the continuity of teaching of/or in minority language, through the various levels of the educational system. Much guidance in such endeavours can be found in the Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities of the OSCE (1996) which is a comprehensive text in this field containing information on some crucial aspects of minority education.49 The Hague Recommendations follow the spirit of the Framework Convention and the aims of education as described in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in adopting the basic assumption of the need to balance the goal of the preservation and development of minority identity and language with that of integration of minorities in the societies where they live as well as dialogue between different individuals and groups. As discussed earlier, the Advisory Committee has followed the same line of thought in its own work. The Framework Convention adds to all this the explicit importance of promoting in the field of education the mutual respect, understanding and cooperation among all persons living within a state (Article 6) as well as the need to foster knowledge of the culture, history, language and religion of the different groups and targeting both minorities and majorities (Article 12). The Hague Recommendations offer valuable assistance on the issue of decentralization and participation. Finally, when analyzing the shifting needs at various levels of education (primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational), the Hague Recommendations include specific recommendations with regard to the extent of the use of the minority language in the teaching of the curricula. In sum, the model supports a strong emphasis on minority language teaching at lower levels of education with a gradual increase of teaching through the medium of the majority language in higher levels of education. A number of other tools and documents are already available within and outside the Council of Europe and can be adapted to the specific needs of each country, region and minority as well as majority groups.50 A particularly useful tool is the so-called “Four-A scheme” developed within the United Nations. 51 The scheme offers some basic quality criteria from a human rights perspective. Planning and evaluation of all education, including minority education, can be guided by reflection on this scheme. While the first two A-factors are of equal relevance to all children and students, the Advisory Committee finds that the notions of acceptability and adaptability are of particular relevance for persons belonging to national minorities.52 According to the Four-A-scheme, education in all its forms and at all levels shall exhibit the following interrelated and essential features: 49 The full text of the Hague Recommendations and the Explanatory Note can be found in different languages at: http://www.osce.org/hcnm/documents.html?lsi=true&limit=10&grp=45 50 For more elaborate tools on the specifics of language education and plurilingualism, consult the work of the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe, which has published inter alia the Guide for the Development of Language Education Policies in Europe – From Linguistic Diversity to Plurilingual Education, 2003 (in a main as well as an executive version, both available at www.coe.int/lang ) 51 General Comment 13 (1999) on the Right to Education of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and Preliminary Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Education E/CN.4/1999/49. 52 See also Duncan Wilson, in “Filling the Frame: Five years of monitoring the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities” ISBN 92-871-5472-2. 27