The Matua program (‘the program’) was established at the Nabua Secondary School in Fiji in 2003. It is a secondary school qualification programme for students that quit school without completing secondary school education in Years 10, 12 and 13 due to their disadvantageous circumstances. The program is for adult students irrespective of age. For example, mothers and homemakers in their 40s. It aims to develop access to tertiary education and/or employment for these students whose dire circumstances compelled them to abandon their secondary education. In this piece, I evaluate the program’s significance in the protection of the inalienable and universal right to education for ‘all’ and towards the achievement of sustainable development.

Right to education for ‘all’

Under international human rights law, the right to education appeals to a State’s obligation to legally guarantee access to education for all right-holders without discrimination. According to Article 26 of  Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) ’everyone has the right to education’, also in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)  the right to education is recognised as a human right under Article 13. Such that State Parties to the ICESCR must ensure a right to free, compulsory primary education for all. They are obliged to develop secondary education accessible to all by every appropriate means with the progressive introduction of free secondary education.

Fiji is a United Nations (UN) member state that has acceded to the ICESCR but has not ratified it. Nevertheless, the right to education is guaranteed under Section 31 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji which provides:

“31…(2) The State must take reasonable measures within its available resources to achieve the progressive realisation of the right- (a) to free early childhood, primary, secondary and further education; and(b) to education for persons who were unable to complete their primary and secondary education.”

In Fiji, the Matua program is offered at the Nabua Secondary School through the goverment’s assistance, with a program that substantively approaches to uphold the right to education principle and achieve the inalienable right to free secondary education for ‘all’. That is to say, besides the normative inclusion of ‘age appropriate’ students at the school, it also allows secondary education for all right-holders who were unable to finish their secondary education via the program. The program operates in the evening hours for the adult students with the same curriculum, teachers and assessments as for the ‘conventionally’ enrolled students for the ordinary school hours (Bakalevu & Narayan, 2010).

Awareness and rights-based precedent for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4

The fact that the program operates merely at one Fijian school serves to deduce that its significant role in the fulfilment of the right to education for ‘all’ and its potential for sustainable development have not been fully realised. Duty bearers such as national governments, and relevant rights-holders need a wider awareness of the program to generate greater implementation and operation of it, and thus ensure the enjoyment of the right to education by individuals of all ages. Accordingly, it illustrates a sustainable development initiative by duty-bearers, not only at the local and national levels, but also internationally. For instance, education programs of this inclusive nature epitomize a rights-based tool in the substantive fulfilment of a State’s treaty obligation while also working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (or Global Goal 4). The UN Global Goal 4 on quality education is to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Particularly, Target 4.6 (‘the target’) of Goal 4 is: “By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men, and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.”

Therefore, the significance of the Matua program inheres within its embodiment of the right-based objectives. For duty-bearers, this serves as an action for the target to ensure that all youth and adults have achieved quality education. Such as for those rights-holders who are unable to attain this owing to dire socio-economic circumstances. In its global scope, it is a precedent to achieve inclusive and quality education as a powerful vehicle for sustainable development for right-holders as substantively reaffirming the fulfilment of the treaty obligation of right to education for ‘all’. Whether as a UN member in favour of the UDHR to be morally obliged, or legally bound by treaty obligations under the ICESCR, a State universally holds the primary obligation to guarantee the inalienable and universal right to education for all.

Bibliography

Bakalevu, S., & Narayan, N. (2010) ‘Continuing education & TVET: an alternative system at the University of the South Pacific.’, Journal of Open Schooling, 1(1), pp. 43-52. Available at: http://wikieducator.org/images/9/9f/Salanieta_Bakalevu.pdf (Accessed: 11 May 2022).

Hang, S. L & Drau, M. (2019) ‘The Mata Program’, The Fiji Times, 12 August. Available at: https://www.pressreader.com/fiji/the-fiji-times/20190821/282583084660504 (Accessed: 11 May 2022).

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1976.

Nanuqa, J. (2020) ‘Matua Program records highest number of registrations’, FBC News, 9 March. Available at: https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/news/matua-program-records-highest-number-of-registrations/ (Accessed 11 May 2022).

Neff, Z. (2017) ‘The role of civil society in accountability systems: A human rights perspective’, UNESCO – World Education Blog, 20 November. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/20/role-civil-society-accountability-systems-human-rights-perspective (Accessed 11 May 2022).

Rabonu, I. (2022) ’Mum, 44, Sits Y13 Exam’, Fiji Sun, 2 February. Available at: https://fijisun.com.fj/2022/02/02/mum-44-sits-y13-exam/ (Accessed: 11 May 2022).

UNICEF. (2007) A Human Rights-Based Approach to Education for All. Available at: https://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-to-education.org/files/resource-attachments/A%20Human%20Rights-based%20Approach%20to%20Education%20for%20All_0.pdf (Accessed: 11 May 2022).

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.

United Nations Development Programme, (n.d) Goal 4 Quality Education. Available at: https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals#quality-education (Accessed: 11 May 2022).

2013 Constitution of the Republic of Fiji.