By: Tali Faerman
“Everyone has the right to education.” These are the first words of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. The declaration guarantees the fundamental right to education, and its adoption prompted nations around the world to recognize this right and inspired international organizations to implement measures to ensure its protection. However, according to data from UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics and the Local Education Monitoring Report, approximately 272 million children are still not in school. Further data suggests that the true number may actually be higher by 13 million. How is it possible that millions of children still lack access to a right enshrined in international human rights law and recognized for over seventy years?
Numerous barriers prevent children and adolescents from accessing education, including inadequate policy frameworks and lack of resources. Cost remains one of the most prominent obstacles, and removing the costs associated with education is linked to higher enrollment rates. Currently, there is no explicit recognition of states’ obligation to provide free pre-primary and secondary education. Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes children’s right to education and calls for “achieving this right progressively.” Although the Convention mandates that primary education should be free and compulsory, it does not mention free pre-primary or secondary education. As a result, many countries do not provide access to these levels of schooling completely free of cost. Many children therefore suffer the detrimental effects of being unable to attend pre-primary and secondary school because their families cannot afford it. The right to pre-primary and secondary education is essential for ensuring children’s access to learning, realizing their full potential, and enjoying other fundamental rights. The effects of children’s inaccessibility to education extend beyond the right to learn—impacting health, future employment, and perpetuating poverty. It is evident that there is a critical need for the international community to find effective solutions to guarantee children the right to free pre-primary and secondary education. The main question is: What is the most effective measure?
Several international efforts have sought to address this issue. One is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 4 aims to achieve inclusive education for all and specifically calls on countries to guarantee free primary and secondary education, as well as access to pre-primary education. Yet, less than five years from 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025 reveals that most nations are still far from achieving the agenda’s education targets. Although the global completion rate of primary and secondary education increased in 2024, progress has slowed. The number of children out of school has risen by three percent, the completion rate of upper secondary school has decreased, only one-third of countries have made pre-primary education mandatory, and only half provide access to at least one year of free pre-primary schooling.
Another initiative is the Resolutions on the Right to Education, adopted every two years by the UN Human Rights Council under the leadership of Portugal. The most recent resolution, adopted in July 2025, urges states to guarantee access to free secondary education and to consider providing free pre-primary education. The prior resolution called for “affordable” pre-primary education rather than “free,” signaling a significant shift in global attitude. The resolution recognizes the importance of investing in free education at all levels and urges states to prioritize education in national budgets and remove “all financial barriers.”
The Sustainable Development Goals and the 2025 resolution are encouraging steps that demonstrate the international community’s commitment to universal free education from pre-primary to secondary school. However, they are not legally binding, and thus progress depends on states’ willingness to act. Millions of children remain out of school, underscoring the need for stronger, enforceable measures.
Many in the international community believe the best solution is the creation of a new international treaty. In July 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of an open-ended intergovernmental working group to consider adding a Fourth Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The purpose of this protocol would be to elevate pre-primary and secondary education to the same level of priority as primary education and to prompt reforms at the national level through policy and financing reassessments. The first session of the working group took place from September 1 to 3, 2025, with ninety-two participating countries. Only three—the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Eritrea—expressed complete opposition. The next session is expected to take place in August of 2026.
The proposed Fourth Optional Protocol is a promising initiative that could help secure greater access to free pre-primary and secondary education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child’s current framework of “progressive realization” has proven insufficient to achieve free education at all levels globally. Explicit recognition of this requirement could produce meaningful change. States that have ratified the Convention are legally bound by it; thus, the new protocol would make these obligations enforceable.
Still, additional measures are needed to ensure the treaty’s effectiveness. The Convention is monitored by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which reviews periodic state reports and issues recommendations. Yet, a study analyzing the effectiveness of international treaties demonstrated that such treaties—particularly in the realm of human rights—often fall short of achieving their goals. One reason for this may be their lack of true consequences, leading some governments to sign without actually implementing the treaties’ terms. The study found that enforcement mechanisms—such as financial sanctions or suspension from treaties—are the most effective means of ensuring compliance. Japan, for instance, signed the Convention in 1994 but only achieved compliance in 2025, when it implemented a new policysubsidizing high school tuition fees. Prior to that reform, Japan was the wealthiest nation that did not provide students free secondary education. Stronger enforcement mechanisms are therefore essential to encourage states to meet their obligations and strengthen the right to education.
A large portion of the international community supports expanding the right to education to include pre-primary and secondary levels. For decades, global attention has focused on ensuring free primary education; it is time to extend that right. Millions of children remain out of school, with cost as one of the leading barriers. Expanding the right to education is thus a pressing global priority requiring decisive action and effective mechanisms to ensure compliance and meaningful change.
