my darling dear child

The law 136-03 in the Dominican Republic is riddled with rhetoric seemingly taken directly out of the convention on the rights of the child, therefore when there is confusion as to how a specific clause or article ought to be interpreted or enforced, the CRC might be a good place to start. The clauses on education are articles 28 and 29, which read in the following manner:

Article 28

1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:

(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;

(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need;

(c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means;

(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children;

(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child's human dignity and in conformity with the present Convention.

3. States Parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.

Article 29

1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:

(a) The development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;

(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;

(c) The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;

(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;

(e) The development of respect for the natural environment.

2. No part of the present article or article 28 shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principle set forth in paragraph 1 of the present article and to the requirements that the education given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.

Specific attention ought to be called to Article 28 (1)(b). Recall in the Dominican law on the rights of the child, it is unclear whether the clause in Article 45 that states that education ought to be available to all kids actually refers only to primary education or whether it also includes secondary education. Based on this treaty ratified by the Dominican Republic in 1990, secondary education must also be made available to "every child." This clearly includes children who, for various reasons, would not have access to documents.

education provisions in the law: a briefing

I am now halfway through my time here and just thought i'd post some of the relevant provisions on education law and what through, my very limited knowledge of statutory interpretation, I think they all mean

the education clause in "Ley 136-03: Codigo para el Sistema de Proteccion y los Derechos Fundamentales de Ninos, Ninas, y Adolescentes" spans articles 45-50 and details the rights of children with regards to education.

Article 45 (I) states that nasic educaiton for all children within the territoy is cumplulsory and free.
(I) continues to say that there is never a case where education can be denied to a nino, nina, or adolescent for reasons such as 1) the absence of parents, 2) guardians, 3) lack of identity documents, 4) lack of economic recourse/ economic reasons, 5) or any other reason that violates their rights.

This article is important because it clearly deems illegal any practice that, through requiring documentation that identifies a child, denies them access to education. In addition, because pp II of the clause is written separately, and deals specifically with adolescents, it is clear that the rights of the child are not simply dealing with basic education as the first paragraph. Rather, it is dealing with any level of education that an adolescent would attend, since that is the scope of coverage of the clause. Therefore, since adolescents attend up to high school, it is illegal to deny education for lack of identity documents for children up through high school.

Article 46 descibes the guarantees to the right of education:
-provide access to education starting at age 3
-offer free and compulsory primary education
-adopt measures to regularly assist schools in reducing dropout rates
-secondary school, including vocational training for all adolescents
-information and orientation concerning professoinal and vocational formaiton/ training for all ninos, ninas, and adolescentes.

This clause, as well, is not limited by nationality. In fact it goes out of its way to use the term "todo" or all in order to include all children within the territory under its reach.

Art 47 obliges the directors of schools to play an active role in ensuring that all children attend school--even if it means forcing parents to inscribe children and taking the matter up the the CONANI (or Consejo Nacional para la Ninez y Adolesencia). It goes on to, (I) oblige the CONANI to put all children in school, (II) require that all nonattending students be reported, (III) and provides sanctions for directors not fulfilling their role--it is possible to take them before the Tribunal de Ninos, Ninas, y Adolescentes for sanctioning and (IV) the secretary of education can impose sanctions for the reasons laid out in this article.

Art 48--this is a long article--part of which i don't understand becasue of the spanish I just learned last week :) so i will just highlight several key provisions:
c) before any sanctions are imposed on the child regarding the limitation of any of the guaranteed rights, there ought be a chance for defense before a higher and impartial authority

d) there can never be corporal or economic sanction

f) the inability for parents to pay/ non-payment (in public/ private school) can never be the cause of discrimination or sanction for ninos ninas or adolescentes in whatever form

Sub (f) of this section will prove important in letting kids move out onto the next grade in whatever school they're attending/ the transition into private school. and the subsequent provisioin (g) guarantees that the only recourse the private institutions can take to a family that couldn't pay is to deny future service outside of that year, not to prevent the kid from finishing that year. subparagraph (II) says that anything in that article can be taken to the tribunal. in other words, the article presents an independent cause of action.

Article 49--All ninos, ninas and adolescentes must be treated with respect in their education.
This article can be a cause of action too I believe, though the article doesn't explicitly say so.

Article 50--delineates the structure of education and presents the process for addressing complaints about rights. essentially, with a complaint abotu the violation of a child's rights, one goes to the regional office of education (under Secretaria de Estado de Educacion + Orientacion y Sicologia y de Proteccion Escolar). There, there is a process that forms the Sistema Proteccion de los Ninos, Ninas, y Adolescentes. The procedures of which shall be defined by the Secretary of Education.