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Children in a classroom in China.
Photo: Unicef China/Guo Xiaoping

15 industrialised nations ‘lack access to child rights education’

GENEVA, May 1, 2015

Education curricula in 15 industrialised countries have failed to meet children’s entitlements to learn about their rights, according to a new Unicef report.

The report, ‘Teaching and learning about child rights: A study of implementation in 26 countries,’ also found that none of the countries studied ensured that all teachers are trained in child rights and are familiar with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.



Gérard Bocquenet, Unicef director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, said: “This report is a wakeup call for countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to take the necessary measures to ensure systematic implementation of a child’s right to learn about her or his rights.”


Commissioned by Unicef and undertaken by the Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s University Belfast, analysed the situation and identified challenges around child rights education in 26 industrialised countries and territories, including to what extent child rights are embedded in formal education settings and teacher training.



The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which applies in all of the 26 countries and territories, requires a formal commitment to make its principles and provisions widely known to adults and children alike.

The 15 countries where children lack systematic access to child rights education in curricula are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain and United States. 



As many as 25 years after the adoption of the convention – the most widely ratified UN Convention – much work remains to be done to ensure that child rights are widely known and implemented in schools, including in industrialised countries, said the report.

It highlighted that a fundamental step towards exercising rights is knowing and understanding those rights. Implementing systematic child rights education in schools is therefore essential to realise the Convention on the Rights of the Child.



Seven countries - Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy and US - include some child rights education in school curricula but fail to do so nationwide, said the report.


Only three out of the 26 countries explicitly and consistently monitor child rights education, and event when children learn about rights they may not learn about the Convention on the Rights of the Child or about key aspects of what it means to have rights, it said.



Despite these findings, the research highlighted many examples of how Unicef National Committees and civil society partners are addressing all aspects of child rights education at different levels in all the countries analysed.

It is being done through policy, curriculum reform, and teacher training, as well as by embedding child rights into monitoring and inspection frameworks and by transforming the whole school environment to become rights-respecting.



Marta Arias, Unicef advocacy and policy specialist, said: “A key challenge is to ensure that these examples of good practice are aligned and fully integrated throughout education systems.

“The report will guide countries in this task and help them to identify the best way forward within to their national context.”



With this study, Unicef has encouraged all countries to take concrete actions to comply with Article 42 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and repeated recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child to each country. - TradeArabia News Service




Tags: education | Rights | Child | countries |

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