A Report of the National Advisory Committee Meeting

of the

Institute of Human Rights Education

The first meeting of the National Advisory Committee meeting of the Institute of Human Rights Education took place at the Conference Hall, Council for Social Development, New Delhi on 15^th October 2008 from 10.00 am till 1.30 pm. The following eminent persons / renowned educationists / bureaucrats / activists / others had accepted to be the members of the National Advisory Committee: Mr. Justice Shivaraj V. Patil, Former Supreme Court Judge and Former Acting Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission of India (Bangalore).

1. Prof. Krishnakumar, Director, National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi.
2. Prof. V.N. Rajasekaran Pillai, Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
3. Prof. K. N. Panikkar, Vice-Chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council, Trivandrum.
4. Prof. Asghar Ali Engineer, Chairman, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.
5. Prof. Muchkund Dubey, President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi.
6. Dr. Babu Mathew, Country Director, Action Aid India, New Delhi
7. Mr. K.R. Venugopal IAS, Former Personal Secretary to the Prime Minister and Former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission (Hyderabad).
8. Mr. P.S. Krishnan IAS, Former Secretary to Government of India and Honorary Advisor to Union Minister for Human Resource Development, New Delhi.
9. Prof. D.P. Pattanaik, Renowned Linguist and Former Founder Director, Central Institute of Indian Languages (Bhubaneswar).
10. Mr. Justice A.D. Sadashiva, Former Judge, Karnataka High Court (Bangalore).

Dr. Shantha Sinha, Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Delhi.

1. Fr. Raymond Ambroise, Director, National Education Group, Hyderabad.
2.  Prof. Vijayakumar, Professor of Law, National Law School of India University, Bangalore.
3. Prof. Vina Mazumdar, National Research Professor of Social Sciences (GOI), Centre for Women's Development Studies, New Delhi.
4. Ms. Mina Swaminathan, Advisor (Education, Communication & Gender), M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai.
5. Rev. Sr. Cyril, Loretto Day School, Sealdah, Kolkata.
6. Dr. Andal Damodharan, General Secretary, ICCW, Chennai
7. Prof. Haragopal, Professor in Central University, Hyderabad
8. Prof. U.R. Anandhamurthy, Distinguished Writer, Bangalore.
9. Mr. Samphe Lhalungpa, Chief of Education, UNICEF, New Delhi
10. Mr. Justice Suresh, Former Judge, Bombay High Court, Mumbai.

The following members participated in its first meeting at Delhi:

1. Mr. Justice Shivaraj V. Patil
2. Mr. Justice A.D. Sadashiva
3. Prof. Krishnakumar
4. Prof. K. N. Panikkar
5. Prof. Muchkund Dubey
6. Mr. K.R. Venugopal IAS
7. Mr. P.S. Krishnan IAS
8. Prof. D.P. Pattanaik
9. Fr. Raymond Ambroise
10. Prof. Vijayakumar
11. Prof. Vina Mazumdar

The other members could not participate in the meeting due to prior engagements or other reasons. In addition, Chairperson of IHRE, Dr. V. Vasanthi Devi, Mr. Henri Tiphagne (Executive Director of People’s Watch), Dr. I. Devasahayam (Director of IHRE), Dr. Annadurai (Associate Director, IHRE), various state partners Ms. Nupur (Centre for Social Justice, Gujarat), Dr. Shaibal Gupta (Asian Development Research Institute, Bihar), Mr. Ashok Mathews Philip (SICHREM, Kerala & Karnataka), Prof. K.K. Roy (Govt Law College, Tripura) and Fr. Thomas Pallithanam (PARA, Andhra Pradesh) took part in the meeting. Prof. Xavier Arockiasamy (Executive Trustee) and Dr. Safra Begum (Chairperson), both members of the Board of People’s Watch namely, Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns also were present as special guests. Ms. Veena Shankar (Director, Finance & Administration) was also present on the occasion.

Dr. V. Vasanthi Devi, Chairperson of the Institute of Human Rights Education warmly welcomed the National Advisory Committee members to its first meeting and thanked them for agreeing to be members of the committee. She requested them to guide and advise the Institute and to be constantly in touch with developments in the Institute. Following the words of welcome, each of the NAC members introduced themselves at length across the table. Then, the members of the staff and partners introduced themselves. Followed by this, Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of People’s Watch presented a detailed overview of the Human Rights Education Program including its origin in Tamil Nadu, expansions within the state and the inaugural of the National Program for HRE in various states and the milestones it has crossed over the years. At the end of his presentation, he also set the following agenda for further discussion and for suggestions from the members:

• Mainstreaming of HRE at the state & national level
• State funding of the HRE program at state and national level
• Funding of Indian Foundations for the HRE program

Dr. Vasanthi Devi then shared some of the challenges that the Institute had been facing. One of them is that HRE has a very low priority in the curricular agenda of schools that is often set by corporate capital and its needs. It impacts on our program in many ways. First, schools are in a hurry to tackle the burden of the curriculum and coach their students in core subjects that will help them excel in a ruthless competition. How do we tackle this mindset? Another problem we face because of such low priority is the total reluctance of governments to share any part of expenses for HRE. The entire cost of the program including training, modules and so on are borne by our organization, which places a serious limitation on further expansion to other states and schools. A civil society organization can invest only so much in educating and sensitizing of children. State governments sometimes feel the content of HRE we offer is radical and subversive and on such occasions, we chose to shelve the program in the state rather than compromise on our core content and its philosophy.

After these remarks from the chair, the floor was opened for members’ responses and suggestions. The main suggestions that emerged were:

As far as the first agenda of mainstreaming HRE is concerned, all the members were strongly in favour of it. Most of them felt that Human Rights Education should be integrated in regular school curriculum as a long term solution. Many of them felt that HRE can be integrated within languages/History/Social Sciences/Maths. Existing stories, poems, texts/portions from religious mythologies that are relevant can be included in the curriculum. Lessons on Indian Constitution, presently part of the curriculum, may provide space for inclusion of human rights components. It was also suggested that re-orientation of teachers to child-centred and appropriate pedagogy and suitable teaching materials are needed. To revisit existing curricular content from a human rights perspective is an interesting and urgently required pedagogical experience. 

At the same time, HRE should continue as a separate subject as it is being done now. It should have a pervasive presence and should be taught as a value. It was also felt that HRE should not be given in a philosophic mode but on more practical mode.  The members gave a number of suggestions on state funding and other foundations supporting this initiative. They promised to accompany the IHRE team in its endeavour to take human rights education to all schools in India.