The relation between minority protection and access to education raises some thorny questions: how to promote equal education while attending to minorities' special needs,whether cultural or socio-economic needs? This paper seeks to explore how international law deals with this issue. It looks at the dialectic between separate and integrated education from the perspective of both aspects of minorities' right to education: identity transmission and equal opportunities. Based on an exploration of the practice of various international bodies, the paper argues that while international human rights law does not impose a unique educational model, it does favour integrated over separate education. Yet, at the same time, it points towards a transformation of the content and modalities of the education provided in common institutions in order to respond to three types of concerns: fostering mutual knowledge and understanding between the various communities, promoting equal opportunities and allowing minorities to transmit their cultural identity
