Each country team participating in the Commonwealth Values project drew up its own list of findings and recommendations. These were:
Botswana
i Discussion
Results indicate a fair understanding of the seven concepts of human rights under focus. In Law and the Administration of Justice, 140 out of the 200 respondents could not describe possible incidents of stealing in their area. Language could have posed a problem here but, considering that respondents had been advised to ask for the researcher's help whenever they could not comprehend a question, and that they were to use their local language whenever that would make them feel more comfortable, the researcher is inclined to conclude that respondents have had very few experiences of theft in their neighbourhood.
The students' grasp of Equality of Opportunity was more articulate than that of Law and Administration of Justice, the consensus here being that fairness should prevail over any form of discrimination.
On Civic and Social Rights the general emphasis was on democracy, peace, harmony and individual freedoms. It is important to note that civic and political rights are taught in school and that these concepts are derived from Botswana's National Principles, which is one of the topics. On the other hand this emphasis could be attributed to Botswana's comparatively long-standing stable environment (political, social and economic) which is promoting democracy. Questionnaire responses on violence - and the open-ended question where 89% of respondents had nothing to say - confirm this notion of peace and harmony.
Answers to questions about school experience indicate that schools are not providing adequate materials, and that human rights are not taught as a subject. Other sources, like broadcasting, magazines, friends and family have been cited as informative as well. The latter sources, however, have socioeconomic implications and may not be regarded as reliable sources for what, according to all respondents, is a very important subject.
Seeing that school increases awareness of human rights, the next logical step to take would be to address the needs expressed by both administrators and students for human rights education to be developed and broadened in scope to include all essential concepts. It would also appear, from the respondents' views, that it would be desirable to start education for human rights as early as possible in the school system. School as a socialising institution would then develop the knowledge, values and attitudes applicable to a "resounding human rights society."
ii Summary
In launching the Botswana Centre for Human Rights (Ditshwanelo) the government has put in place a mechanism for uplifting human rights. NGOs are facilitating this by educating youth and the nation at large. Despite all these efforts this study shows that the knowledge of students (in Form 1 and Form 2) is very inadequate. Students have some measure of awareness of some concepts of human rights but full knowledge of very few - those directly taught in class, such as civil and political rights. The school was identified as the most significant source for students. But the part of the study which related to Ministry of Education policy, instructional materials and teacher education showed that not enough ground was being covered. The conclusion must be that human rights education has to be strengthened within the formal education system.
iii Recommendations
1 A policy should be established to introduce human rights as such in the curriculum.
2 The Curriculum Development Division within the Ministry of Education should press for a full-time curriculum officer for human rights.
3 Human rights should be taught across the curriculum, starting as early as the primary level.
4 Human rights topics must be examinable.
5 Language teaching methods must be improved to raise students' proficiency.
6 Appropriate and adequate instructional materials must be designed for human rights modules
7 Teachers must be trained in the content and appropriate methodologies for human rights both in pre-service and in-service courses.
8 Commonwealth countries should cooperate to promote the teaching of human rights. The strategies could include the development of instructional materials, programme exchanges, seminars and students' regional debates.
India
Recommendations
1 More such studies, covering different dimensions of human rights, should be conducted. These studies should be conducted periodically at both all-India and regional/local levels, covering various types of school and student populations. There is also a need for conducting such studies for other (non-student) population groups.
2 Experimental projects/studies should be taken up to develop materials, teaching-learning methodologies and school practices for improving the effectiveness of human rights education.
3 The approach for introducing human rights in the school curriculum should remain basically cross-curricular. The deficiencies in the existing curriculum, some of which are possible to identify on the basis of this study and others, should be kept in view when the national and State level organisations responsible for curriculum undertake curriculum revision. Serious efforts need to be made to change and transform the pedagogical practices in the teaching/learning of human rights, as of other areas. There should be more emphasis on interaction, discussion and debate, and activities and projects, inside and outside the classroom, in the school and in the community. Schools should make use of expertise available in human rights organisations and NGOs working in this area.
There is also a need to improve the ambience and organisation of schools. One of the findings of this study which has been highlighted is that, while the awareness of human rights on most issues is quite high, the corresponding willingness to act or participate with enthusiasm is lacking. This issue deserves particular attention when activities and programmes are considered for the strengthening of human rights education, including curriculum revision and the improvement of classroom practices.
4 The national and State-level educational bodies and organisations should produce a variety of materials - print, audio, video - relating to human rights and disseminate them so that they are within easy access of all schools. These materials should cover human rights ideas and concepts as well as issues and concerns, and teaching-learning strategies to facilitate their translation into teaching-learning practices.
5 While human rights education should become integral to all in-service training programmes for teachers, there is an urgent need to ensure its integration in the pre-service training curriculum. Teachers' organisations should also be involved in human rights education programmes.
