• Basic education is an integral component of adult education and life-long learning and extends to children, youths and adults. Plan of Action • Where a State has not been able to provide the full range of educational entitlements, it must develop and implement a detailed Plan of Action for the progressive implementation of these entitlements. • States should prioritise the introduction of compulsory and free primary education for all. The Plan of Action should, however, also include a commitment to the progressive realisation of free and compulsory secondary education. Discussion Primary Education Primary education must be compulsory, free and available to all International human rights instruments make it clear that a minimum level of education must be compulsory, free and available to all.200 International instruments variously employ the terms “primary”, “elementary”, “basic” or “fundamental” to describe the level of education that States are obliged to provide. The term “primary education” as used in the ICESCR and CRC corresponds to the term “elementary education” contained in the UDHR.201 This level of education can be distinguished from basic or fundamental education, although there is a close connection between the two levels.202 The right to primary education is “so fundamental for the development of a person’s abilities that it can be rightfully defined as a minimum claim.”203 A minimum level of education is, 200 The vast majority of treaties that refer to the right to education contain provisions requiring compulsory and free education. See UDHR, article 26(1); ICESCR, article 13(2)(a); CRC, article 28(1)(a); Protocol of San Salvador, article 13(3)(a); African Children’s Charter, article 11(3)(a). 201 Article 13(2)(a) of the ICESCR and article 29(1)(a) of the CRC state that primary education shall be “compulsory and available free to all”, while article 26(1) of the UDHR states that elementary education shall be compulsory and free. 202 Fundamental or basic education extends to those who have not received or completed primary education. It is discussed below as a separate component of the right to education. 203 Coomans “In Search of the Core Content of the Right to Education” in Chapman and Russel (eds) Core Obligations: Building a Framework for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2002) 217 at 225 – 226. 82