The Idea of Higher Education as a Citizen's Constitutional Right: A Comparative Study

The construction in the Indonesian Constitution requires primary education as a constitutional right for citizens. This clause can be found in Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution, which states that ''every citizen is obliged to attend basic education and the government is obliged to finance it''. However, the comparative study in this paper finds that many other countries affirm the obligation of higher education as a citizen's right. Formulation regarding higher education in the world's Constitution is interesting for two reasons; First, there is a state priority in human resource development through higher education. Second, there is a constitutional awareness to place higher education as an inherent constitutional right for citizens. Using a normative juridical method with a comparative approach, this paper finds that at least 22 countries include higher education clauses in their constitutions. This indicates the progressivity of legal politics in favor of the progress of education in respective countries.