Education

Which Convention Articles relate to Education Issues?

Article 28: Right to education
Article 29: Aims of education
Article 2: Non-discrimination
Article 12: Expression of Opinion
Article 13: Freedom of Expression
Article 19: Protection from Abuse and Neglect
Article 22: Refugee Children
Article 23: Children with Disabilities
Article 30: Minority and Indigenous Children

What are the Human Rights issues in Victoria relating to Education?

Access - Article 28

Education is in principle compulsory, free and universal. In practise, access to school activities is restricted for many children as a result of incurred costs (costs of books, equipment and some school activities (eg school excursions, swimming lessons) and voluntary fees.

Bullying - Article 19

Students who are the target of violence and bullying often leave school altogether, which seriously compromises their employment prospects. Research has shown that the effects of harassment at school can have serious health consequences and these young people are at greater risk of suicide than their peers. Research also indicates that violence against lesbian and gay students has consequences such as truancy and dropping out of school.

Curriculum Content - Articles 2 & 13

In an on-line survey and in one-to-one interviews, young gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have identified that school curriculum does not and needs to include and address issues relating to sexual orientation. Schools also need to adopt an anti-harassment policy and affirm diversity.

Human Rights Education

Few young people are aware of their rights or know that legislation in Victoria (EO Act 1995) and nationally (HREOC Act) prohibit discrimination on grounds of age. Many young people are not aware that mechanisms are available to protect their rights or of how to access these mechanisms.

With the introduction of the Federal government's Discovering Democracy, civics and citizenship education was made compulsory in all schools for student in years 4-10. However, submissions to Seen and Heard suggest that this information should be complemented by human rights education, especially around children's rights and responsibilities.

Physical Punishment

The Convention requires that the administration of school discipline be consistent with students' human dignity and other rights, including their rights to be heard on matters affecting them (Articles 28(2) and 12). Disciplinary measures in schools range from informal provisions such as additional homework and detention to formal sanctions such as exclusion from school and corporal punishment.

Statutory provisions in most States and Territories only apply to public schools. NSW and ACT are the only jurisdictions that regulate discipline in private/independent schools by legislation - both have a statutory ban on corporal punishment in all schools. In Victoria, legislation banning corporal punishment applies to government schools only.

Exclusion

Suspension and expulsion from school permanently or temporarily are used arbitrarily as forms of punishment without adequate safeguards for rights of the child.

Searching and Confiscation

Specific discrimination issues faced by some young people

Indigenous children: post primary school education is not always accessible or available.
Refugee/migrant: language and culturally appropriate curricula and appropriate integration education are not always available.
Disability: services for children with specific learning difficulties or disabilities are inadequate. Difficulties exist in the interface of disability services with education system. Underlying this is the ability of generic systems to cope with specific situations of differently able students.
Remote and Rural: education beyond primary school is not always accessible/available to those living in remote areas.
Sexuality: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender discrimination in the playground and curriculum.
Sex/gender: higher education opportunity disparities.
Children in care: face particular difficulties associated with frequent moves.

Tasks and strategies identified by the conference:

What can schools do?

Access to education requires the provision of:
- support to all families/individuals to access education;
- a secure school environment; and
- locally-based quality schools appropriate to the needs of the community.
There must be flexibility in the way education is provided in order to cater for diversity in the social, cultural and economic circumstances of young people, as well as factors including disability, indigenous communities, rural and remoteness, homelessness, refugee experiences and sexuality.
Every school should have a policy to combat violence and bullying which spells out:
- rights and responsibilities of teachers, parents and students;
- attitudes to race relations, disability and sexuality; and
- due processes on how to implement/enforce the policy.
Ensure that school policies reflect the Convention.
Teachers must be trained in the Convention and its implications i.e. rights of the child to express an opinion in class. Students could have a role in the teacher training process.
Rights of the child to be heard and express views should relate to all school structures. Young people should be trained and encouraged to participate in student representative and school councils.
Student representatives are often chosen by staff, or on the basis of popularity, ability to articulate or parental encouragement. The voices of socially disadvantaged children are rarely heard. There needs to be more thought put into (and consultation with young people on) how to achieve real participation by all young people in the socio/political structures of the school. This will involve more resources, both educational and social support, to ensure that all young people are literate, articulate and socially confident.
Active citizenship cannot be taught unless it is practiced. Non-democratic structures cannot teach democracy effectively. What are the implications of this for the way schools/classes are structured?

What can non-government agencies do?

School is part of our community, as such it should be treated as a community resource, reflecting the needs of the community, rather than the community adjusting to the requirements of the school. E.g. opening hours, community use of facilities and access issues.
Training/education is essential to combat bullying. Resources must be allocated for education within the classroom, at teacher training institutes and in the community on how to combat violence.
Youth workers and recreation workers should be employed by the education system to work in the playground at recess and lunch in order to provide respite to teachers by supervising play and ensuring the safety of younger children, the disabled, socially isolated and victimized.
More positive male role models are needed in primary schools.
Teachers need to be more highly valued in society for the work they do in order to achieve better outcomes for students.
Parents need to be educated on the importance of young people's rights. This may also involve examining the rights of young people in the family.
Involvement of the community in school is important to ensuring that the rights of young people are maintained, in particular young people from diverse cultures and indigenous young people. This necessitates clear policies and a commitment by the school to consultation processes.

What does Government need to do? How?

Access to Education:

Remove voluntary contributions and pay schools more money.
Return all of the Education Maintenance Allowance to parents as this allowance was designed to pay for costs involved in accessing education for the least well-off not for program levies, etc.
Reduce public transport costs for access to education and training.

Educate the decision-makers about the Convention:

Governments need to educate themselves (politicians and public servants) on the obligations involved in being a signatory of the Convention.
Governments need to fund teacher training and in-service forums to allow groups such as Amnesty to teach them about the Convention and its implications in the classroom and in schools.
It is important to hear the voices of young people not attending school. Also marginalised young people such as homeless youth.
Some schools are reluctant to talk about 'rights' for students. The Government has a role in creating an environment that welcomes the involvement of outside services into schools to speak about rights.

Curriculum:

Put the Convention and human rights education into the curriculum. This will involve an audit of the curriculum to locate a suitable place for these teachings.
An audit of school curriculum to look at the educational needs of all those who do not go through to tertiary studies, particularly disadvantaged groups. Also those groups with a high drop-out rate e.g. Kooris, children in high-rise accommodation, and homeless young people.
Schools are curriculum-based, and the curriculum is driven by requirements of tertiary sector. Where does the teaching of children's rights fit into this? What about the needs of the non-academic students to receive an education which will equip them to exercise their rights in employment, as consumers, in families and society, as participants in the democratic process?

Resources:

Put more resources into the classroom to give teachers more support in assisting disadvantaged young people.
Schools, in co-operation with local communities, need greater access to support services to assist young people. These include remedial and teachers of English as a second lanaguage, disability support workers, and a range of counselling options for dealing with family violence and breakdown, substance abuse and mental health issues. This requires a greater commitment of resources across the board, but particularly in rural and remote communities where the youth suicide rate is high.
Resources must be more equitably distributed. A competitive environment works against ensuring human rights for all. The government must work towards reducing the current glaring inequities between private and public education, rich and poor suburbs, cities and rural regions.