Teachers in Mauritius trained to educate students on human rights

"Human rights education will make children in Mauritius become responsible citizens, global citizens and consolidate our identity as a rainbow nation,” says Mrs Doris NG Foong Kwong from the Mahatma Ghandi Institute in Mauritius.

Mrs Foong Kwong is one of sixty teachers from the Indian Ocean nation who have been learning about a new human rights education curriculum for schoolchildren aged 11 to 13. The curriculum, which was developed with support from the Commonwealth, is set to be rolled out nationwide in 2016.

This week’s training programme was hosted by the Ministry of Education in Bagatelle, near the capital Port Louis between 18 and 22 January. The aim is to equip teachers with the knowledge and confidence required to educate their pupils not only about landmark declarations such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but also practical issues, such as how to recognise and apply human rights to everyday life - in the classroom, at home and in their communities.

“Human rights education has now been accepted as extremely important in developing in our youngsters the right behaviours, the right attitude and respect for the dignity of others,” comments the Minister of Education, Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun.

“These human rights values we have to adopt, and this is especially true in places like Mauritius where you have a multi-ethnic and multi-racial society. You have to teach the young people how to develop an understanding for diversity, to develop a respect and tolerance for others, with an aim of living in a peaceful environment.”

Over the two-day training, the teachers got to grips with a teacher toolkit developed by experts from the Commonwealth Secretariat. The toolkit takes educators through general human rights concepts, the goals and aims of the new curriculum, as well as practical classroom activities and role play scenarios for students. The teachers will pilot the toolkit in participating secondary schools over the next few weeks.

The training enabled us to teach in a completely new action-based way,” says Ms Mary Joyce Mirna from Jugdambi State Secondary School in the rural district of Goodlands. “This participatory, action-oriented methodology allows for everyone to express their views and makes human rights concepts accessible and easy to understand”.

One of the trainers who has been supporting the workshop in Mauritius, Ms Diana Copper, Human Rights Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, says the Government should be commended for taking the lead in integrating human rights into the education curriculum. “We have high hopes that this programme will become a global model of best practice and we stand ready to support any country that wishes to follow the example Mauritius has set.”

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The Commonwealth Secretariat has been providing technical assistance to the Government of Mauritius through each stage of developing the new curriculum. This initiative forms part of the Government’s response to the Universal Periodic Review - a process established under the United Nations Human Rights Council for each member state of the UN to indicate what they have done to improve the human rights situation in their country – which recommended Mauritius strengthen human rights education in the school system.

“This is the Commonwealth Secretariat fulfilling its strategic mandate to support member countries in complying with their international human rights obligations in a sustainable and impactful way,” says Copper.