Human Rights Education (HRE) strives towards an environment where human rights are practiced and lived in the daily life of the whole school community. As well as cognitive learning, human rights education includes the social and emotional development of all those involved in the learning and teaching process.
So, HRE is not a subject that can be studied at a distance. Students should not just learn about the Universal Declaration, about racial injustice, or about homelessness without also being challenged to think about what it all means for them. As human rights educators, we must ask our students and ourselves, “How does this all relate to the way we live our lives?”
Human rights education declares a commitment to those human rights expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. It asserts the responsibility to respect, protect, and promote the rights of all people.
In fact, it promotes democratic principles and examines rights issues without bias and from diverse perspectives through a variety of educational practices. Moreover, it helps to develop the communication skills and informed critical thinking essential for democracy. It provides multicultural and historical perspectives on the universal struggle for justice and dignity.
It engages the heart as well as the mind. It challenges students to ask what human rights mean to them personally and encourages them to translate caring into informed, nonviolent action.
HRE affirms the interdependence of the human family. It promotes an understanding of the complex global forces that create abuses, as well as how abuses can be abolished and avoided.
We often hear where the humanity is or isn’t it violating human rights? Article 36 of Bangladesh Constitution ensures people’s right to movement as human dignity, as well as right to inviolability of physical integrity and personal autonomy.
For better-knowing everything HRE is very essential from school level to university level. Such as, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in article 26 and the international Convention on economic, social, and cultural rights in article 13 mentioned the right to education. So, primary and secondary education curriculum must adopt the HRE for creating social awareness and protection the rights of every learner.
One the other hand, there are discriminations regarding gender in our society. In remote areas persons, societies or communities (maximum village areas) are not at all conscious about equal rights of male and female. For example, the society thought that female children are not essential for higher education. Maximum parents try to give their girl child to marry off early for social insecurity.
So in many cases female married children are at the risk of death due to early pregnancy. But at present, our society tries to change their conception of equity between male and female child. In the convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (article 10) held on 18 December 1979 and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Article 7) mention to ensure equal rights and to protect the racial discrimination. According to the Bangladesh Constitution articles, 27, 28, and 29 provided guaranty of equal rights to protect individuals from discrimination and equal opportunity in public employment equity.
Moreover, disabled child, have-nots child, homeless child, and third gender are also neglected in our society. It seems to them a burden in our community. Isn’t it violated their human dignity? In Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (article 8) gives emphasizes on awareness-raising to family and social level.
Bangladesh constitution in article 32 and 39 mentioned the right to life and freedom of speech. Bangladesh Children Act 2013 is a positive step and it is a great milestone for the protection of the rights of the child in all sphere of life. Disability Act 2013 mentioned to protect the disabled child. So, everyone has equal rights without discrimination.
For all of those reasons, HRE is needed in primary and secondary school level curriculum for developing our next generation. HRE enables students to know not only their rights but also their responsibilities. We all have the responsibility to ensure that we do not infringe upon the rights of others. For example, the right to freedom of expression also carries with it the responsibility of not to hurt, insult, or incite others to prejudicial behavior. Through HRE, teachers can instill a sense of respect toward other human beings among students and inspire them to become aware of their own rights. HRE helps educators and activists who work in the defense of human rights.
According to article 17 (a) of Bangladesh’s constitution provided to establishing a uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children to such stage as determined by law. So, to teach human rights education to the children, the government should take the necessary steps to empower age level curriculum. Today’s child is the future of our country with bright aspects as human beings. We should ensure rights education for studemnt’s mental development.
(Anika Nower Suvra, Department of Law and Human Rights,
University of Asia Pacific).
