Human rights education: a must for every citizenBy Helena Selby (helena_selby@yahoo.com) Posted: Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Human rights education is very important, in as much as its campaign is spreading widely, so is the need for its implementation. It is about time education on human rights be was introduced in all aspects of the life of every human, since it is their rights anyway. The education and implementation of human rights has become very rare in all walks of life. It is therefore no wonder that the majority of children at home and in the basic schools tends to be extremely timid, when it comes to defending or expressing themselves both in school and at home.
The layman, and even the literate, to a large extent, cannot be exempted in the implementation of their rights, due to lack of education. Equipping teachers with the skills to teach and instill in students human rights knowledge, would promote a good human rights atmosphere in society. People ought to bear in mind that the in-depth study of human rights at the basic level, would go a long way in developing the skills, attitude and knowledge of the individual. Moreover, the study of human rights would go a long way in ensuring peace, security and stability in the world.
Human rights education and Ghana
Democracy and human rights go hand in hand. Ghana is a democratic country where the rights of people are respected and tolerated, it therefore cannot progress without the existence of human rights knowledge in the people. There is the need for society to be abreast with the rights it possesses, since it is a democratic society. In Ghana, there are always campaigns on human rights education by the government, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGO). There are always rights about the freedom to express oneself freely, freedom of association and movement at workplaces, and other rights that the constitution bestows to the people. This ends up assisting people whenever they come across instances of rights abuse.
However, it is very unfortunate that very few people get the chance to implement their rights to their satisfaction.
In Ghana, democracy and rights implementation are always preached to the outside world in broad daylight, but in the dark it is a different story all together. It is a good thing that so far the rights of freedom of expression, movement and association are being enjoyed by the majority of the masses. However, rights of people at workplaces are an issue that is difficult to deal with. Owing to the fact that jobs are very difficult to find in the world, people are exploited day in day out at their various workplaces.
How about the issue of remand prisoners? Remand prisoners seem to be often exempted when it comes to human rights. Some of these prisoners might know their rights, but they are not given the room to implement it. In as much as they voice them out the more, they are suppressed of achieving the freedom which is duly theirs. More and more people, in one way or the other, are deprived of their rights, but still democracy seems to be the doctrine of the day.
Human rights education in schools
Children are the future leaders of every nation, the future destruction and development of every nation depends on how the children are given opportunity to information and how the information is being implemented. Many children in Ghana, and many parts of Africa, are not abreast with the issue of human rights, so end up being vulnerable in the hands of other people. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in coloration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), has come out with a teacher’s manual in the teaching of human rights education in schools. It is yet to include human rights education into schools curricula, but the objective of the manual is to enhance the training of teachers in human rights, equip them with skills in delivering human rights lessons, and as well promote a culture of human rights in the school environment. In the designing of this manual, the commission was motivated by the belief that it was important that training lessons in human rights for students ought to be conducted in ways that are consistent with human rights principles and practice - do not deny students their rights to participate in their own learning, and enable students to voice out opinion and experiences of human rights. Human rights education programmes, according to CHRAJ, need to be learner-centered, make reference to human rights instruments and mechanisms of protection, and use creative participatory teaching methods that are relevant to people’s lives. There will also be the need to involve constant interaction between educators and learners, and include the participation of critical thinking, communication and problem solving skills.
Human rights education and the teachers
The introduction of this programme in the GES curricula is a good step towards the achievement of a perfect democracy. Children will be aware of their rights, so the issue of them being intimidated is out of the question. However, it is now up to teachers not to only teach human rights, but also show it. It is a well known fact that in Ghana children from the Basic to the Senior High level are always being intimidated and taken for granted, when it comes to self expressions. The Ghanaian culture, which always insinuates that the adult is always right no matter how wrong he is, can be found in schools as well. Meaning that the teacher is always right, no matter how partial he is in his attitude and his decision making towards the child. With the existence of corporal punishment in school, students or children are always threatened.
The majority of teachers seem to take delight in the caning of children, rather than taking pains to correct them without the use of the cane. They capitalise on the slightest offence and in anger cane them mercilessly, since it is not considered an offence. In various instances, teachers are able to beat up a child till he/she attains an injury or collapses and afterwards regret it. A student or a child witnessing a situation like that would not risk voicing out his or her feelings. It is about time that the CHRAJ and GES eliminate corporal punishment from schools, and introduce punishment in a form of the child working on the environment. Teachers must make it a point to set good example, since the majority of their students emulate them and whatever expression that comes from their lips. Teachers ought to bear in mind that the introduction of human rights education in the curricula, is not meant for students only, but to a wider extent they in particular, since the children see them as able leaders.
Human rights education and the police
The police have the duty of protecting citizens and helping them to know their rights whenever they are in need. This duty of the police seems to be fading away, as they are the very people who try to suppress citizens from expressing themselves. It is a common thing to see a policeman in a public bus giving irrelevant orders to passengers. They even go to the extent of arresting anyone who dares to correct them. Sometimes citizens wonder if really they are educated on human rights issues. A driver, narrating his ordeal in the hands of a policeman, said he was driving on the side the road, and instead of the policeman asking him to pull over, stopped beside his car and started hitting him with a cane. The driver got angry, stopped his car and asked the police why that attitude, because they were all adults, and that he should be fined for his offence.
The policeman ignored the driver, with people around, and continued hitting the driver till he injured his eyebrow. It later on turned into a bloody fight between the driver and the policeman. The policeman not able to contain the beating he was receiving fled in his car. It is very sad that the policeman, who was supposed to bring peace, rather brought trouble and fled. It is up to CHRAJ and the police force to educate the police about their attitudes toward the people, and the citizens must also be educated on the Police Intelligence and Professional Standard Bureau (PIPS) programme, whereby any police personnel is reported for any misbehaviour.
Conclusion
Irrespective of the age, career and stage of life of an individual, human rights education is important. Since we are all interested in the progress of the nation, there is the need to be eager in being part of human rights education. If the people are knowledgeable, the nation is as well knowledgeable, and change and development would not be difficult to achieve.