A/HRC/10/11/Add.1 page 4 criteria to justify such distinctions, including criteria set out in specific instruments on minority rights. National and local contexts are important in the detailed application of educational responsibilities and Governments enjoy a margin of appreciation in applying the principles to particular contexts. 12. Principles of equality and non-discrimination permit the taking of special temporary measures. Such measures are mandatory when the conditions for their application are satisfied. Special measures or affirmative action should be used, for instance, as a means for Governments to recognize the existence of structural discrimination and to combat it. The case of special measures or affirmative action should not be confused with minority or indigenous rights to existence and identity that subsist as long as the individuals and communities concerned desire the continued application of these rights. Measures taken in the field of education for minorities should not constitute a programme of coerced or artificial assimilation. 13. Education for all students should have an intercultural approach that recognizes and values cultural diversity. There must be a development of intercultural and anti-racist capacity within educational institutions at every level and informing all policies. 14. Minorities have a right to participate in the life of the State and in decisions affecting them and their children’s future. In the field of education, this right implies input by minorities into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of education programmes and the administration of educational institutions. It also means that an alternative to mainstream curricula may be considered in order to meet the needs, aspirations and priorities of minorities. 15. The responsibilities of the State to fulfil the rights to education and to non-discrimination are not diluted on account of the complexities of political structures: the responsibilities extend in principle to the whole of the State territory. Governments must make strenuous efforts to ensure that national policies are not subverted or defied by local authorities in States with domestic constitutional arrangements, such as decentralized authority or devolution of powers. 16. States should take appropriate measures so that, wherever possible, persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue. These measures are most critical in preschool and primary schools, but may extend to subsequent stages of education. School curricula must encourage knowledge among all students of the history, traditions, language and culture of the minorities existing within their territory and also ensure minorities adequate opportunities to gain knowledge of the society as a whole. 17. In the field of education and minorities, there is a compelling need for accurate data that are qualitative and quantitative, disaggregated by sex, race, ethnicity and disability status in order to assess the necessary requirements in the development, institutionalization, implementation and monitoring of targeted education policies. Data should also be gathered on poverty status and on the access to education and progress of children who do not speak the dominant language. Indicators and benchmarks are necessary for the accurate appraisal of education policies, including assessments of the extent of discrimination against minorities and the success or failure of policies to eliminate discrimination. Such data should include research