Children’s
human rights education refers to education and educational practices in schools
and educational institutions that are consistent with the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a form of education that takes
seriously the view that children are bearers of human rights, that children are
citizens in their own right, that schools and educational institutions are
learning communities where children learn (or fail to learn) the values and
practices of human rights and citizenship, and that educating children about
their own basic human rights is a legal obligation of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
Children’s
rights education is education where the rights of the child, as described in
the Convention, is taught and practiced in individual classrooms. But in its
most developed form, children’s rights are taught and practiced in a systematic
and comprehensive way across grade levels, across the school, and across school
districts. With full-blown children’s rights education, children’s rights are
not simply an addition to a particular subject or classroom. Rather, the rights
of the child are incorporated into the school curricula, teaching practices,
and teaching materials across subjects and grade levels and are the centerpiece
of school mission statements, behavior codes, and school policies and practices.
Fully
developed children’s rights education means that all members of the school
community receive education on the rights of the child. The Convention serves
as a values framework for the life and functioning of the school or educational
institution and for efforts to promote a more positive school climate and
school culture for learning. A core belief in children’s rights education is
that when children learn about their own basic human rights, this learning
serves as an important foundation for their understanding and support of human
rights more broadly.
The
UN Convention on the Rights of the child has important implications for the
education of children. Approved by the United Nations in 1989, the Convention
is the most widely ratified and most quickly ratified country in world history.
Only three countries – the United States, Somalia and South Sudan – have yet to
ratify the treaty. Somalia announced plans in 2009 to ratify the treaty.
By ratifying the Convention, countries commit themselves to the principle that
children have fundamental rights as persons and that state authorities have
obligations to provide for those rights. Under the terms of the Convention, a
legally binding treaty, states parties have the obligation to make their laws,
policies, and practices consistent with the provisions of the Convention, if
not immediately, then over time.
In
the Convention are numerous articles that deal with education and with
children’s rights education. Eugeen Verhellen has divided the Convention’s
provisions on education along three tracks.
First is the child’s right to education on the basis equal opportunity (article
28). This includes the right to free primary education and to accessible
secondary and higher education. Second are the child’s rights in education
(articles 2, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 19). This includes the right to non-discrimination,
participation, protection from abuse and violence, and freedom of thought,
expression, and religion. Third are the child’s rights through education
(article 29 and 42). This refers to education where children are able to know
and understand their rights and to develop respect for human rights, including
their own human rights.
This
third track of education spells an obligation by countries and education
authorities to provide for children’s human rights education. Article 29 of the
Convention requires that 'the education of the child shall be directed to the
development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.' This
presumes knowledge and understanding of rights. Article 42 requires that
countries 'undertake to make the principles of the Convention widely known, by
appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike.'
Mindful
of this duty of disseminating knowledge and recognizing its importance, the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN body responsible for monitoring
the implementation of the Convention, has repeatedly urged countries to
incorporate children’s rights into the school curricula and ensure that
children know and understand their rights on a systematic and comprehensive
basis.
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