A/HRC/17/29 process has furthered the global recognition of the duty to ensure every child receives free primary and basic education without discrimination or exclusion. 11. Beyond primary education, the right to education also extends to higher education; its enjoyment is subject to the criteria of merit or capacity, while respecting the fundamental principles of non-discrimination and equality. The obligations assumed by States under human rights treaties range from ensuring universal access to primary education to progressive access to secondary education and higher education on the basis of capacity. The right to education is not only recognized as an entitlement, but as a source of empowerment. 12. Efforts to universalize access to education over the last decades are underpinned by repeated political commitments. The EFA and Millennium Development Goals campaigns inspired expansions of primary education systems and created more education opportunities for girls. However, progress is fragile and uneven across regions and among population groups. Unprecedented disparities in access and quality emerge as the demand for education grows and education systems expand. Significant gaps remain even in the coverage of education as there are about 67 million children of primary school age who are out of school; while a larger number of adolescents (another 71 million), remain deprived of basic post-primary education.4 13. The experience of human rights monitoring mechanisms has identified many forms of discrimination and inequality that affect the enjoyment of the right to education. These range from clear legal inequalities in status and entitlements to policies that neglect the specific conditions of certain groups. The work of human rights treaty bodies over the last years has indicated areas of action at national and international levels to ensure equality of opportunity in education. Similarly, recommendations to States undergoing the universal periodic review process also address aspects such as guaranteeing the right to education to marginalized and under privileged groups, combating poverty, ensuring the right to education for all, removing gender-based imbalances in education, strengthening efforts to expand opportunities for (basic) education, etc.5 14. Challenges faced in achieving equality of opportunity in education were also described in reports submitted by States regarding implementation of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education6 – even in countries where educational opportunities are in general widely available, inequalities remain in the ability of all social groups to fully avail themselves of such opportunities. Social and cultural barriers and unequal opportunities manifested in access to quality education remain one of the most serious difficulties of national educational policies. Closing the attainment gap among children from different ethnic groups and differing socio-economic backgrounds appears as a common challenge in these reports. 15. The need to guarantee “equal access of all levels of society to learning opportunities so as to implement the principles of inclusive education” was underlined in the conclusions and recommendations of the forty-eighth session of the International Conference on Education, in 2008. Considering that inclusive education is key to building inclusive societies, the Conference recommended that States “address social inequity and poverty 4 5 6 6 UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the Marginalized, Paris. See Issues-Right to Education, UPR Info site, http://www.upr-info.org. UNESCO, “Results of the Seventh Consultation of Member States on the measures taken for implementation of UNESCO’s Convention and the Recommendation (1960)” (Document 177 EX/36).