Little doubt exists regarding the fundamental importance of the right to education. Permeating all major international and regional human rights treaties, the right to education has been described as ‘one of the most important of children's moral and legal rights; without it they may be unable to develop their personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential’.Footnote ¹ However, the legal enforcement of the right to education is a much more multifaceted exercise in practice, reflecting not only the overlap between the right itself and the provision of resources necessary for its implementation, but also the inseparable connection between the child's right to education and the rights of parents to select the form and manner of that education.Footnote ²

Against this backdrop, Harris's Education, Law and Diversity: Schooling for One and All? is an important contribution to our collective understanding of the domestic enforcement of the right to education for two principal reasons. This first is that, through his detailed legal analysis of the various elements of the English education system, Harris reaffirms the extensive nature of the right to education itself. His analysis ranges from issues relating to diversity, equality and inclusion, to matters revolving around the role of the state in the delivery of education itself, including curricula development, school admission procedures, the accommodation of religious and secular preferences within state education and the delivery of education for those outside the confines of state oversight. In covering such broad terrain, including the historical, cultural, legal and ideological complexities which attach to such disparate thematic areas, Harris reminds us that the right to education should not simply be viewed as a right of access alone, but rather embraces broader substantive and procedural legal scaffolding which are fundamental to the practical delivery of the right itself.Footnote ³

The second reason is that Harris's contribution to education law and policy now arguably assumes increased significance in light of the impact which the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the delivery of education, both nationally and, indeed, internationally. From a national standpoint, Covid-19 led to the closure of schools and globally the pandemic impacted 1.6 billion learners or 94% of the world's student population.Footnote ⁴ One of the most impacted groups of learners was children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), who from a domestic perspective experienced a pronounced, disproportionate and retrogressive impact on their right to education.Footnote ⁵ Harris's discussion on equality, inclusion and the rights of children with SEND assumes increased import in view of the overwhelmingly negative affect which Covid-19 has had on these children.

Harris reasserts the fundamental role of the state in the provision of a child's education, stating that it ‘fulfils a normative role as both a provider of education for children and as a guarantor of the child's right to education’.Footnote ⁶ Given that responsibility for education law and policy within the UK is a devolved area of competence, Harris prudently narrows down the remit of his contribution to the delivery of education law and policy in England. However, throughout the book welcome references are made to UK and international perspectives, which provide useful context and important insights into the various legal standards which inform the domestic delivery of children's education rights. In recognising wider regional and international human rights treaties, Harris exposes the multi-layered legal framework which underpins the right to education.

Running through Harris's contribution are the overarching themes of diversity and inclusion within the English education system. Harris rightly argues that the education system constitutes an important tool of integration by bringing children from a wide variety of social and cultural backgrounds together within institutional settings and providing a common education offering shared knowledge, experience and core values. Simultaneously, he acknowledges that policies of integration can prove problematic, in particular laws and policies that attempt to down-play, mask or remove internal differences that characterise culturally diverse societies. Noting how such policies could be regarded as discriminatory and oppressive, Harris argues that the discussions on pluralism and multi-culturalism should encompass liberal values which include sensitivity to minorities’ interests.

Harris notes that the proportion of primary school pupils in England whose first language is reported to be other than English was 21.2% in 2019, with the equivalent figure for secondary school pupils recorded as 16.9%.Footnote ⁷ In alluding to religious diversity Harris notes that religiously affiliated schools now account for around one third of schools in England, which ‘enables parents to have the choice of a denominational education for their child or a secular one’.Footnote ⁸ The theme of diversity and inclusion is carried through to the discussion of those children who are educated outside of the formal state education system, with Harris noting that this cohort of children comprise a ‘significant minority of children’,Footnote ⁹ equating to around 6.5% of the entire school population. Harris demarcates three distinct groups: those who attend independent schools; those who are electively home educated; and those who attend unregistered schools. Harris observes that elective home education and the existence of unregistered schools have ‘become a significant area of concern in recent years’.Footnote ¹⁰ Harris engages with the concerning and increasing practice of children being home educated as a result of being bullied, or not having their special educational needs met by the school, both of which are themselves repugnant to the ethos or aims of elective home education. In relation to the growing prevalence of unregistered schools, Harris notes that such schools are increasingly connected with those from minority cultural backgrounds and the provision of inferior and ineffective education. This raises the concern that ‘parental rights are being permitted to outweigh children's educational and welfare needs’.Footnote ¹¹ In highlighting these realities, Harris shines a welcome spotlight on the darker side of the provision of education in England and the distinct legal, and indeed structural, issues they generate. In moving the discussion beyond the parameters of the formalised legislative structures governing the right to education, Harris exposes the realities for children who are educated outside these structures, a reality often not underpinned by choice, but rather, and problematically, by legal design.

