Translation of "enseignement gratuit " (French → English) :

The EESC attaches importance to, and agrees with, the strategic priorities put forward by the Commission in its Communication on internationalising European higher education, including the mobility of students, teachers and researchers, ‘internal’ internationalisation by building subjects of relevance to the world scene into study programmes, and on the importance of strengthening international partnerships and alliances between higher education institutions, at a time when the large-scale introduction of free online courses is transforming access to knowledge.

The United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights requires countries to assume full responsibility for funding education, stipulating that ‘higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education’.

free compulsory education is a fundamental right for all citizens, the provision of which is the duty of public authorities and organisation of which the responsibility of the Member States.

Council Directive 77/486/EEC on the education of the children of migrant workers from EU countries, which requires Member States to offer such children free tuition, including the teaching of the official language or one of the official languages of the host State, as well as to take appropriate measures to promote, in cooperation with States of origin, the teaching of the mother tongue and culture of the country of origin

A wide range of possibilities exists between the two poles of grant-supported free education and full-cost tuition fees.

There is a right to free primary education and free access to secondary and higher education with freedom to establish private schools and educational institutions.