ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION AS A HUMAN RIGHT IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Abstract

The construction of a free society is based on ensuring the fundamental right of access to education.
This is fundamental for guarantee on equal opportunities, the capacity to exercise individual freedom
and personal fulfilment. The right to education and higher education is recognized as one of the main
pillars of the construction of Democratic and Social State, in a Rule of Law. However, in the first two
decades of the 21st century we have seen a setback in access to some human rights (HR) of a social
nature. Globalization has generated opportunities but also new problems in the redistribution of
wealth and of social segregation, compounded by the brutal global economic crisis of 2008. Aware of
the great importance of social rights, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) usually put in
evidence its importance, as essential to guarantee of HR, which depend on the social and economic
conditions in which each human being is born and develops his personality. We can say that
education is the priority and the way to ensure equal opportunities and the construction of a free
society. This research is based on data analysis on access to high school and in the higher education
in Portugal, between 2008 and 2018. The proposal is to examine which social groups was most
affected, the impact on the education of new generations and future governing elites on the model of
the democracies of the European Union (EU). The methodology used is based on the collection of
data on cancellations of registrations and non-compliance with the payment of fees, in non-higher
and higher educational establishments during the period 2008 to 2018. We present our findings and
conclusions, in a progressive perspective of human rights, highlighting social rights, as a guarantee
of individual freedoms and human dignity.