A/HRC/32/37 I. Introduction 1. The present report was prepared by the Special Rapporteur on the right to education pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 26/17. In it, the Special Rapporteur examines the right to education in the digital age and, specifically, how to uphold the norms and principles that underlie the right to education while embracing digital technologies, which are revolutionizing teaching and learning processes and transforming the landscape of higher education. He considers issues related to marginalization and exclusion, as well as the quality of education, especially human values in education. Concerns are expressed about the digital divide and about how it affects fundamental principles, such as equality of opportunity. The Special Rapporteur sets out policy and legal responses to address these issues and challenges, bearing in mind the normative framework of the right to education as established in international human rights treaties. He also highlights the repercussions of digital technologies on public investment in education and on the quality of education, especially in respect of preserving human values in education, and underlines the need to safeguard education as a public good. Finally, he offers a set of recommendations for ensuring that the implementation of digital technology in education is in keeping with State obligations on the right to education as laid down in international human rights conventions. 2. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to Fiji and reported to the General Assembly at its seventieth session (A/70/342). In that report, he addressed public-private partnerships and the right to education, noting their linkage to increasing privatization in the sector. He highlighted their implications for the right to education and for the principles of social justice and equity. He concluded with recommendations on regulating such partnerships to safeguard the right to education and protect education as a public good. II. Recent activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur 3. From 25 to 27 May 2015, the Special Rapporteur attended a conference on the justiciability of the right to education and the post-2015 development agenda, organized by the Centre for Law and Policy Research in Bangalore, India, where he gave the opening and closing addresses. In his interventions, he stressed the importance of holding Governments accountable and called upon civil society and the intellectual community to defend education as a public good. 4. On 10 June, the Special Rapporteur participated in a round-table expert consultation on public-private partnerships in education, hosted by the Open Society Foundation, and interacted with experts from universities in Europe, North America and Asia, while addressing the issues of public-private partnerships worldwide, including the Chilean voucher model. Also on 10 June, he participated in a seminar on the application of standards on economic, social and cultural rights in domestic law, hosted by the International Organization for the Right to Education and Freedom of Education and the Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. His intervention focused on the justiciability of the right to education and on Human Rights Council resolution 28/20, which underlines the importance of an effective remedy for violations of economic, social and cultural rights. 5. On 12 June, he spoke at an event on human rights policy responses to the growth of private actors in education, hosted by the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Right to Education Project, the Privatisation in Education Research Initiative and the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. 3