The 'United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child'. 
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has 54 articles. Each article outlines a different right. They cover four different groupings of rights; survival, protection, development and participation.
The UK government ratified the Convention on December 6th 1991.This means that the UK government has to ensure that every child has all the rights in the Convention. All but two countries in the world have signed the Convention, they are the USA and Somalia.
Article 28 : Children have a right to an education. Discipline in schools should respect children’s human dignity. Primary education should be free. Wealthy countries should help poorer countries achieve this.
Article 29 : Education should develop each child's personality and talents to the full. It should encourage children to respect their parents, and their own and other cultures.
Article 30 : Children have a right to learn and use the language and customs of their families, whether these are shared by the majority of people in the country or not.
Article 31 : All children have a right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of activities.
"In learning about their rights children also learn about their responsibilities which are the corollary of rights as others rights have to be respected.(Covell and Howe 2001).This helps to maintain a positive tone to any work. It contributes to developing a positive and socially responsible identity which is more likely when children believe in and feel good about themselves. ( Baumesiter & Muraven 1996)"
Ian MasseyInspector for Intercultural Education Hampshire
