NHRC validates draft report on Inclusion of Rights Education in Basic & Secondary School Curricula

The convergence was held at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) Conference Hall in Kanifing.

As part of the Commission’s mandate to promote and protect human rights, especially through human rights education and the nurturing of a culture of respect for human rights in The Gambia, the workshop, aimed at identifying entry points for the integration of human rights education into the Basic and Secondary School Education levels to nurture human rights values in children and young students.

Giving his opening remarks, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Louis Moses Mendy said: “We are delighted to be associated with this function for many reasons. In the recent past as a sector, we have gone into some curriculum review and the aim is to ensure that the curriculum is expanded and to incorporate some very essential missing disciplines or areas of concern for the sector, and based on that, it is timely that the NHRC thought it wise to incorporate the issue and element of human rights into the national curriculum.

He deliberated that human rights value is something important that should be inculcated in the society, pointing out that one of the most crucial entry points is the curriculum level due to the wide coverage it has in terms of the population. “If these things are incorporated into the curriculum and are taken into the schools, you are talking about 800, 000 student population from ECD to grade 12.”

British High Commissioner highlighted that human rights education is an important component of human rights. “Teaching children about human rights has already been demonstrated to be a powerful tool in giving them a sense of dignity, respect and empowerment.”

Dr. Gassama and Isatou Njai Cham, NHRC executive secretary and NHRC director of Communications and Media respectively, emphasised on the importance of the event and thanked their partners for the support and collaboration.