A/HRC/25/29 of the Child and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, have looked at the specific implications of the enjoyment of the right to education for specific groups.17 The right to education was also recognized in international legal instruments pertaining to refugee law and international humanitarian law, and in several conventions of the International Labour Organization. 15. Regional human rights systems have also recognized the right to education, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the first Additional Protocol thereto in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities. 16. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has advanced the right to inclusive education by adopting as core principles the maximum inclusion of children with disabilities in society (and in education), and their right to education without any discrimination, and on the basis of equal opportunity.18 Discrimination undermines the capacity of children with disabilities to benefit from educational opportunities and compromises the goal to develop their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential.19 Consequently, assistance to ensure access to education in a manner conducive to achieving these goals must be provided. The resources allocated should be sufficient to cover all relevant needs, including programmes aimed at including children with disabilities in mainstream education.20 17. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has endorsed the concept of inclusive education as a set of values, principles and practices that seeks meaningful, effective and quality education for all students, and that does justice to the diversity of learning conditions and requirements not only of children with disabilities, but for all students.21 2. Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 18. In article 24 of the Convention, the right to education of persons with disabilities is reaffirmed and inclusive education recognized as the means to make the universal right to education effective for persons with disabilities. The Convention is the first legally binding instrument to contain an explicit reference to the concept of inclusive education. Similar to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities does not establish a new right, but rather clarifies the specific implications for persons with disabilities of enjoying the right to education “without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunities”. In this article, it is stipulated that States parties should ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and lifelong learning (para. 1). Paragraphs 2–5 of article 24 contain guidance on the measures required to establish an inclusive education system.22 It is important to note that the provisions contained within the articles must be considered in their entirety and not separately. Article 24 is connected to 17 18 19 20 21 22 See, for example, Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 1 (2001) on the aims of education. Ibid., general comment No. 9 (2006) on the rights of children with disabilities, paras. 11 and 62. Ibid., general comment No. 1, para. 10. Ibid., general comment No. 9, para. 20. Ibid., para. 67. The obligation for States to establish inclusive education systems does not imply any limitation on the right of parents to decide the education strategy for their children, including home schooling, as long as it provides for quality education in line with the goals and requirements arising from human rights law. 7