Throughout human history, there have been three discourses regarding children and their rights: a discourse that does not recognize any rights for children, a discourse that defines children as vulnerable beings in need of protection through welfare rights, and a discourse that accepts children as almost independent individuals who should have rights similar to adults.

In the 20th century, two major transformations in the field of children’s rights, namely “institutionalization of childhood” and “politicization of children”, occurred.

In this era, children have become holders of rights, while before – at best – they were only the subject of rights. The liberal image of a happy childhood that includes elements such as love, care, education, play and recreation, personal growth, development of talents, and protection from work gradually became a global concept, and childhood transformed into a public matter, outside the private sphere of families.

In the international system of human rights, which has chosen the slogan “All rights for all”, children are of great importance. They have been given special attention in many treaties, such as the 1924 Geneva Convention, which was the first international document on the protection of children’s rights. The 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child also elaborates on this topic in more detail. In 1989, the United Nations adopted a comprehensive Convention on the Rights of the Child, which takes a participatory approach and recognizes children as rights holders.

This convention has 4 general principles: the principle of non-discrimination and equal opportunities, the principle of considering the best interests of the child, the principle of the right to life, survival and growth, and the principle of respecting the views of the child.

Articles 28 and 29 of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child also address the issue of the utmost importance of education.

Definition of education

Education has two general and specific definitions. The general meaning of education is all the activities through which parents, a group, or a community transmit a set of values, skills, and moral principles to their children or future generations, which includes the physical, mental, spiritual, and social and political growth of the child.

Furthermore, the specific meaning of education is also referred to as decisions that are offered by a specific institution (schools) either privately or by the government (formal and informal) which includes levels of education, primary, secondary, higher and foundation, and also includes effective support for the right to preschool education.

Educational goals

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Complete progress of children’s personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities.

Development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms

Developing respect for parents, cultural identity, language, and literary and national values of your own country and other countries.

Preparing children for responsible living in a free society and promoting a culture of peace and friendship.

Development of respect for the environment

Governments’ commitments to the right to education for children.

According to the principles of Masterikht and Limburg and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, member states have three types of obligations towards the right to education:

1- Commitment to respect: This means that governments must refrain from violating this right and abandon any actions that prevent its realization.

2- Commitment to support: This means that the government not only has to refrain from violating the right to education itself, but also has to prevent any third party from violating this right.

3- Commitment to full implementation: This means that the government must have a legal-judicial and executive plan in place to fully realize this right.

With these explanations, we understand the importance of the right to education to some extent, but specifically in regards to the situation of children in Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran, we are faced with phenomena that hinder the realization of the right to education from various aspects. A deprived province with weak economic infrastructure, false jobs, widespread poverty, drug trafficking, dominant ethnic and religious traditions, lack of awareness among parents and society about their own and others’ rights, government’s neglect of political actions, unstable security situation at the borders, government’s indifference, parliament and other government institutions towards this province, distance from the center, and many other reasons…

However, in the midst of this, the state of the educational space, or rather the poverty of the educational space for Baloch children in this region, is a fundamental obstacle to achieving the goals of the international human rights system for children. According to the Director General of Education in Sistan and Baluchestan, we are facing a shortage of 800,000 square meters of standard educational space in comparison to the national level in the province. The shortage of educational spaces in Sistan and Baluchestan is to the extent that 32% of children in the province do not have the opportunity to attend middle school and 37% of adolescents do not have the opportunity to attend high school. Sistan and Baluchestan needs at least 10,000 classrooms and two trillion tomans of budget to reach the national average of student per capita, but with the current trend, it will take at least 15 years. The per capita educational space in the province is 0

Given the importance of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has acceded to the 1966 United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, it has the same obligations as previously mentioned. However, what Sistan and Baluchestan is facing today is a gross violation of human rights in the field of education and the rights of children. Discrimination and inequality of opportunities will silence talents and turn happy children of today into sad adults of the future. The noble interests of children will be burdened under the wheel of poverty and ignorance will awaken dormant traditions and justifiable injustices may replace statues of Buddha, peace, freedom, culture and joy with the destructive ball of violence and perhaps even forget everything suddenly.

The government is responsible for ensuring non-discrimination in education and providing suitable and accessible educational facilities that comply with international standards. This should be done through planning and legal and executive measures to empower and educate children.

Poverty in educational space has many negative effects on children’s learning. It will reduce their level of attention and make it much harder for teachers to work with them. In the worst case scenario, without a suitable educational space, children will miss out on the opportunity to study.

An appropriate educational environment in accordance with defined international standards must have 4 features known as 4AS.

Existence: Member states of the Convention are first and foremost committed to making education available, meaning they guarantee that there are sufficient active and implemented educational institutions and programs in the country, which require the allocation of special facilities, especially in deprived and border provinces such as Sistan and Baluchestan, and increasing their annual budget to ensure the provision of suitable educational spaces is a priority for them.

Accessibility: Governments are committed to making education accessible. This means that the government must strive to eliminate all forms of class, gender, ethnic, and racial discrimination in the field of education, and ensure equal and equitable access to education for all. Therefore, the possibility of having and accessing suitable educational spaces must be guaranteed for everyone, including Baloch children, in such a way that even in terms of distance, there should be a reasonable distance from the student’s place of residence so that they do not face difficulties in accessing education.

Acceptability: means that the government must guarantee minimum standards for the quality of education. For example, the learning environment should provide suitable facilities for the health and safety of children and teachers, or there should be a sufficient and appropriate number of teachers for the student population. The learning environment should also be designed in a way that allows for cultural, educational, sports, and recreational activities for children.

Adaptability: means that the learning space should meet the internationally defined standards and be adaptable to the specific conditions of children. For example, the learning space should have qualities and features that meet the needs of special individuals such as refugees, ethnic and religious minorities, orphaned children, exceptional children, and indigenous people.

Children are the closest beings to the moment of birth and neglecting them is the first threat to spiritual death; a person who cannot be like any other human being due to poverty is a human being who is not like any other. Accepting realities can be a motivation to become; the solution is critical thinking, continuous desires and reasonable protests. The follow-ups of parliament representatives, efforts of human rights NGOs, continuous dialogues, awareness-raising and capacity-building of individuals to identify their own and others’ rights and empower them to demand these rights are not only the responsibility of parents or activist groups in Sistan and Baluchestan region; as global citizens, it is the collective role of all individuals to support human rights, particularly the rights of children. Therefore, each individual must contribute in their own way to bring attention to the issues to the government and provide suggestions and opinions to help secure and guarantee the rights of children.

Democracy is not a one-time process, it is a continuous effort that requires active and responsible individuals in every society. In this process, happy and free children are the future assets of civilized societies. Let us remember that great goals cannot be achieved with small hands, and a united spirit and harmonious wills will not leave children alone. Ultimately, governments are obligated to fulfill their commitments and meet the demands of all people.

Collection

Children in Sistan and Baluchestan province do not have suitable educational facilities.

Many children are unable to continue their education due to poverty and lack of educational resources.

Economic poverty is the most important factor in the lack of educational infrastructure in this province.

The government of Iran is committed to implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 in the field of education.

The lack of providing suitable educational space by the government is a violation of human rights.

The activities of NGOs and parliament representatives and continuous criticism of the current situation are one of the important strategies for demanding from the government.

Children, adults, and valuable assets of today are our future.