22 On what legally binding and other basis? • Art. 2(2) + 13, 14, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (United Nations) • Arts 26 & 27, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (United Nations) • Art. 5(e)(5), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (United Nations) • Art. 30, Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations) • Principle 1, UNESCO Principles of Language and Education (2003) • Art. 5(c), Convention against Discrimination in Education (UNESCO) • Arts 10 & 14 + Protocol No. 1, European Convention on Human Rights (Council of Europe) • Art. 13, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Council of Europe) • Art. 8(2), European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (Council of Europe) • Arts 2, 3 & 4, Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (United Nations) • Rec. 18, Guidance Note of the UN Secretary-General on Racial Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities (2013) • Recs. 4, 8, & 9, The Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities (OSCE) • Rec. 6 of the Oslo Recommendations Regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities (OSCE) How it should be done Legislation must clearly allow the establishment and operation of private schools teaching minorities in their own language. No restriction should be placed on the use of a minority language, as either the medium of instruction or the language of administration of such schools, although authorities should be free to impose quality standards in terms of the content of education and other, language-neutral curriculum requirements. At the same time, as with public education, state authorities must avoid the isolation of minorities from other segments of society and encourage inter-cultural understanding. For this reason, authorities may require that all students be given the opportunity to learn the official language—while leaving minorities free to use their own language as the medium of instruction more generally—up to a reasonable level of fluency. Legislation and policies should not just facilitate private education in minority languages, but actively support it. If, for example, public education is not possible or practicable in a minority language, financial and other forms of official support for private education in that minority language may be more reasonable and appropriate in some contexts, especially in the case of small or widely dispersed minorities. While strictly speaking there is no obligation on state authorities to fund private schools,41 the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity as well as the particular vulnerability of many minorities strongly support such measures. Some governments support private minority schools by assisting in the production and printing of teaching material in minority languages, or facilitating the import of such material from other countries and the hiring of teachers for these schools. 41 Waldman v. Canada, UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/67/D/694/1996, 3 November 1999.