UN Committee on the Rights of Child Day of General Discussion on education in emergency situations: a topic which at first I thought doesn’t apply to the UK. However, I surprised myself. Listening to the key note speakers taught me an awful lot, but the one thing which kept occurring in my head was how fortunate I am in receiving such a high-quality education. Another thing that was really powerful was that a child had said that school was ‘his sanity; a chance for his future; and that the only thing that could be carried away from the community or home was what was in his head and what he had learned’. Of course, I didn’t take my education for granted before I attended the DGD but it certainly left me with some thoughts and has made me passionate about the right to an education.
I spoke to the Committee about children who come to the UK from emergency situations such as refugee children. These children have had their education disrupted from their home country and still don’t have a perfect education in the UK. Host countries like ours aren’t providing sufficient resources for these children. To name a few these include interpreting services and education maintenance allowances. I spoke again about how refugee children don’t choose which school they go to because of transport issues.
In summer 2009 I was involved in carrying out research as part of our Education: every child’s right campaign. We spoke to over 50 refugee and asylum seeking children across England about their experiences of education. My experiences at the Day of Discussion in the Geneva and listening to the experiences of children this summer have made me realise how important the right to education is, and how important it is that all children have the right to access an excellent education.
This article Why I care about the right to an education, was posted on Friday, October 16, 2009 by Carla Garnelas
