Teaching for human rights in Cambodia
Case Study
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| Teacher's Notes | Student Activities |
| Introduction |
What would your life be like if you could not drink clean water, eat enough food, receive an education or train for a job? What if you could not practice a religion (or choose not to practice a religion), say what you think, ask for privacy or be treated fairly by others? If you could not do these and many other things, you would be living without your human rights.
All people are entitled to human rights in their daily lives. Because human rights are an inextricable part of many Australians' lives, we often take them for granted. We rarely think about the people and processes that have enabled most of us to experience our rights, and we rarely think about others in our country or in other countries who do not experience them. But human rights do not belong to a particular country or group of people - they are for everyone, everywhere, always.
| A human rights project in Cambodia |
In Cambodia, war and conflict, especially in the latter half of the twentieth century, made violence, lawlessness and fear a reality for many people. A group of Cambodians however, have devised a project that seeks to encourage the teaching of human rights to act against this. This project is reaching large numbers of people - beginning with the teachers and children in Cambodia's schools.
A human rights project called 'The Human Rights Teaching Methodology (HRTM)', aims to make the teaching of human rights a permanent part of Cambodia's education system. This involves training teachers how to teach human rights, democracy (government by the people) and non-violence in the classroom. It also encourages teachers to include human rights principles in all aspects of their teaching, mainly in writing and social studies, but also in relationships with students, and in students' relationships with others. Ultimately it is hoped that respect for human rights to extend to families and the wider community.
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| A Cambodian teacher learning about ways of teaching human rights in the classroom. |
| How does the project work? |
With the support of Cambodia's Ministry of Education and funding from Australia's overseas aid program, senior trainers from the Cambodian Institute of Human Rights (CIHR) train other teachers over a five to six day course. Courses are held in all regions of Cambodia, and usually begin with a ceremony involving provincial governors, officials or Buddhist monks. The ceremony motivates trainees, secures official support and other funding, and sends positive messages to the community.
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| A cartoon from the project showing trainers travelling across Cambodia to discuss human rights with teachers. |
Trainees attend lectures or discuss student-centred learning and human rights principles, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In groups, they read classroom resources and share ideas for assisting students to learn about and experience human rights. In particular, the course encourages teachers to encourage the active participation of girls who may otherwise be overlooked in the classroom.
Also, as responsibilities accompany rights, trainees are taught to help students understand their responsibilities to other people and the environment.
Finally, selected trainees conduct model classes with local school students whilst other trainees observe and evaluate. The school students also share what they have learned.
At the end of the course, trainees are presented with small gifts at a special ceremony and receive visits from the CIHR or Ministry personnel to evaluate and support their work in schools.
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| Chilren learn how they can help bring about human rights for everyone. |
CIHR has managed the project since 1995 and has also trained teachers in non-government Buddhist schools. In fact, the Buddhist belief of change beginning with the self, and the doctrines of tolerance, non-violence and compassion, have been major elements of the project. Between 1995 and 1998, 22,775 primary and secondary teachers, or 29% of all Cambodian teachers, completed the course. On average, each teacher specifically taught the unit to between 40 and 70 students, and influenced countless others and their communities about respect for human rights. Remarkably, these wide-reaching benefits have been achieved at a training cost of less than $40 per teacher.
| What else has CIHR done? |
CIHR has also been involved in other human rights projects. It has been responsible for a weekly one-hour television show, a one-hour radio show and regular human rights quiz shows. It has helped in the training of government officials and officers of non-government organisations in Phom Penh, and has provided voter education. It worked closely with the Women's Media Centre before the 1998 election to help Cambodian women, who are less likely to have received an education than men, to understand rights, democracy and voting. It has provided voting-related materials to libraries and government offices, has a library open to the public and has translated, published and distributed books, magazines, comics and other materials on human rights, good governance and non-violence. It has also campaigned against global use of land mines. Land mines have caused extensive suffering in Cambodia.
CIHR has stated publicly that 'children at the grass roots levels of society must learn [two things]: what it means to respect the rights of others, and the behaviour they have the right to expect from those in authority … [T]oday's children are the adults of tomorrow'. With its exemplary program reaching students, families and communities each day, the HRTM Project is a major step towards Cambodia's rehabilitation and achievement of human rights for its people.
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