A/HRC/35/11 education is also required, 17 otherwise, higher out-of-pocket costs and limited available spaces will lead to competition among girls and boys for places in schools. Compounded with gender inequalities and labour laws, policies and markets that favour men may, in turn, result in prioritization of boys’ education at the expense of girls. 18. States have an obligation to seek international assistance and cooperation when their resources are insufficient. International partners can provide financing and resources, which should be coordinated, sustainable and monitored, and effectively target girls most at risk of being left behind.18 19. Every girl should have access to and be informed about child-friendly, gendersensitive and safe judicial and non-judicial remedies when their rights, including to education, are violated. 19 Without effective and comprehensive accountability at the national level, all human rights, including the right to education, are but hollow promises. It is crucial that the right to education be justiciable as a legal right and an enforceable entitlement.20 National human rights institutions could play a stronger role in monitoring equal access of girls to education, and receiving and adjudicating complaints. 21 C. Costs 20. Girls are more likely to perform poorly at school and drop out when parents or guardians live in poverty and/or cannot afford to pay school expenses, such as school fees, textbooks, uniforms, transportation and lunches. This is compounded by gendered expectations related to domestic and care responsibilities, and parental biases towards boys’ education for them to have better career prospects. 21. Many States indicated that they provided free primary and secondary education for girls and boys, with some covering indirect costs such as uniforms, materials, lunches and transportation.22 El Salvador indicated that it provided free education at all levels and had also implemented a programme that provided free lunches, uniforms and school supplies; Mauritius stated that it provided all students with free transportation; and Oman highlighted that it awarded 500 full scholarships annually for higher education to girls who completed secondary school with an 80-per cent grade point average. 22. Quality education must be economically accessible to everyone without discrimination, and every girl has the equal right to the same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and study grants. 23 Where quality primary education is available free of charge, States are also required to progressively introduce free quality secondary education for all.24 Special temporary measures, such as financial transfer schemes and programmes that incentivize girls going to school, have increased girls’ enrolment rates and contributed to changing attitudes towards girls’ education.25 Such measures should be gender-sensitive, specifically targeted to girls most at risk of being left behind, and their impact should be carefully assessed. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realization of children’s rights, paras. 41-44; CEDAW/C/PER/CO/7-8, paras. 13-14; A/HRC/26/39, para. 23. OHCHR, “Attacks against girls seeking access to education”, Background paper (2015), p. 25. Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 12 (2); Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No.12 (2009), para. 47; A/HRC/26/39, para. 105. See A/HRC/23/35, para. 58. See submission from Honduras. See submissions from Burkina Faso, Colombia, Finland, Mali, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 10; Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 13 (1999), para. 6 (b). Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 28 (1); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 13 (2). See A/HRC/26/39, para. 37; United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016, p. 138; submission from Burkina Faso. 5