18 "RELATING TO CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE LAWS ON THE USE OF LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION IN BELGIUM" v. BELGIUM (MERITS) JUDGMENT scholastic obligations parents must arrange for their children to receive a complete education in the language of the region". On this point, as on others, it is much less generous than Article 17 of the Belgian Constitution. The prohibition of the refusal to anyone of the right to education signifies, for example, that "in the absence of primary education", "the State would not be permitted to oppose the establishment of schools by individuals" and that "individuals would be able", "in certain circumstances at least", "to organise specialised technical education for which the State was unable or unwilling to assume responsibility". As for the idea advanced by the Commission of a right to education the context of which "may vary according to circumstances", the Belgian Government contests its "legal orthodoxy"; it considers that "the right must mean the same thing for all persons under the jurisdiction of the High Contracting Parties". The Commission confirmed before the Court the opinion which it had expressed on this point in its Report by a majority of seven members out of twelve. In its view the rights recognised by the Convention are not all "negative": "one must examine each question" and "each provision in its own right without being led astray" by a legal theory of "some antiquity" the classic doctrine of individual freedoms - which "may still have a certain philosophical value" but which "is in no way normative". What is the position in this respect, of the first sentence of Article 2 of the Protocol (P12)? It "prohibits States from taking any action that might prevent persons under their jurisdiction from educating themselves". On the other hand, it entails "no positive obligation", "in the sense that they have to make any material provision". This conclusion is to be drawn from the text which "uses a negative formula". It is based furthermore on the "preparatory work": in removing the "positive formula" adopted by the Assembly of the Council of Europe in August 1950, the signatory States intended to ensure that the first sentence of Article 2 (P1-2) "could not be interpreted as placing an obligation on Governments to take effective steps to enable everyone to receive the education he desired". Moreover, if the object of the Protocol had been to oblige States either to provide education themselves or to subsidise private education, such an obligation should have been embodied in rules, even if only approximate. Neither are the Contracting Parties obliged to respect "parents’ preferences for a particular language". The Commission emphasises however that "the first sentence of Article 2 of the Protocol (P1-2), despite its negative wording, embodies the right of everyone to education". It is a right "whose scope is not defined or specified in the Convention" and whose content varies "from one time or place to another", according to "economic and social circumstances". Belgium being "a highly developed country", the right to education, "for the purpose of considering the present case", "includes entry to nursery, primary, secondary and higher education"; it implies also "the right to draw the full benefit from the education received", for, "in Belgium’s present