ABSTRACT
The right to education is justified by the universal necessity for everyone to determine the benefits and use of the world’s knowledge. So far, I have focused on human rights, literacy, and numeracy as basic to the fulfillment of the right to education. However, these basic skills and knowledge provide only a minimal competence in coping with the world’s economy and culture. In addition, the right to education requires learning to mediate between one’s own culture and international pressures. This ability, I argue, requires centering oneself in one’s own culture and language. It is from the advantage of “cultural centeredness” that people can become competent in dealing with the whirlwind of global forces. In addition, cultural centeredness unlocks a diversity of ideas and dreams that can play a vital role in finding new ways to improve political and economic systems.
