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 publiceducation 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.
