Abstract

CORTES RODAS, Francisco. The right to education as a fundamental social right in its three dimensions: primary, secondary and higher education. Estud. Socio-Juríd [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.2, pp.185-205. ISSN 0124-0579.

This paper tackles the question: Can universal access to education be considered a fundamental right? Here we analyze the implications of having excluded universal access to education from the Constitution's chapter on basic rights. We also examine two important traditions in the field of fundamental rights. The neo liberalist tradition, which holds that only civil and political rights are fundamental rights, and the social liberal tradition, which holds that fundamental rights should include civil and political as well as economic and social rights. We then review the history that the right to an education has had in the jurisprudence of the constitutional court. The paper concludes with a critique of the higher education reform bill and some suggestions with a view to introducing universal access to education as a fundamental right.

Keywords : education; fundamental rights; social rights; social liberalism; neo-liberalism.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )