The question of what are today the legitimate and proper role and purposes of public schools can only be answered by a close examination and analysis of the human right to education which has been developed by such international organizations as the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and by such international treaties as the Convention against Discrimination in Education 1960, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. This paper will begin by considering the various types and definitions of education and tracing the historical development of the right to education. It will then address the following questions: What are the underlying philosophical rationales of the right to education and how is this right classified? What is the minimum or core content of the right to education under both international conventional and customary human rights law? What were the historical aims and objectives of a primary public school education and what are today the contemporary aims of such an education? To what extent do these aims embrace democratic and religious values and freedoms and can they be extended to accommodate the emergence of religious fundamentalism? (Contains 159 footnotes.)