6 It is necessary to evolve the necessary mechanisms of coordination between the national and State-level educational authorities and institutions for the effective implementation of activities and programmes for strengthening human rights education.
7 The Commonwealth can play an important role in promoting exchange of human rights education materials developed in various countries, sponsoring researches and studies in the area of human rights education, facilitating interactions between curriculum experts of Commonwealth countries on issues relating to human rights education, and promoting student and teacher exchange programmes and interactions between teachers' organisations
Northern Ireland
Recommendations
1 Policy
The United Kingdom has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November 19X9 and came into force on 2 September 1990. Article 42 of the convention is a commitment to make its principles and provisions widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike. Next year is also the 50th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights which seems an appropriate time to review how national commitments to these human rights instruments are reflected in education policies and practice in Northern Ireland. Such a review may also provide the Department of Education for Northern Ireland with an opportunity to state its commitment to human rights principles.
2 Curriculum
The potential for human rights education can be seen from the curriculum audit. Human rights issues feature across many subjects; however it is evident, from the results of this study, that there is no coherent, integrated understanding of human rights concepts. A number of options exist for strengthening the commitment to human rights concepts through the curriculum and these should be considered as part of the next review of the Northern Ireland curriculum. Options include:
* more specific reference to human rights principles across all programmes of study* strengthening the human rights dimension of specific subjects
* linking the objectives of cross-curricular themes more clearly to human rights concepts
* exploring the development of a Personal and Social Education programme (PSE) based on human rights concepts
* development of specific modules on human rights and responsibilities
Consideration should be given to the development of progression in pupils' understanding of human rights concepts as they move through the various stages of schooling.
Decisions need to be made about the most appropriate way of assessing pupils' learning and progress in understanding principles related to human rights.
It is important that practitioners are involved in a consultation process regarding any proposals for change, and their views are taken into account.
Particular steps should be taken to raise awareness amongst teachers and pupils of children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990.
3 Resources
Although a variety of resources exist to support human rights education, the findings from this study suggest that these could Be better coordinated and that teachers would benefit from better support in adapting human rights resources to curriculum needs.
The media, particularly radio and television, have a significant influence as sources of information for young people and this should be recognised when developing resources for human rights education. Support for more coordinated involvement of NGOs in human rights education should be provided.
4 Training and professional development
Many teachers acknowledge their lack of technical knowledge in relation to the provisions in particular human rights instruments and human rights concepts in general. Steps should be taken to increase knowledge and awareness in these areas as a basic entitlement in initial and in-service education and training of teachers.
The importance of developing a school environment which is consistent with human rights principles suggests that it will be important to develop specific in-service programmes in this area for senior managers in schools, and for whole-school staff development.
Zimbabwe
Main findings and recommendations
It would appear that, although there were some differences between the two groups of students, it is unlikely that these could be attributed to their experience of school given the responses of the older group to questions about the sources of their knowledge, as well as the marginal (at the most) differences in scores on the majority of the items. On the basis of this observation, and the follow-up interviews with the students, teachers and administrators, the team came up with the following recommendations:
* National policy needs to be articulated so that the place of human rights education within the national curriculum can be clarified. The policy should also be reflected in policies and practices at school level. It should be all-embracing to include teacher development. It was noted that the lack of policy seems to be the major problem militating against the delivery of a human rights curriculum, and this affects the support and resources allocated to human rights education and related issues.* A human rights curriculum should cover all levels, from pre-primary right through secondary to tertiary levels. In designing such a curriculum, strategies need to be devised to address the mismatch between ideals and reality. Cases in point noted in the course of the study included issues of bribery, appointment to jobs, and the exercise of extra-judicial powers by the public and police. Students expressed the need to see human rights reflected both in school practices and "real life." The involvement of stakeholders was deemed essential in the development and delivery of a human rights curriculum. Professional associations of teachers were seen as major stakeholders.
* That, for a start, Education for Living could be reviewed and strengthened while the nation awaits the outcome of the Education Review Committee which is expected to come up with wide-ranging recommendations on curriculum as well as other changes in education; Education for Living was seen as the single subject which best covered human rights concepts as defined in this project.
* That other subjects should also be taught with a human rights orientation; consequently an in-service programme for all teachers and their supervisors should be mounted.
* The role of examinations/evaluation/assessment in monitoring the impact of human rights education needs to be considered; equally important is the need to monitor the performance of learners. Students, teachers and administrators emphasised the need to ensure that the subject is "properly taught" and "taken seriously" - hence the importance of monitoring and assessment.
* The role that the media and peers can play in the development and delivery of a human rights curriculum should be taken into account.
* The Commonwealth and international organisations it seems from the study, would be expected to play a supportive and facilitatory role.
