EQUALITY IN EDUCATION: PHILOSOPHICAL AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVE.

The article discusses the problem of equality in education, particularly in the field of access to education. It presents contemporary philosophical trends in regard to this subject matter, explaining the difference between formal equality and substantive one. The conception of educational adequacy is also presented. What is more, the author shows how previously elitist views are still - in a legitimate way - part of principles governing the problem. When it comes to legal considerations, the paper delivers comprehensive outlook on provisions guaranteed in the United Nations system of protection of human rights with respect to equality in education. Inefficiency of these provisions is portrayed as one of the causes of recent changes in the area of right to education, that afflicts also the problem of educational equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]