This paper starts from the open question what a universal right to education may possibly mean. It is surprising to see that in most countries, this right is warranted through the practice of compulsory education. Rather obviously, there is a tension between a right to education and the obligation to participate in a scholar system. This tension refers to the educational paradox of freedom (emancipation) vs. control. Moreover, tensions between the best interest of the individual and the best interest of the state can be recognised. These findings raise the question what it is exactly that we are aiming at when trying to realise a right to education for all. The construction of this ideal will be questioned through the case of Roma people. As a major ‘target group’, Roma people are subject to many (policy) initiatives directed to realising a right to education for all in Europe. Their social practices are helpful in looking critically at these initiatives. First, they confront us with the ‘why’ of education; for the sake of whom and what should one participate in education? Secondly, they make us wonder why the right to education is realised through compulsory education. Thirdly, these practices force us to see the right to education in relation to other rights. To irregular migrants (e.g. Roma people) the basic rights of education and urgent medical care are provided in most European countries. But as they are no lawful citizens, there is in most cases no right to housing or to participation in the labour market. To a large extent, rights obtain their meaningfulness from other (human) rights. The same can be said about children’s rights and parental rights: a gap between these sometimes divergent rights may have serious consequences for the family as an autonomous unity for childrearing. Given the foregoing, the question how to make sense of a right to education for all will be dealt with. Three suggestions will be made. First, the need for a holistic approach towards human (including children’s) rights will be expressed. Making sense of universal rights requires seeing these rights in coherence with one another. Secondly, the right to education is redefined in terms of a right to qualification. Schooling is directed to obtaining a degree or certificate that serves as an admission ticket for participation in the labour market. That degree or certificate should be part of the right to education if we wish to realise equal opportunities for all. Thirdly, an open dialogue of social practices is required in a globalising society. In a multicultural environment, a fixed idea of what the school should look like is no longer tenable. Nor can we just ‘include’ all in the school as it is currently conceived. A dialogue between differing social and cultural practices may be a first step in building a school that makes sense to all. Then, the ideal of a universal right to education might be reconsidered too: in dialogue with one another.

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