Human rights and the post-pandemic return to classroom education in Australia

Human rights and the post-pandemic return to classroom education in Australia

Human rights and the post-pandemic return to classroom education in Australia

The authors – both at the Law Faculty of the University of Newcastle, Australia explore the complexity of balancing key human rights to health, the right to receive education and the right to work in a safe environment (for students, teachers and staff) in the context of Australian teaching returning to the classroom after the initial COVID lockdown in Australia, noting particular tensions between rights in the case of people with a vulnerability such as a disability. They outline the narrative of COVID and the lockdown in Australia, and the different approaches taken in returning to the classroom (noting this is mainly predicated on the assumption that children are not overly susceptible to COVID). The authors outline relevant national and international Human Rights laws and how they relate to the return to the classroom, including how laws may be breached in not enabling a safe equitable option to children/families/teachers deemed vulnerable. Concluding they call for a “comprehensive human rights framework to support difficult processes of balancing rights in tension”.

Maguire, A., McNamara, D.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1037969X20954292

Alternative Law Journal

August 31, 2020

hyperlink

https://doi.org/10.1177/1037969X20954292