Human beings all have certain things at birth, like the need for food, warmth and shelter; and commonly with these needs exist rights, because human beings are all born into the company of other human beings, each of whom has the potential to interfere, both as an individual and as a part of a State corporate, if these rights are not vindicated, with the peaceful exercise of other people's full capacity for self-determination. - Debra James
"The
objective of getting all school-aged children to school and keeping them there
until they attain the minimum defined in compulsory education is routinely
used in the sector of education, but this objective does not necessarily conform
to human rights requirements. In a country where all school aged children
are in school, free of charge, for the full duration of compulsory education,
the right to education may be denied or violated. The core human rights standards
for education include respect of freedom. The respect of parent's freedom
to educate their children according to their vision of what education should
be has been part of international human rights standards since their very
emergence."
-Statement by the Special Rapporteur to the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights 8th April 1999
re Family H v The United Kingdom 1984 37 DR 105 at 108