The aim of the present text is to reflect upon the relevance of education as a right and condition of citizenship and a function of the State, responsible for its realization. The text is divided in three parts: the first is dedicated to the historical overview of the tenets of the relation between public and private in the beginning of Modernity. The second part approaches education as the condition to the exercise of citizenship, highlighting the role of formal education in this process. The last topic discusses the responsibility of the State is ensuring access to education as an unconditional means to citizenship. Retrieving the liberal ideas from the beginning of modernity and, contrary to the current neoliberal theses, the article defends the point of view that in order to assure quality education for all, State actions are vital.
Education as a public asset; Education as a right; Education and State; Citizenship; Individuality and society