within the broader context of States’ commitments regarding human rights education, and in particular of the on-going World Programme for Human Rights Education7. 1.3 Aims of Education The aims of education in diverse societies allow us to look at education within the Framework Convention as having multiple and occasionally contradictory aims which need to be reconciled and balanced. There are many different stakeholders in education: those educated, the educators, parents, minority groups, local, regional and central authorities. Their needs and aspirations may vary and need to be constantly assessed and accommodated to the extent possible. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has placed in a paramount position the needs and wishes of the child, a dimension which was lacking in earlier documents. This is of great importance in the field of education where other international documents have earlier given preference to the interests and options of parents or educators at the expense of the views of the child. The aims of education are extensively outlined in Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It provides: ‘1. State Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: (a) The development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; (b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; (c) The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own; (d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin; (e) The development of respect for the natural environment […]’ Some of these aims, such as the development of the linguistic capabilities of a child, are understood as primarily instrumental. In these cases education is seen as a tool for the achievement of other goals (e.g. finding employment, or participating in decision-making). Other aims of education are perceived as primordial in that they are felt as important per se even if there is no other rational or economic justification for this. This is the case with the development of respect for the child’s identity. At the present time, our understanding of the child as an individual with independent needs and capabilities has reshaped our priorities among the needs of different actors involved in education. All education programmes need therefore to take into account both types of aims, but should do this while trying to ensure the best interest of the child as provided in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.8 Indeed, the distinction between instrumental and primordial aims is to some extent artificial. Respect for a child’s linguistic identity is, for instance, a precondition for additive bilingualism and plurilingualism, i.e. one which develops and strengthens the cognitive and emotional capabilities of the child, and the different 7 For an update and summary of these efforts see: UN General Assembly, Revised draft plan of action for the first phase (2005-2007) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, A/59/525/Rev.1 (2 March 2005). 8 See further Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 1, The Aims of Education (2003). 8