[geeks] education systems around the world

[Alex Feinberg]

    That's a true point, particularly in regards to equal provision
of education. But governments can always cook statistics on this as
it's a positive right (the proof would be in literacy rates for
population as a whole) vs. a negative right (where one case would
disprove the argument - e.g. government claims there's free speech,
but there is a case of a newspaper being shut down by force).

    Additional, governments can claim that by excellent provision of
positive rights (healthcare, education) they're somehow exempt from
allowing freedom of speech, due process (and historically, many
backwards governments (e.g. Soviets) and their Western apologists do 
exactly that -- "yes, we silence dissidents but we have 99% literacy
rates".

    That being said, I didn't mean my reply to be political and am
in no way an expert on this matter either (I don't have the training
in political science, philosophy, economics or other matters that
would give me a broader perspective on the issue) - universal
education seems to be the norm de-jure around the world, the issue seems 
to be that it's unequal in quality and accessibility.
 
> I'm hardly an expert on any of this stuff, but I was thinking since the UN
> has to deal with some pretty backward governments, if you classify
> education as a privilege, wouldn't that be easier for a government to deny
> it to say, women or some ethnic minority?  If it's a right, I'd think
> you'd have to be less exclusive about it.  Just a thought.