Students’ Awareness of Human Rights Education at Higher Secondary School level

Abstract

Human rights education is an integral part of the right to education. The concept of human rights is about knowledge of rights and freedom with respect for the right of all. Education is also a right of every single individual and it is a necessary tool to empower, and develop skills and attitudes, to promote equality, dignity, and respect for all. Human rights education provides a fair understanding of the structure of injustice on the basis of cultural, economical, and social discrimination at various levels of caste, gender, etc. Possibly the knowledge of own rights enhances the sense of self and respect for all. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the levels of awareness of these rights amongst students of higher secondary school levels. The study followed the descriptive survey design method and stratified random sampling techniques were adopted to select the sample. A self-developed awareness scale and focus group discussion were used to collect data. The data were analyzed by using simple percentile and content analysis. The findings of the study indicated that many of the students are aware of fundamental human rights while limited awareness about the right to education as a human right and its provisions. The study recommended that programs should be organized to create awareness of human rights education and the role of various organizations in the protection of the right of a human. Because human rights education could create opportunities to raise critical questions on the violation of rights related to a child, education, injustice, etc.