A/76/162 of the world’s most marginalized groups was removed at the last moment from the global indicator framework. 55. As a result, and perhaps predictably, none of the numerous State submissions sent to the Special Rapporteur expressly mention any specific action in relation to the participation of stateless individuals in the social and economic development of the country, with some State submissions assuming, not unreasonably given its wording, that the Sustainable Development Goals programme is only applicable to citizens. 38 56. Some of the world’s most vulnerable, mainly minorities who are denied basic human rights, therefore remain invisible and unaccounted for under the Sustainable Development Goals strategy. Education 57. Sustainable Development Goal 4, “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, represents a recognition of the central role of education in development. At the societal level, it can be said to be fundamental to development and growth, since any development achievements, from technological and health advances and agricultural innovations to efficient public administration and service delivery, need to unleash the human potential. This can best be achieved through education. For the individual, as proclaimed in article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the education of the child can, among other things, serve towards the “development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential”. 58. Worldwide, however, three groups find themselves most likely to be disproportionally excluded from or denied equal access to public education, in other words to be left behind: women and girls, indigenous peoples and minorities. The first, rightly so, are the main focus of a significant number of measures and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals; the second, much fewer, although not entirely dismissed; and the third almost none at all. 59. It can be said that the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals, targets and indicators, and their exclusion of minorities, have had a detrimental effect on efforts to guarantee equality for minorities. In numerous United Nations reports, it is admitted that “indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities are generally also worse off in terms of education and health than the ethnic majority”. 39 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has also acknowl edged for decades that minorities are one of the main groups whose right to education is discriminatorily impinged upon, and that this also impedes their development and the development of society. 60. A total of 262 million primary- and secondary-school aged children and youth are still out of school. Girls, persons with disabilities, those from disadvantaged backgrounds or rural areas, indigenous peoples, migrants and national minorities are among those who face the worst discrimination, affecting both th eir right to go to school and their rights within schools. Unequal treatment can both impede their learning and undermine their full development, and this has much wider consequences for States and society as a whole. 40 61. Many others have agreed, pointing out that the “realization of the right to education takes on a double importance for minority and indigenous children. First, because these children are often socially excluded and discriminated against, the __________________ 38 39 40 21-09902 Submissions by Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Nepal and Poland. Promoting Inclusion through Social Protection: Report on the World Social Situation 2018 (United Nations publication, 2018), p. 99. UNESCO and the Right to Education Initiative, Right to Education Handbook (Paris, 2019). 15/22