Schools in Qatar teach human rights

Dubai, Oct 8 (UNI) An increasing number of schools in Qatar are teaching Human Rights as the Arab League experts are studying ways to introduce the subject in Arab school curriculums, an activist said here.

Mr Mohammad Fuad, a legal expert at the National Human Rights Committee said many public and private schools have introduced courses on Human Rights as a result of an awareness campaign launched by the committee in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Educational (SEC) and the Ministry of Education.

Since its establishment in 2003, the Committee has held yearly programmes to provide teachers with a knowledge on Human Rights.

"Every year we prepare the teachers so that they can deliver Human Rights classes to the students. The courses are updated every year in cooperation with international bodies. We aim to instil a correct perception of the Human Rights in young generation,'' Mr Faud added.

Mr Fuad said the Gulf countries, like UAE, have become more sensitive to the Human Rights issues and have started teaching the subject in local schools.

Besides, the educational and legal experts at the Arab League have set up a panel to study the introduction of Human Rights as a subject in the school curricula, a local Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat here reported.

The representatives of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Tunisia, have been appointed as the members of the panel, tasked with formulating a common framework for the Arab countries to implement the proposal.

Mr Hamda Al Sulaiti, Assistant Director of the Evaluation Institute at the Supreme Education Council (SEC), who attended an Arab League meeting last week, was quoted as saying the project aims to spread Human Rights values among the younger generation in the Arab world.

Quoting Mr Hamda, Al Sharq also said Qatar is planning to introduce Human Rights as a compulsory subject in all independent schools.

The Gulf country is also a member of the United Nations' Human Rights Council and is also to soon host the United Nations' Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South West Asia and the Arab region.

UNI