A/HRC/10/11 page 11 Chairperson is required to prepare “a summary of the discussion of the Forum, to be made available to all participants of the Forum”. The Chairperson is responsible for the preparation of a summary of the discussion of the Forum, which is available on the website of the Forum on Minority Issues.4 26. The inaugural session of the Forum took place on 15 and 16 December 2008 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The thematic focus of this first session of the Forum was “Minorities and the Right to Education”. The Forum was opened by the President of the Human Rights Council and opening remarks were made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the independent expert and the Chairperson of the Forum. 27. The President of the Human Rights Council noted the Council’s willingness to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. This includes the sharing of best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the promotion of mutual understanding of minority issues. He stated that education is an issue which engages us all as we strive to promote and protect the rights of children from all communities, especially the most disadvantaged. 28. The High Commissioner for Human Rights reflected that her personal and professional experience had led her to emphasize that education is both a human right in itself, as well as an indispensable instrument for achieving many other rights, whether civil, cultural, economic, political, or social. However, persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities disproportionately suffer the brunt of educational exclusion and are least integrated into national education systems, she stated. Members of minority groups all over the world face barriers in accessing education equally, including the lack of mother-tongue education; poor provision of schools and qualified teachers in the regions where they live; prohibitive costs of school fees that disproportionately affect them as the poorest groups; and curricula that do not reflect community priorities for learning. 29. In her opening remarks, the independent expert stated that education is a fundamental human right of every man, woman and child. And yet in all regions of the world minority children suffer disproportionately from unequal access to quality education. Failure to ensure equal opportunities and equal access to education robs people of their full human potential and their ability to contribute fully to their own communities and to the wider society. Education provides a gateway to the full enjoyment of a wide array of other rights, without which individuals and societies remain economically, socially and culturally impoverished. Lack of access to education perpetuates the cycle of poverty that is experienced most acutely by minority communities facing discrimination and exclusion. Conversely, education provides a vital key to sustainable poverty alleviation. Ensuring equal access to education is one of the most serious challenges for minorities and States alike. 30. Equal access to education must be understood in the holistic sense of the rights to non-discrimination and equality. Minorities often face systematic discrimination which creates blockages to their full enjoyment of their rights, including their right to education. To fully 4 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/forum.htm.