A/CONF.189/PC.2/22 page 18 implications for the public school as a place where differences are respected? Can a religious type of education be provided and encouraged by the State in public establishments which are by definition open to all children? 59. It would seem that if secularity is defined as “the legal expression of a political notion that implies separation between civil society and religious society”62 and if in the educational field it is taken to mean the absence of any connection with religion, in regard either to the curriculum or to the conduct of the teachers, it becomes decidedly inopportune to transpose it to contexts other than those in which it developed. In many countries religious education (often meaning instruction in the dominant religion) constitutes one of the essential features of the public school system and it seems quite absurd to argue in terms of the secularity of society in general and schools in particular. However, that is not the only way to look at secularity. According to one author, it means “above all respect for freedom of conscience, including religious freedom” and “there is no opposition between religious freedom and secularity”.63 Transcending national divergencies, it is this second aspect which we find in the constitutions of many States, including those where a religion is proclaimed as religion of State or of the State, as also in most of the relevant international instruments. And that is what matters, far more than theoretical or conceptual debates on the ideological underpinnings of education. B. The content of education 1. The scope and nature of the obligations concerning the content of education laid down in international instruments 60. Equal access and effective enjoyment of the right to education, whatever may be the type of tuition or instruction (public, private, schools for minorities, denominational schools, etc.), are meaningless if education is a vector of discrimination, i.e. if the actual content of the education is conducive to racial discrimination or incites religious intolerance. Several international instruments deal specifically with the objectives to which education should be directed. At this point, it should be noted that most of the instruments studied confine themselves to formulating or reiterating general principles rather than establishing a precise content for education.64 (a) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948 61. Here again, it was this universal instrument which served as a model for all the international texts dealing with non-discrimination in the sphere of education. Article 26, paragraph 2 reads: “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups …”.65 Other instruments have either reproduced as it stood the formulation in the Universal Declaration,66 or have expanded it and enhanced its content. Among these latter may be cited the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, dated 21 December 1965, article 7 of which stipulates: