Child, the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, dropout and attendance, minority education costs, minority languages at all levels of education. The Chairperson opened the discussion to the floor 5. During the discussion on item III, participants raised the following issues: the principles of equality and non-discrimination, including towards non-nationals the use of the term “minority” and its definition national legislations and affirmative action measures the meaningful participation of minorities in the decision making process and in school management adequate resources and budgetary allocations the right to education of non-nationals and migrant workers the work of different UN agencies on issues of minority rights and the right to education; in particular international assistance and cooperation in the framework of the UN agencies and UNDP’s focus on working with national and local authorities and civil society national and regional jurisprudence regarding linguistic minorities the availability of educational services throughout a national territory the availability of quality education at all levels for minorities, from preschool to tertiary education the issue of mother tongue instruction in schools and bi/multi-lingual instruction adequate recruitment, and training of teachers disaggregated data the gender perspective the need to discourage special classes or special schools for minority pupils Item IV - Equal Access to Quality Education for Minorities Several Experts took the floor under item IV 6. Issues for presentation and discussion included the following: the principle of non-discrimination; school locations; dropout rates; school enrolment for displaced persons or members of nomadic or semi-nomadic groups; and access to education for women and girls. Mr. John Payton, President and Director-Counsel, National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People – Legal Defense Fund (NAACP - LDF), USA addressed the issues of the exclusion of minorities from schools and their dropout rates, and national government responsibilities with respect to the principle of equal access to quality education for minorities. Specifically, Mr. Payton suggested that the Draft Recommendation should make it clear that it is the responsibility of government to see 5 The list of speakers, and when available the full text of their presentations, can be found on the Forum’s web site at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/oral_statements_forum_minority_2008.htm 6 The full text of the Experts’ presentations is available on the forum’s web site at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/oral_statements_forum_minority_2008.htm 8