HREA has just concluded its collaboration with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in preparing two teacher manuals for introducing the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights to students. “The aim of the resource is to help familiarise young people with the values, principles and concepts associated with the proposed Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland,” according to Edel Teague, Education Director of the Commission. “The collaboration with HREA allowed the Bill of Rights School Project to devise very accessible manuals for pupils and students. We look forward with great excitement to seeing the manuals used in many schools in Northern Ireland.”
In addition to introducing the proposed Bill of Rights and international and regional human rights instruments, the manuals take up many of the issues of high importance to Northern Ireland. Interactive lessons using local and international examples allow pupils and their teachers to explore the topics of children’s rights, social and economic rights, group identity and the two main communities, equality and non-discrimination, and ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland.
“We want to convey the significance of the new Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, both by illustrating its conformity to international human rights standards, and by its potential impact at a local level on the issues that concern the population,” explained Ellie Keen, Senior Programme Associate at HREA. The manuals will be printed during the summer of 2004 and eventually posted in electronic format on the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s website.