The Importance Of Human Rights In Public Schools

Human rights in public schools continue to be a debacle in South African communities. The practice of human rights in public schools is only in paper but not in deed. This is not only evident in our daily experiences but tabloids have also reported a number of incidents in which human rights were not being respected, e.g. “The South African Human Rights Commission will investigate sanitation in schools across Limpopo after a grade R pupil fell into a pit toilet and died.” (Mail & Guardian, 2014), “The alleged suspension of a Western Cape pupil for wearing Rastafarian dreadlocks is the latest in a string of incidents in which pupils' rights have been infringed by individual school policies or by school principals acting on their own accord.” (Mail & Guardian, 2013). Before we continue let us first understand what human rights are, according to (American heritage dictionary of the English Language, 2011) human rights are defined as “The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are considered to be entitled, often held to include the rights to life, liberty, equality, and a fair trial, freedom from slavery and torture, and freedom of thought and expression.” One other aspect that must be emphasised is that, rights come with

One has to see and value himself as a human being to behave like one, before he or she can see other people as human beings. Respect of human rights must be taught at school, it is one of the core values that must me instilled in a child, that a child must grow up with. “Through human rights education you can empower yourself and others to develop the skills and attitudes that promote equality, dignity and respect in your community, society and worldwide.” (Amnesty international,