A/HRC/14/25 62. Irregular migrants may be barred from access to formal and non-formal education, as they may face the same registration requirements as nationals or even additional ones, such as having to present authentic birth certificates or evidence of legal residence status.54 Legislative, policy and practical barriers, such as to community inclusion and participation in education, teach individuals that they are unwelcome and, moreover, ought to survive without inclusion.55 63. The Special Rapporteur consequently prompts States that have not included the unconditional right to education in their Constitution to take steps to do so. Two examples are indicative of best practice in this regard. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, defined by its Government as traditionally a migrant-receiving country, guarantees the unrestricted right to education at all levels through its Constitution and migrants are entitled to free education from early childhood care to higher education. Furthermore, its schools are explicitly obliged to permit the registration of undocumented children. The Government of Portugal emphasizes that national legislation also explicitly includes irregular and undocumented migrant and refugee children in the right to education with the concomitant creation of a special registry for irregular minors. 64. It is clear that in some contexts migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers have the opportunity to participate in non-formal and vocational education programmes, some of which are provided by States but also frequently by NGOs. NGO initiatives on the ThaiMyanmar border, for example, include vocational training for unskilled migrant women, health-worker education programmes and teacher training for migrants to become teachers in migrant schools. In South Africa, NGOs offer language and vocational skills training and, in Morocco, language and information technology courses and welcome orientation workshops are offered to women, again by NGOs. 65. The value of such programmes, particularly if appropriately funded, sustained, monitored and evaluated, is widely recognized. Nonetheless, such non-formal education programmes are not a legal right and are often geographically and temporally limited, with more remote refugee camp settings being particularly underserved. This suggests that universally accessible, State and intergovernmental agency-provided, non-formal (adult) education programmes (including vocational training) are necessary. 66. It has already been noted that lifelong learning is understood in different ways. However, when considered holistically, there are relatively few established models or traditions for implementing socially inclusive forms of lifelong learning,56 particularly when viewed through the lens of migration. Such learning is perceived by the Special Rapporteur, however, as having the potential to address the individual’s capacity for learning for and through life and an imperative to inclusion57 and social cohesion at a time of economic recession. It must be comprised of a balance of interlocking and mutually supportive opportunities for vocational, social and individual learning.58 67. Lifelong learning transcends formal schooling and moves beyond post-compulsory education and vocational training. In this regard, the intrinsic value of culturally and linguistically appropriate early childhood learning, particularly when sustained through follow-up programmes, is well noted, as is its role in offsetting social, economic and 54 55 56 57 58 16 Alternatively and/or additionally, schools may be required to report the immigration status of children to local authorities. See “Migration, Communities and Lifelong Learning”, p. 43. International perspectives on lifelong learning, p. viii. There is evidence to suggest that early induction programmes assist in the process of inclusion. See also “Migration, Communities and Lifelong Learning”. See “Migration, Communities and Lifelong Learning”, p. 42. GE.10-12879