A/HRC/20/21 regardless of their circumstances, the type of school they attend or the school location.57 In France, a national education programme set by the State is mandatory for both public and private schools, while in Mauritius, the guidelines for curriculum development are set out in the document entitled “Towards a Quality Curriculum: Strategy for Reform,” of September 2006. E. Evaluation of learning achievements 69. The assessment of students‟ performance and achievements provides an important indicator of the quality of education. According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008, most governments have focused on measuring academic knowledge (sciences, languages, maths), literacy and numeracy through regular State examinations and international assessments.58 National learning assessments may include monitoring of subject-specific achievements; standards-based assessments according to grade or age; school-based assessments of pupil progress, based on tests or performance;59 and external public examinations at major system transition points, such as from primary to secondary education or end of secondary education.60 International assessments of students‟ achievements or basic skills are also widely used.61 70. The EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005 notes that many approaches in the economic tradition have assumed that there is a workable analogy between schools and factories, in the sense that a set of inputs to schooling is transformed by teachers and pupils into a set of outputs in a fairly uniform way. However, attempts to assess the extent to which changing the mix of inputs affects the outputs, so as to identify the most costeffective policy levers for quality improvement, have often proved inconclusive.62 Human rights cannot be subjected to a cost-benefit analysis. Provision of the right to quality basic education, free of cost for all, is a core obligation of States and should not be compromised at any cost. 71. The Special Rapporteur considers it preferable to use the terms “assessment” or “performance evaluation,” which are also referred to in national legislations and policies in many countries, rather than “input-output” model. Notably, the OECD-PISA is a system of assessment of students‟ performance. National Assessments 72. In Mexico, the National Evaluation of Scholastic Achievements in Schools (ENLACE) tests the competences and academic achievements of students in basic education nationwide. In Germany, the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs adopted a comprehensive strategy for education monitoring, including 57 58 59 60 61 62 16 The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) oversees the development of a national curriculum, as well as manages assessment and reporting at the national level. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008, p. 225. In Slovakia, education standards can be divided into performance standards (level of mastery of knowledge, skills and abilities) and content standards (scope of knowledge and skills required). EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008, p. 67. In addition to OECD-PISA and PASEC already mentioned, well-known international tests include Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). The major regional assessments are Laboratoria Latinoamericano de Evaluación de la Calidad de la Educación (LLECE) in Latin America, the Southern African Consortium for the Measurement of Education Quality (SACMEQ) in Southern Africa. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005, pp. 20 and 228.