Tripura first state to introduce human rights course in schools

AGARTALA: Tripura government has introduced human rights as one of the subjects in school curricula, the first time in the country a state has introduced this as subject in school education. The subject will be incorporated as a part of social education subjects for students between Class VI to Class VIII as part of nationwide campaign for making people aware of the important part of constitutional and legal rights that they entitled to. Titled 'human rights in social and political life', the subject will be taught in the schools from the current academic year in three phases. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has published the textbook for the course. Krishna Keshav Roy, president of the Tripura unit of Institute of Human Rights Education (IHRE), said they were trying to get the subject included in curricula up to college level. "We are also working on the appropriate syllabus on human rights beyond Class VIII," he said, adding that Tripura is the first state in the country to introduce this important subject in the school education. "Since 2006 we have been distributing a book - 'Human Rights Education' - in about 50 schools. The book will supplement the school text," Roy said Roy said that chief minister Manik Sarkar has assured the subject would be included in higher classes. "He also suggested that we should meet the Tripura Central University so that they can also introduce the human rights as subject or as a part of the Political Science paper," he added. I Devasahayam, IHRE's national president who was present in the media interaction, was all praise for the Tripura government saying that the state has set an example for the rest of the country. "We have been trying to make human rights a part of the academic curricula, but Tripura is the first to take concrete action on this issue," he said.