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Human Rights Educationin Schools and Colleges
Justice and Peace Commission, MumbaiC

onsidering the existence of human rights violations all around the world, it isideal to encourage the members of society to get a sense of respect towards
others, and to hope that they will not be among those who will violate therights of others in the future. This is one important aspect of the work we do as
human rights educators.
duced in schools to enable students to recognize
the importance of human rights and to create ahuman rights environment within the schools.
The Justice and Peace Commission in Mumbai, India aims to make young people becomeaware of various issues and inspire them to assist
in the defense of human rights.
The general objectives the JPC Mumbai
program on human rights education in schoolsare:• To strengthen respect for human rights andfundamental freedoms• To develop a sense of individual self-respect
and respect for others: a value for humandignity• To develop attitudes and behavior that willlead to respect for the rights of others• To ensure genuine gender equality and equal
opportunities for women in all spheres• To promote respect, understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity, particularly
towards different national, ethnic, religious,
linguistic and other minorities and communities• To empower people towards more active
citizenship• To promote democracy, development, social
justice, communal harmony, solidarity andAs stated in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, human rights education develops the human personality and strengthens
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It promotes understanding, tolerance andfriendship among all nations, racial or religious
groups, and furthers the activities of the United
Nations (UN) for the maintenance of peace.
Human rights education builds on solidarities and social networking among people. TheUN Decade for Human Rights Education(1995-2004) helped facilitate this networking
among members of the civil society.
Human rights education programs should
provide a forum for sharing individual experiences in the field of human rights training andeducation, provide an international understanding of human rights and related issues, promote equality in human dignity, and promoteintercultural learning and participation. The
long-term aim of such program is to establish
a culture where human rights are understood,
defended and respected. Thus, anyone whoworks with other people may be said to engage
in human rights education if they have this end
in mind and take steps to achieve it - no matter
how or where they do it.
Human rights education should be intro-59

60  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

friendship among people and nations• To further the activities of international institutions aimed at the creation of a cultureof peace, based upon universal values ofhuman rights, international understanding,tolerance and non-violence.
• Provide a sharing forum for individual experiences in the field of human rights trainingand education.
The discussions under this program include
the following: understanding of justice, equality,
human dignity, non-discrimination, democracy,
universality of human rights, citizen’s responsibilities, interdependence and solidarity. Thereis also discussion on the major international instruments, status of ratification by India of theseinstruments, its reservations and reporting, etc.
There are discussions on the different humanrights commissions in India, their role andimpact; the international human rights monitoring mechanisms, UN interventions and theirrelevance in India. The subject of discussion isalways based on the target participants and theirinterest. The methodology also depends on thetarget participants.
JPC Mumbai has been organizing many
sessions for the students and teachers of schools
and colleges. There is a group called Mumbai
Initiative of Human Rights Education (MIHRE), which is actively involved in the humanrights education activities at the local level. JPC
is an active part of this initiative that started
in October 2003 as an outcome of a National
Human Rights Education Workshop organized
by JPC and the International Human Rights
Education Consortium (IHREC) in Mumbai.
The JPC and MIHRE organized a series ofworkshops for different target groups. Someworkshops were for teachers who teach human rights at the tertiary level. The discussions
mainly were on the current syllabus and its
modification and also on campaign to promote
human rights education in all educational institutions. There were workshops for the different
groups of schoolteachers, and sometimes onlyfor college teachers, principals, activists andother interested people.
In February-March 2007, JPC held twoworkshops on human rights education. One
was in Mumbai that focused on the rule of law
in global society. The target participants wereteachers and activists. The topics included human rights instruments, use of human rights
standards by the Indian courts, India’s foreign
policies and their impact on the weaker sectionsof society, UN mechanisms and their accessibility, India–Pakistan and the peace process, UN
peacekeeping and protection of human rights,
global war on terror and India, nuclear deals andpolitical economy of oil, etc. There was session
on the future strategy and follow-ups.
The other human rights education workshop was held in Kerala, India. It involved
only college teachers. The discussions were on
the concept and evolution of human rights,
international human rights instruments relating to civil, political, and social, economic andcultural rights, role of academic institutions in
the promotion of human rights, Dalits, tribals,
child rights, right to criminal compensation inIndian legislation, death penalty, religion andhuman rights, human rights commissions inIndia, etc. The last part of the workshop wason the establishment of a network on humanright education in South India.
Both programs were organized by JPC,IHREC and the local organizations. The key
resource persons for both programs wereTheodore Orlin, President of IHREC, and a
few other local speakers.
JPC also has long and short human rights
sessions for school students. The topics for thesessions vary from school to school. Most of thetime they are based on different provisions of theUDHR. The methodology is always activitybased. There is always time for open discussion
followed by evaluation of the session. From theyear 2004 to 2006 JPC organized many humanrights awareness programs for school students
and teachers. In the recent school program,the activities dealt with the concept of right toHuman Rights Education in Schools and Colleges  61

justice, life with dignity, right to equality, rightto freedom and also their responsibility. It usedgroup discussion and presentation followed by
feedback. The last session was on corruption
and discussion on the citizens’ responsibility tocurtail it. A human rights program for teachers will discuss the new law on women’s rights
against domestic violence. Recently, JPC has
been asked not only to conduct human rights
sessions for principals, teachers and students
but also to initiate the creation of human rights
atmosphere in educational institutions.

On the occasion of International HumanRights Day 2006, JPC organized in collaboration with a local college a roundtable conference
regarding the future of human rights education.
College teachers, students and activists participated in the conference.
The Chairperson of JPC, Allwyn D’Silva,
being a Vice-President of IHREC organizes
many discussion sessions on human rights
education at various levels and for different
groups.