The Right Way Forward – Education

The UNCRC includes children’s right to access good quality education, and also that education should help children and young people develop all their skills, talents and abilities. The NICCY Youth Panel have explored barriers to education and what needs to happen in the reform of education in NI to make sure it is fully accessible for all.

What does the UNCRC say?

Every child has the right to an education. Primary education should be free. Secondary and higher education should be available to every child. Children should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level possible. Discipline in schools should respect children’s rights and never use violence.

Children’s education should help them fully develop their personalities, talents and abilities. It should teach them to understand their own rights, and to respect other people’s rights, cultures and differences. It should help them to live peacefully and protect the environment.

What other rights might be impacted?

What else does the UNCRC Committee say about children’s rights to education?

General Comment 1 on the aims of education sets out how children should be supported to realise their full potential.

How do young people feel their right to education is being met?

“Education in NI is greatly varied on a number of areas so children can have a very different experience depending on the school they go to – bullying, religion, too many different types of schools giving their own version of education. Special needs education is also handled differently for different schools. All children should have a good school experience that supports their needs.”

“Up to date information on mental health and RSE is needed. Schools should be more adaptable to meet the needs of pupils.”

“Families need better financial support beyond transport and school meals. Sometimes these are not even covered adequately. School uniforms are still very expensive and the cost of these and PE uniforms can be a barrier to participation. All children and young people should be able to go to school without worrying about extra costs for certain subjects and school trips.”

“More flexibility in subjects would be good to make sure children and young people can make the most of their talents, interests and skills.”

“Respect and equality is hard to regulate among students but staff should also respect the kids and make sure there is no casual use of offensive language and be mindful of the power imbalance between pupils and teachers.”

“Young people need to be involved with the conversations, and there are a lot of areas that need addressed to properly support young people in NI.”

“The UNCRC should be implemented in all schools. Children should know their rights and teachers should make sure they respect children’s rights.”

“Education is an area that is consistently underfunded and not considered, especially SEN schools. Education isn’t as flexible or inclusive as it should be, better support for disabled/SEN kids, young carers as well as more options for those who don’t want to or struggle with the subjects/exams recommended.”

Alyson’s story

“Ever since a young age, I struggled with attending school because I had autism that went undiagnosed. Having unaccommodated Special Educational Needs made things very difficult for me, yet there was always one excuse or another that I couldn’t get referred for support, that my behaviour was too good, or that my academic performance was too good. My choice of secondary school was made purely on the fact that they had a class for students with SEN in year 8 that I was in, with no thought provided of what would happen afterwards, and hoped that I would get support as they would surely know I needed it after being in that class. The support I received in year 8 was incredibly basic, always with the excuse that I didn’t have a diagnosis of anything. Being referred on from one service, mental health referring to autism, autism referring to mental health, and back and forth, meant that the support I needed just wasn’t being provided.

At the start of year 9 going into a mainstream class, I really began to struggle, and the same excuse was once again used, that despite me obviously needing support, I couldn’t access it due to not having a diagnosis. Halfway through year 9, the COVID pandemic started and everyone had to stay at home. But this was not new to me, as I had been at home from school for months due to a lack of support for mental health and undiagnosed autism. I was never fully able to return to school due to the lack of support. This resulted in me leaving school at 16 with no qualifications.

When I started college in September 2023, it felt like a breath of fresh air, my first time in full time education since 2019. However because I opted to study a full time GCSE course, as I always had ambitions of attending university, I struggled as I hadn’t been in education so long and instead had to switch to a part time class, where I eventually gained my level 2 essential skills qualification in literacy. I then once again started to study for my GCSEs in September 2024 and successfully obtained them in the May 2025 exam series, however I also struggled for a while to be accommodated as once again my lack of diagnosis stood in the way of receiving appropriate support at times.

I now study law at the Open University, and so far I have had a wonderful experience. My experiences still make me angry to this day and have only made me more motivated to continue my work on Children’s rights issues, as I know I am far from the only person who has these experiences. Our waiting list crisis must be tackled, as someone who spent 5 years on a waiting list for an autism assessment and years on mental health assessment lists being passed from service to service. Our education system must move past its “one size fits all” mentality and move towards a needs basis rather than a diagnosis based approach to supporting students with SEN, as the need exists before diagnosis too, you don’t just magically only require support immediately after diagnosis.

We must also ensure that what has been described as a crisis in school attendance numbers is handled compassionately, and that it is acknowledged that the overwhelming majority of school absence isn’t necessarily by choice, but because of being in situations like mine. I didn’t choose to not attend school, I always wanted to pursue higher education at university level, and I always performed well academically, and this was used as a reason to not provide me with support, instead of acknowledging my potential it was weaponized against me. In order to have young people attending school, we need to ensure they have the accurate support for them to attend and to thrive and have the best opportunities in our education system, regardless of need, mental health or whatever diagnosis they have or haven’t received, and ensuring that our support for mental health improves alongside the waiting lists, it is only then that our school absence rates will improve.”

What do we want to happen?

• Make sure all schools have a consistent approach to respecting children’s rights in the school community.
• Pupils should not feel the burden of finance when it comes to their education. Every child should have equal access to high quality education, sports and cultural activities through school. Government should do more to reduce the cost of education to families.
• Pupils should have the opportunity to participate in decisions about their education across all schools consistently. They should be asked about how they want to learn and about uniforms.

You can find out more about NICCYs work on education here