| dc.description.abstract | The right to basic education is a key component of a child’s survival, protection and
development. This is particularly important with regard to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children
(OVCs). It is for this reason that international human rights law encapsulated in, among
others, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on
Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the United Nations Convention on Rights
of the Child (CRC) and Convention on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW), maintain that states have an obligation to promote, fulfil and protect the
right to basic education. Kenya is not only a signatory to all these human rights instruments
but has gone further to integrate international law through its novel constitutional
dispensation which came into force in 2010.
In 2013, the Kenyan parliament enacted the Basic Education Act and therefore meeting its
obligation under international law which required state parties to protect the right to basic
education. Despite the enactment of a specific legislation to address the plight of OVCs, the
country’s protection of the core content of the right to basic education in terms of
adaptability, accessibility and availability has not been realised. This study postulates that this
is because the right to basic education has been interpreted to be progressive which means
that it can be limited anytime resources are in short supply. As a consequence, many OVCs
are not able to access basic education for various reasons, including, poverty, adverse effects
of HIV/AIDS, child labour, and biased cultural norms.
While looking at Kenya, Canada and South Africa, the researcher interrogates the extent to
which these countries have gone to address the right to basic education in their respective
jurisdictions. The study contends that South Africa and Canada have made better strides in
the realization of basic education for OVCs. The researcher thence suggests best practices
and programmes based on a human rights approach to promote the right to basic education in
Kenya. Some of the recommendations include: legislative and policy reforms; harmonization
of judicial decisions; and addressing harmful cultural practices. Generally, the study
evaluates the successes and challenges of these international instruments and national
legislation in addressing the plight of OVCs with respect to their right to basic education and
suggests recommendations for innovative policies in human rights monitoring, protection and
promotion which must be adopted to protect OVCs. | en_US |
