A project supported by UNESCO and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights under the first phase plan of action (2005-2009) of the United Nations World Programme for Human Rights Education (WPHRE) assessed the state of human rights education in the school systems of four countries in Southeast Asia.
Initially planned for five Southeast Asian countries, the project eventually covered Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Thailand. The project implementation started, after more than a year of delay, with the establishment of national teams on human rights education (NTHREs) in each of the four countries and the meeting between the NTHREs and the Regional Project Team (composed of staff of HURIGHTS OSAKA and the Office of Human Rights Studies and Social Development of the Faculty of Graduate Studies of Mahidol University).
The NTHREs were tasked to assess the state of policy support for human rights education in the school system and the extent of the policy implementation. This exercise was meant to lead to planning on improved human rights education within the school systems in the four countries involved.
The full report[1] on the project provides a summary of the results of the assessment of human rights education in the school systems in the four Southeast Asian countries. Some of the highlights of the summary are presented below.
A highlighted issue is on the role of the ratified international human rights instruments in the initiatives to teach human rights within the formal education system. The four countries involved have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). While Lao PDR has signed, the others have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Lao PDR and Indonesia have institutions (commissions/committees) that took direct action on human rights education as part of compliance with state obligation under the ratified international human rights instruments. As the report states
In Indonesia, the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is using CEDAW in its Kurikulum Pendidikan HAM Ber perspektif Keadilan Jender (Human Rights Curriculum from a Gender Perspective). xxx xxx In Lao PDR, the National Committee for Human Rights (which is tasked with implementing the state obligations under the ICCPR and ICESCR) has requested the MOE [Ministry of Education] to develop a supplementary curriculum and teaching-learning materials on human rights and child rights.
The ratified international human rights instruments were also included in either school curriculum or teaching materials. The report states that[2]
In Cambodia, the Policy for Curriculum Development 2005・009 and the 2009 school curriculum have human rights content referring to UDHR, CRC and CEDAW. The Science and Social Studies learning areas discuss child rights (and human rights in general).
In Lao PDR, the MOE supported the “development of textbooks, implementation of a child-friendly school system, and teacher training, that focus on child rights under the CRC.” It also produced textbooks for primary and secondary levels that contain the provisions of ICESCR and ICCPR, teacher guides (Basic Knowledge of Human Rights, student textbook for Grades 4-6 and 8 for primary level, and Grades 9-11 for secondary level) that include discussion on ICESCR and ICCPR, and training manuals and children’s book focusing on child rights (Our Rights).[3]
In Indonesia, the Ministry of National Education
... has promoted the provisions of CRC in several teaching materials (Panduan Pendidikan Hak Asasi Manusia Untuk Guru SD & MI, or The Guidelines on Human Rights Education for Elementary School and Islamic Elementary School) that were developed with the support of UNESCO.
Another government office in Indonesia, the Directorate General on Human Rights of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, produced the Pengantar HAM – 1, 2, 3 (Introduction to Human Rights – 1, 2, 3) that refer to the “ICESCR, ICCPR, ICERD, CEDAW along with UDHR in discussing human rights issues (discrimination, social security, marriage, etc.).” It also produced “twelve human rights embedded religious education textbooks for pilot study of human rights education through the Islamic Education subject lessons for primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary schools and their equivalent level in the madrasahs.”[4]
Human rights education has been integrated into the Moral-Civic education subject under the Social Studies learning area of the Policy for Curriculum Development 2005–2009 and the 2009 school curriculum in Cambodia, and the Citizenship education subject in the Standard of Educational Content of Indonesia. In Thailand, human rights are considered part of the objectives of education and thus to be integrated into Social, Religious and Cultural Subject Area, and in teaching methods.[5] In Lao PDR, human rights are integrated in several subjects in primary and secondary curriculums in the General Knowledge subject (Lesson 46 for Grade 4 and Lesson 39 for Grade 5).
Human rights education in the school systems of the four countries has the support of a number of factors:
However, the four countries face challenges in ensuring the continuation of the human rights education initiatives as well as in making the current initiatives widely and effectively implemented nationwide.
There are a number of challenges to be considered in this regard. The challenges specific to the schools are the following:
There are also institutional challenges that affect:
The results of this project provide substantial bases for the governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Thailand in continuing the review of the current initiatives in order to develop a new national plan or program that can address the current limitations and challenges, and as further step in their achievements.
For further information, please contact: HURIGHTS OSAKA, PiaNPO, 3F, 2-8-24 Chikko Minato-ku, Osaka 552-0021 Japan; ph (816) 6577-35-78; fax (816) 6577-35-83; e-mail: webmail [a] hurights.or.jp; www.hurights.or.jp
1. Human Rights Education in the School Systems in Southeast Asia – Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Thailand, 2009, published by the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center in cooperation with the Office of Human Rights Studies and Social Development of the Faculty of Graduate Studies of Mahidol University.
2. Chin Yahan, “National Report on Human Rights Education in the School System of Cambodia,” in Human Rights Education in the School System in Southeast Asia, ibid.
3. Yangxia Lee and Somthavinh Nanthavong, “National Report on Human Rights Education in the School System of the Lao PDR.” in Human Rights Education in the School Systems in Southeast Asia, ibid.
4. Agung Purwadi, Philip Suprastowo, and Iskandar Agung, “National Report on Human Rights Education in the School System of Indonesia,” in Human Rights Education in the School System in Southeast Asia, ibid.
5. Suwitra Wongvaree, “Human Rights Education in the School System of Thailand,” in Human Rights Education in the School System in Southeast Asia, ibid.