A/HRC/17/29 parents’ decisions to keep daughters out of school, and concerns over security figure prominently.44 55. The lack of support for transportation and inadequate facilities can also be a determinant factor in the exclusion of students with disabilities from education systems. Inadequate public transportation and poor infrastructure in rural and urban areas still impede access to schools for persons with mobility restrictions and those who have impaired vision. Within schools, inadequately built classrooms and toilets can also restrict their use by students with disabilities45. B. Financial barriers 56. Surveys in various countries point to financial constraints – direct and indirect costs of schooling – as a central reason for children being out of school or dropping out.46 Tuition fees appear as the most obvious financial obstacle, and the accumulation of indirect costs, such as those related to transportation, school materials, uniform and other indirect contributions, undermine access to education opportunities. Besides, disparities in the provisions for public education contribute to unequal opportunities for many students receiving education in poorly resourced schools, as compared to well-resourced ones. 57. Even if primary or basic education were to be accessible free of cost, such access cannot be universalized effectively unless financial support in the form of grants and bursaries is provided to the children who are excluded, in particular those who are victims of extreme poverty.47 Furthermore, targeting elimination of child labour in order to safeguard mandatory education is particularly relevant. 58. While significant efforts have been undertaken to improve access to free primary schooling, less efforts have been made in relation to higher levels of education. Students with limited resources therefore have very limited prospects to progress to secondary education and beyond. States have the responsibility to alleviate this financial burden and ensure that secondary education is generally available and accessible to all, as well as ensure equal access to higher education on the basis of merit or capacity48. 59. A number of in-kind incentives, such as school meal programmes, especially in poverty-stricken areas, are implemented in order to ensure that income deprivation or poverty in general does not result in exclusion from schools. In broad terms, State investment in social-protection policies and its contribution to alleviating the burden on families and child poverty plays an important role in the promotion of education. 60. As poverty and social exclusion remain the major barriers to achieving the EFA, the use of direct financial support (through fellowship schemes, conditional cash transfers, or 44 45 46 47 48 Ibid., p. 177. Furthermore, the lack of separate toilets for girls and boys in schools increases the risk of abuse and ultimately may contribute to the exclusion of girls from schools. See report of the Special Rapporteur on “The right to education of persons with disabilities”. (A/HRC/4/29), para. 14. UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010, p. 166. UNESCO, Report on the Seventh Meeting of the Joint Expert Group UNESCO (CR)/ECOSOC (CESCR) on the Monitoring of the Right to Education, (179 EX/24). Subject to progressive realization as provided for in ICESCR, Art.13 (b): “Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education”; and (c) “Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education”. 15