Survey of Human Rights Academy of Public Defender relating to Human Rights Education and Educational Environment in General Education Space
On June 25, 2018, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria presented a survey of the Human Rights Academy of the Public Defender - “Human Rights Education and Educational Environment in the General Education Space".
The survey, funded by the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), reviews challenges and problems in the field of human rights education – curricula, regulatory framework for general education, school climate and practices of management/administration.
The Human Rights Academy of the Public Defender conducted a quantitative and qualitative survey in 64l public and private schools throughout Georgia in order to implement educational activities in the sphere of human rights and freedoms and support human rights education at the level of general education. Interviews were conducted with three target groups: 7-12th graders, teachers of the subjects, the curriculum of which include human rights aspects, and representatives of school administration (a total of 1480 interviews).
At the opening of the event, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria spoke about the necessity for improving human rights education at the general education level, as well as the educational environment, noting that in spite of the steps taken for strengthening civic education in the last few years, human rights have a modest share in the curricula and are mainly reflected in the subjects of social studies.
"The low level of awareness of human rights in the field of human rights is largely based on two important factors; 1- less focus on human rights issues in teacher’s educational programs in higher education institutions; 2- less opportunities for professional development in this direction at the later stage.
Little time is devoted to human rights education in general education institutions and the in-depth interviews clearly showed that the knowledge of students in this area is superficial. I believe that human rights-based school climate, where, along with knowledge, it is becoming important to allow students to develop and apply practical skills for protecting their and other’s rights, is important for ensuring that main aspects of human rights are learnt at the school level and are applied in practice”, Nino Lomjaria said.
The event was attended by representatives of the Government of Georgia, international and donor organizations, NGOs and independent experts working in the field of human rights education.
The Public Defender expressed full readiness for cooperating with all institutions, state agencies and NGOs involved in the field of education in order the complex problems of education of young people to be solved through joint efforts.
The survey results and the recommendations developed for the agencies responsible for civic education were discussed and a desire for future cooperation was expressed at the end of the meeting.
