Rishabh Marya, 16, wants to have a better understanding of human rights issues in India and abroad. He wants to know what happened in Lalgarh in West Bengal and what the US should have done in Guantanamo Bay.

“We have a right to know the whole truth — even the Maoist and the militants’ points of view,” the Class X student of Delhi Public School, RK Puram, said.

All his questions will be answered next year as the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) launches Human Rights Education as a separate subject at the 10+2 level from 2010-11 academic session. A draft syllabus has already been devised and Class XI students will be able to opt for Human Rights as an elective, officials said.

“We have been thinking of introducing Human Rights as a separate course for two years now,” CBSE chairperson Vineet Joshi told Newsline.

While NCERT has incorporated elements of Human Rights Education in Social Science textbooks, it will be offered for the first time as a separate subject. According to CBSE officials, it will be introduced throughout the country in all schools affiliated to the Board.

“Human rights is an important issue in our country and it will be useful for children to understand its various aspects,” Joshi said.

Human rights panel on board
Significantly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is backing CBSE in putting the idea into practice and has been preparing various modules for secondary and senior secondary-level teachers to create awareness.

NHRC had also conducted a national conference on Human Rights Education at school-level on April 1 this year. The talks included heads of all state human rights commissions and officials from all state Boards.

... contd.