A/HRC/15/29 69. In recognising the primary importance of education for the development and protection of children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides, in article 28, that primary education should be universally available for free “to all”, and that States should encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, making them available and accessible to every child. In addition, the Convention provides that educational and vocational information and guidance should be available and accessible to all children. Article 30 of the Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which applies to all migrant workers and their families, regardless of their status, states that: “each child of a migrant worker shall have access to education on the basis of equality of treatment with nationals of the State concerned. Access to public pre-school educational institutions or schools shall not be refused or limited by reason of the irregular situation with respect to stay or employment of either parent or by reason of the irregularity of the child’s stay in the State of employment”. 70. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called on States to “avoid segregated schooling and different standards of treatment being applied to noncitizens on grounds of race, colour, descent, and national or ethnic origin in elementary and secondary school and with respect to access to higher education”.59 71. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has asserted that access to education is one of the special protection measures with which State parties are obliged to comply, also in the case of children in the context of migration.60 J. Migrant children and work 72. Just as most adult migrants are involved in some way in the world of work, a significant proportion of children on the move are working and will require protection. While some children migrate on their own in search of work, others will start working in the country of destination as a way of supporting their families, and still others will resort to work when their parents or primary caregivers migrate, leaving them behind. It is important to recognize that “work” and “exploitation” are not necessarily synonymous61 and that protecting the rights of children who work, alongside robust efforts to prohibit harmful work, could make for more effective policy. Such protection should include setting a minimum age for admission to employment (see below), protecting children from violence, upholding the right to education, safeguarding leisure and ensuring the right to health of the child including occupational health protections. 73. The ILO has adopted two conventions of relevance to the situation of migrant children who work. Convention No. 138 commits States to abolishing child labour and raising progressively the minimum age for admission to employment. It further states that the minimum age for employment should “not be less than 15 years” and that all children should be protected from hazardous work (which is defined as work “likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young people”). The Convention on the Rights of the Child similarly requires States to specify a minimum age for admission to employment. ILO Convention No. 182 defines the worst forms of child labour, to which no child should be exposed, including forms of slavery, debt bondage, involvement in prostitution, and hazardous work. The latter has been interpreted to include “work for long hours … or work 59 60 61 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 30. See Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of the Girls Yean and Bosico vs. Dominican Republic, Judgement of 8 September 2005, para. 185. “Human Rights of Migrant Children”, p. 52. 17