A/HRC/20/21 I. Introduction 1. This report is presented pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 8/4 and 17/3 and to the Special Rapporteur‟s initial report (A/HRC/17/29 and Corr.1), in which he identified quality in education as one of the emerging concerns to be examined during his mandate. 2. Considerable progress has been made since the World Education Forum in Dakar, in April 2000, with regard to universalizing access to primary school education in the pursuit of the Education for All (EFA) goals. However, this remains seriously compromised by the low quality of education provided. There is widespread concern with quality education and poor learning achievements. This has given rise to a number of international initiatives, and the right to quality education has emerged as a key issue for moving the EFA agenda forward and accelerating progress in achieving education-related Millennium Development Goals 2 and 3. 3. It is essential to promote the right to education both as entitlement in terms of universal access to basic education, and as empowerment in terms of acquisition of knowledge, skills and competencies and their quality. 4. The Special Rapporteur sent questionnaires to States, international and civil society organizations to collect information on norms and standards for quality in education. State responses, contributions from United Nations agencies and civil society organizations as well as information collected through several studies have been highly useful in preparing the report. The Special Rapporteur is particularly grateful to all the States and organizations which responded to the questionnaire and provided valuable information. 1 5. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to Kazakhstan. He also presented a report to the 66th session of the General Assembly (A/66/269), in which he addressed the issue of domestic financing of basic education. The report detailed human rights obligations for financing education and provided practical examples of national legal frameworks ensuring adequate financing. It also contained an update on education in emergencies, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 64/290 (2010). 6. The Special Rapporteur participated in a number of public events on education, and established collaboration with States, international and non-governmental organizations. 7. In April 2011, he participated in the first Pan-African Conference on Teacher Education and Development (PACTED) in Lomé. On the same occasion, he participated in the Economic and Social Council, Annual Ministerial Review - Regional preparatory meeting for Africa. In June 2011, the Special Rapporteur participated in the meeting, “Tackling violence in schools,” organized in Oslo, and gave a keynote address at the 1 The following States and organizations responded to the questionnaire as of 30 April 2012: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Cyprus, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mozambique, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Togo, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of); the International Labour Organization (ILO), the NGO Platform on the Right to Education. All responses are available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Education/SREducation/Pages/SREducationIndex.aspx. 3