A/HRC/12/33 page 8 22. States have a duty to ensure that educational institutions and programmes are accessible to all indigenous individuals within the jurisdiction of the State, without discrimination. Consequently, education must be accessible, in law and fact, without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds. The elimination of discrimination against indigenous peoples, and the elimination of conditions that cause such discrimination, are an important precondition for ensuring that indigenous individuals are not excluded from education. This requires that States take measures to identify existing and potential barriers of discrimination of indigenous individuals in the education system, including legal, political, administrative and fiscal barriers. States should establish a method for the collection of disaggregated data, and develop indicators conforming to international human rights standards, for the purpose of identifying areas of discrimination and other relevant barriers. 23. Education must be within safe physical reach (physical accessibility), either by attendance at some reasonably convenient geographic location or via modern technology, such as access to distance learning. Moreover, education must be affordable to all indigenous individuals (economic accessibility). Primary education should be available free of charge to all. States are required to progressively introduce free secondary and higher education. 24. The indigenous child’s right to education is, however, not only a matter of access to and availability of education, but also of the content of education. The form and substance of education, including curricula and teaching methods, have to be culturally appropriate and acceptable to indigenous peoples, that is, relevant, of high quality, culturally safe and appropriate. 25. Acceptability also requires that States ensure that the education system conforms to all human rights standards. In the assessment of whether the education system meets the requirements of international human rights law, general human rights provisions related to the right to education need to be complemented by standards that specifically address the rights of indigenous peoples. 26. States are obliged to ensure that education is flexible and adaptable to the specific needs, cultures, languages and situation of indigenous peoples concerned and responds to their diverse social and cultural settings. For instance, the best interest of an indigenous child might not in all circumstances be identical with the best interest of non-indigenous children owing to their distinct culture, lifestyle and the collective nature of their societies. D. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 27. Numerous provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular articles 2, 12 (1), 13, 14, 15, 17 (2) and 44, closely correspond with State obligations under article 13 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and article 29 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These provisions reaffirm and apply the essence of Covenant article 13 (1) and Convention article 29 (1) in relation to the specific historical, cultural, economic and social circumstances of indigenous peoples. Interpreted in conjunction with other relevant international human rights standards, they establish the basis for the contemporary understanding of indigenous peoples’ right to education.