discrimination, “has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in education” and, in particular: • Of depriving any person or group of persons of access to education of any type or at any level; • Of limiting any person or group of persons to education of an inferior standard; • Of establishing or maintaining separate educational systems or institutions for persons or groups of persons (this is subject to the provisions of Article 2);247 or • Of inflicting on any person or group of persons conditions which are incompatible with the dignity of humankind. All individuals and groups have a right to equality and non-discrimination in regard to the recognition, access, enjoyment, exercise and realisation of the right to education. Further, the State is obligated to respect, protect, promote and fulfil equality and non-discrimination in education. Intersectional discrimination There has been an increasing awareness of the negative impact of intersectional discrimination, which occurs when multiple grounds of discrimination overlap. The concept of intersectional discrimination has been defined as “intersectional oppression [that] arises out of the combination of various oppressions which, together, produce something unique and distinct from any one form of discrimination standing alone.”248 For example, many women experience distinct forms of discrimination due to the intersection of sex with such factors as race, colour, language, religion, political and other opinion, national or social origin, property, 247 Article 2 provides that the following situations shall not be deemed to constitute discrimination: (a) The establishment or maintenance of separate educational systems or institutions for pupils of the two sexes, if these systems or institutions offer equivalent access to education, provide a teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard as well as school premises and equipment of the same quality, and afford the opportunity to take the same or equivalent courses of study; (b) The establishment or maintenance, for religious or linguistic reasons, of separate educational systems or institutions offering an education which is in keeping with the wishes of the pupil's parents or legal guardians, if participation in such systems or attendance at such institutions is optional and if the education provided conforms to such standards as may be laid down or approved by the competent authorities, in particular for education of the same level; (c) The establishment or maintenance of private educational institutions, if the object of the institutions is not to secure the exclusion of any group but to provide educational facilities in addition to those provided by the public authorities, if the institutions are conducted in accordance with that object, and if the education provided conforms with such standards as may be laid down or approved by the competent authorities, in particular for education of the same level. 248 Eaton “Patently Confused, Complex Inequality and Canada v. Mossop” (1994) 1 Review of Constitutional Studies 203. 97