Elias Hemelsoet

Abstract:The debate on the social function of schooling is as old as the idea of schooling itself. In those discussions, the concept of equal opportunities is often referred to as a means or a strategy to ursue social equality. This article discusses four conceptions of equality, each referring to different notions of justice. In meritocratic, distributive and social equality of opportunities, the conceptualisation of equality is deduced from a particular societal order. The subject-orientedequality position, as an alternative, focuses on the consequences of these approaches at anindividual level. A closer look at the everyday social practices of minority groups (in this caseirregular migrants), is very useful in order to gain insight into these consequences. Are equal pportunities as a conceptual tool for educational policy making helpful to realise the ‘univer-sal right to education’ that we are willing to o fer to all? Conclusions will be drawn on how this universal right can be turned from merely a legal provision into a vivid practice in an educa-tionally more promising way.

Key words:right to education; equal educational opportunities; educational policy;irregular migrant children; phronimos

总结：1、平等的受教育机会被认为是社会公平的一种手段之一。本文将讨论四种教育平等的方式，每一种代表不同的公正概念，

2、受教育普及化只有从法律层面上才能解决根本问题，将其变为生动的实践教育中去，这是有前途的方法。

来源：International Journal of Children’s Rights. Oct2012

Vol. 20 Issue 4, p523-540. 18p. DOI: 10.1163/157181812X637109.