A right to education has been recognized by some governments. At the global level, Article 13 of the United Nations' 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognises the right of everyone to an education.[2] Although education is compulsory in most places up to a certain age, attendance at school often isn't, and a minority of parents choose home-schooling, e-learning or similar for their children.
Education began in the earliest prehistory, as adults trained the young of their society in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on. In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling continued from one generation to the next. As cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond skills that could be readily learned through imitation, formal education developed. Schools existed in Egypt at the time of the Middle Kingdom.[4]
A depiction of the University of Bologna, Italy, founded in 1088
Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements published in 1607
Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe.[5] The city of Alexandria in Egypt, founded in 330 BCE, became the successor to Athens as the intellectual cradle of Ancient Greece. There mathematician Euclid and anatomist Herophilus; constructed the great Library of Alexandria and