One of the significant aspects of Harris's contribution is the manner in which he carefully unpacks the triadic nature of the right to education itself. By drilling down deeper into the legal intricacies which attach to the rights of parents, the rights of children, and the role of the state, Harris exposes the legal complexities which the right to education generates. Noting ‘that those with the most direct interest in the school system are pupils’,Footnote ¹² he highlights the vastly contrasting legal obligations which the right imposes on parents one the one hand and the state on the other. Specifically, he notes the disparity between the absolute nature of the responsibility placed on parents, with the looser framework of responsibility applicable to the state, as underlined by ‘the weakness of the guarantee offered by the right to education and leeway accorded by the state in making provision’.Footnote ¹³ Harris considers the extent to which rights are derived from domestic legislation and how they comply with internationally established norms. He examines the manner in which domestic education law and policy in the UK has accorded rights specifically to parents while denying children independent rights, including their pivotal right to participate in matters which affect them pursuant to Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).Footnote ¹⁴ Citing the work of Aoife Daly,Footnote ¹⁵ on the importance of child participation and the associated psychological and developmental benefits which this accords children, the wider legal and practical significance of children's participatory rights are outlined. Noting gradual change (with the exception of children and young people with special educational needs), Harris argues that the current two-page guidance accompanying the general duty on ‘pupil voice’ as set out in s 176 of the Education Act 2002 (which emphasises the relevance of Article 12 CRC and strongly encourages schools to pay due regard to the Convention), is ‘an exhortation which surely falls short of what is required to ensure that the pupil's voice is properly engaged with in school practice’.Footnote ¹⁶

One of the most significant contributions which this book makes is to the ongoing debates surrounding the rights of children and young people with SEND. In this regard, Chapter 9, ‘Special Educational Needs: Voice, Place and Choice’, presents as an essential guide for those engaged in this complex, and often dense legal minefield. In view of the recent legislative overhaul which this area of children's education law and policy has undergone, pursuant to Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, this chapter offers a comprehensive analysis of this new legal framework. Given that Harris earlier outlines that just under one in seven of all school pupils has a special educational need (SEN) and that a large majority of these children are educated in mainstream schools alongside non-SEN children, the importance of this area of education law cannot be overstated. The education of children with SEND is intimately interwoven with, and inseparable from, the protections afforded under anti-discrimination law and the Equality Act 2010. Indeed, on the specific issue of legal remedies, Harris notes that ‘SEND is the only area of education decision making where those who are dissatisfied with the outcome may select mediation or an appeal to an administrative tribunal’.Footnote ¹⁷

In examining the provision of education with SEND, Harris assesses the legal extent to which the rights of parents and children with SEND are, and indeed have been, ipso facto, realised. Harris offers a rigorous assessment of the multi-layered legal framework which typifies the provision of SEND law and practice. Through his meticulous historical examination of the law governing the evolution of this area of education law, coupled with the impact which children's rights law specifically has had on its development, this chapter reveals the gradual and welcome inroad which children's rights has exerted on the development of this aspect of domestic education law and policy. Harris concludes this important chapter by returning to the central theme of equality, inclusion and diversity which permeates this book by interrogating why the legal framework governing SEND law and policy is ‘distinct and separate from other areas of education notwithstanding the many interactions between it and them’Footnote ¹⁸ while ultimately acknowledging that its ‘place arises from an artificial separation, both within the field of education itself and the wider context’. This chapter will undoubtedly appeal to policy makers and scholars, who will find a knowledgeable, thorough, and rigorous discussion on the law for children and young people with SEND.

Overall, this is an excellently written and well-researched contribution, which contains a detailed examination of education law, policy and case law relating to the provision of education in England. This book is further characterised by a commendable scholarly rigour which sets it apart in terms of the detail and precision afforded to the examination of the legal development, and provision, of the right to education in England. As such, the appeal of this book would most likely be for those engaged in educational research or policy, or law students studying education law, as opposed to parents or guardians seeking practical guidance on this complex area of law. Moreover, the breadth and scope of this contribution solidify its position as a welcome and significant addition to the existing literature on domestic and regional education law. The book does not engage with all aspects of education law, such as the ever-increasing practice of school exclusions, the law surrounding the power of schools to exclude a child and the correlative rights of parents, nor wider questions of inclusion and diversity within the third level sector for instance. This book is, nonetheless, a timely and necessary contribution to the development of education law and policy within the UK.