A/HRC/26/27 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 17/3. It centres on the assessment of the educational attainments of students and the implementation of the right to education. It underlines the importance of developing and applying assessments of those educational attainments in line with human right norms so that education meets the essential objectives assigned to it in international human rights conventions. Such a human rights-based, holistic approach is essential for fostering the humanistic mission of education, rather than its mere instrumental role, using a narrow scope of assessments linked to mathematical literacy and language skills only. The report also places an emphasis on skills development as an integral part of basic education and on the need for innovative assessment modalities of technical and vocational education and training, particularly in developing countries, in response to the rising aspirations of youth, while not losing sight of the human rights perspective. 2. The present report builds upon previous reports by the Special Rapporteur on the right to education concerning quality education and normative action (A/HRC/20/21) and on technical and vocational education and training from the perspective of a right to education (A/67/310). Its focus is on national assessment at the level of basic education, with reference to regional or international assessment systems. The report seeks to elaborate on assessments of the educational attainment of students, rather than on that of schools or teachers per se, even though they are connected. It is confined to the field of basic education,1 since the realization of the right to a basic education of quality for all is the priority concern of the international community and likely to remain central to the post2015 development agenda. 3. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to Seychelles. He also reported to the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly (A/68/294). That report highlighted recent developments in the post-2015 development agenda and analysed educational goals and implementation strategies, with a focus on action at the national level. The Special Rapporteur stressed the importance of placing the right to education at the centre of discussions on the post-2015 development agenda and offered a set of recommendations on how to operationalize a rights-based approach to the education-based development goals. II. Recent activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur 4. Since last reporting, the Special Rapporteur has continued to participate in activities, related to advocacy for the right to education and raising its profile at national, regional and international levels. He has remained actively engaged in maintaining a dialogue with States, international bodies, the intellectual community and civil society organizations. 5. In April 2013, the Special Rapporteur participated in the twelfth session of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, in Geneva, and made a 1 “Basic education covers notions such as fundamental, elementary and primary/secondary education”, it “consists of at least 9 years and progressively extends to 12 years”, Experts’ Consultation on the Operational Definition of Basic Education, 17–18 December 2007, conclusions (ED/BAS/RVE/2009/PI/1). Some education systems may already offer vocational education programmes at International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level 2 (lower secondary education) to provide individuals with skills relevant to employment. See UNESCO Institute for Statistics, International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED 2011 (Montreal, 2012), para. 139. 3