Compulsory education is education which children are required by law to receive and governments to provide. The compulsiveness is an aspect of public education. In some places homeschooling may be a legal alternative to attending school.
Compulsory education at the primary level was affirmed as a human right in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many of the world's countries now have compulsory education through at least the primary stage, often extending to the secondary education.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_education
