(vii) The nature and scope of the obligation to ensure gender parity and gender equality in education. • Women and girls have an equal right to the enjoyment of the right to education, and States are under an obligation to ensure gender parity and gender equality in the provision of education. This mandates both formal and substantive equality. • States must ensure the same conditions for career and vocational guidance, for access and admission to studies and for the achievement of qualifications for males and females. States may, however, take into account existing economic, social, cultural and gender inequalities. • Progress on gender equality is related to the content and quality of education. States must ensure access to the same curricula, examinations and teaching standards. Further, curricula must promote equality and non-discrimination. • States must identify and eradicate barriers to females’ education, including socio-cultural factors, discrimination and financial disadvantage. • States must ensure the safety of children both while travelling to and from and while attending school. • States should take measures to ensure that girls’ education is not interrupted or terminated by early marriage and motherhood. • States should provide access to education on health and hygiene matters for both sexes. (viii) The nature and scope of the obligation to respect religious and cultural practices within schools and other educational institutions • No educational institution, whether State-funded or not, may discriminate on any prohibited ground. • The State must ensure that the religious and cultural identity of students is respected and accommodated in educational programmes and institutions. • Religious and cultural tolerance should be promoted by all educational institutions. • Children have a right to express themselves in their language in all educational institutions. • Subject to the availability of adequate resources and where there are no significant practical impediments, all children should be given the opportunity to gain initial literacy in their mother tongue in State-funded institutions. • States must lead the way and provide State-funded education in minority languages, especially for indigenous people, wherever possible. 32