UNICEF and Children's Rights

Health and Education

KIDPROJ UNICEF06 ---------------- From W.J.Parks@durham.ac.uk Mon Dec 20 03:17:59 1993 ====================================================================== WEEK 6: 'HEALTH AND EDUCATION' Aim: to discuss the problems and benefits of health care and education in the local area and to compare it to other countries. 'The right of children to attain the highest level of health and to have access to health and medical services, with special emphasis on primary and preventative health care and the reduction of infant mortality. The State's obligation to work towards the abolition of harmful traditional practices.' (Article 24 Child Rights Convention). 'It is the child's right to education and the State's duty to ensure that primary education at least is made free and compulsory as soon as possible. Administration of school discipline to reflect the child's human dignity.' (Article 28 Child Rights Convention). In the last lesson we talked about 'Street Kids': the problems and dangers these children face in their daily lives, the causes of their lifestyle, and some of the rights that these children are denied. Two of these rights are the right to education and the right to health care, and these we will discuss in this lesson as they refer to you and to children such as the Street Children of London or Rio de Janeiro. - - - - - - - - (1) HEALTH CARE. Who looks after you when you are ill? How can we keep healthy so we shouldn't need to go to the doctor very often? Ask your parents to help you find out about your own medical history. Design and fill in a health chart showing your childhood illness, injuries and treatments (what illnesses/injuries; when you had them; what was done about them). Why not write about your memories of some of these illnesses? How did you feel when you were ill? Were you scared? How did you feel when you got better? Preventing ill health can involve trying to change people's social and economic circumstances. These are often the underlying causes of drinking contaminated water or having an inadequate intake of proteins. Why do you think many infants and mothers die during childbirth? How would you improve this situation? What would be needed? What is immunisation? Why do you think some children do not get vaccinated? Why should all children receive vaccinations? How would you ensure all children were vaccinated? Every year millions of children under five die of dehydration caused by severe diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is largely caused by drinking dirty water or eating food which has been contaminated by flies or touched by someone with unclean hands. Why do you think some children continue to suffer from diarrhoea? Do you know the cheapest cure for diarrhoea? Nowhere is preventative health care more needed than in the so-called 'Third World' where doctors can be few and far between, and any kind of medical attention and drugs are also in short supply. The task for government Ministries of Health and for international voluntary agencies is to increase preventative services like immunisation while at the same time involving people as far as possible in their own health care. The fact that many of the treatments and preventative medicine you received when you were younger is not available to many children and their mothers in some countries shows you the scale of work undertaken by Save the Children Fund, UNICEF and their partners. - - - - - - - - (2) YOUR MUM (see also section 6 below). Think of all the reasons why it is important for a woman who is expecting a baby to go to a clinic. Ask your Mum about her experiences when she was pregnant with YOU! e.g. Did she go to a maternal clinic? If so, why did she decide to go? If not, where did she go for check-ups? Did she decide to eat differently when she was expecting you? In what ways did she do things differently? What were her fears and her hopes before and after she gave birth to you? - - - - - - - - (3) WHAT IS HEALTH? Define the word 'health'. What is health? What is a 'healthy diet'? What is 'healthy living'? Is your neighbourhood a healthy place to live? Is the world a healthy place to live? If so, what makes it healthy? If not, why isn't the world healthy? What would you do to improve your health and the world's health? In 1978, the World Health Organization and UNICEF set the target of 'Health for All by the Year 2000 A.D.' We have seen in previous lessons the enormous challenge such a target will set due to many problems such as 'lack of clean water' in many communities, 'lack of food', 'lack of health services', and 'child neglect, abuse and exploitation'. Is 'Health for All People on Earth by the year 2000' possible? If not, why do you think the target cannot be reached? If you think it can be reached, how would you go about solving some of the problems mentioned above such as lack of water, food, and health care? - - - - - - - - (4) THE 'IMPORTANCE' OF EDUCATION. >From the view point of the individual, education is the process of bringing out or developing an individual's natural abilities and interests. Surely it is the basic right of every human being? Primary education has been available and free in the UK since the Education Act of 1876 which made it compulsory for all children to attend school until they were 12 years old. Today the law in the UK requires that all children between ages 5 and 16 shall have full time education. 14% of public expenditure in the UK is spent on education each year, but before 1833 the state spent nothing, leaving it to individuals and to private charity. Today compulsory education is an essential social service. Unhappily this is not the case in much of the so-called 'Third World' where economic restrictions frequently inhibit countrywide provision of buildings, teachers and equipment. How important is the right to free and compulsory primary education for every child? Imagine you spent a day in town. List all the ways in which skills such as reading and simple arithematic are so important in everyday life e.g. how would you buy things and know you had enough money? How would you get around town? Write down the activities you do during a typical day at school. Now write down the activities you do during a typical day out of school. If you didn't ever come to school at all, how different would your life be? What would you do all day? Who would you be with? How would you meet new people? Here is a story about Manuel and his Mum who both live in Nicaragua: Manuel wouldn't miss school for anything - even though he spends four hours a day travelling! Manuel leaves his house at 5.am. every morning to catch the first of two buses which will take him within walking distance of his school. He arrives home again at 5p.m. "When I get home," Manuel says, "I help my mother, eat some dinner - and go straight to bed." There is no time for him to chat or play with friends. Manuel's mother, Elsa, is also studying, trying to make up for lost time. She grew up when the Somoza dictatorship, which lasted 45 years, allowed the majority of the population to remain illiterate. As soon as the Sandinista government gained power in 1979 it started a second revolution - a massive education programme. This had the slogan: 'Alfebetizacion es liberacion' - 'Literacy is liberation'. Over the next five years they built 4,000 classrooms and 96,000 volunteers travelled the country teaching people of all ages to read. In just six months in 1980 the illiteracy rate shrank from 50% to 12%. The years of war against the Contras diverted money away from education. Now that peace has been regained the drive for universal literacy and education is again a priority for the government. Would you make as much effort to get to school as Manuel does? Why is important that Manuel's mother and other mothers and girls receive an education? The right to go to school means the right to have a future place in society. Throughout the world in 1985 there were seven girls for every eight boys in primary school; around five girls for every six boys in secondary school; and about four women for every five men in college or university. Why is there a difference? Is this difference between men and women acceptable to you? What would you do to change this difference? What does the fact that war stopped the educational program in Nicaragua tell you about the economics of education? Is it more or less important than sustaining an army? What do *you* think - should education come before maintaining an army? - - - - - - - - (5) THE 'CONTENT' OF EDUCATION. Can you remember your first day at school? Describe your memories. Ask your friends, parents and grandparents about their first memories of school. The content and nature of education must guarantee not only the all-round development of each child but also enhance each child's natural talents. Many countries emphasise the links between life, learning, and work, as in the temple schools in Buddhist countries and the Koranic schools of the Muslim world. In traditional societies education is not based on 'schooling' - children learn everything necessary for everyday life by taking part in it. What is 'education' (give your definition)? What do you think you should learn at school? What part should school play in preparing you for life as an adult? "Administration of school discipline to reflect the child's human dignity" (From Article 28). How would you define 'child's human dignity' in the above quote. Check your own school's policy on discipline - refer to old published books if your school is very old. Corporal punishment has been banned in most European schools, but it is still practised in the USA and some other countries. Is corporal punishment needed? Should corporal punishment be banned? If you were in charge of your own school, what rules would you make and what would you do if people broke those rules. Make up a list of your own school rules (about 6 rules) and decide what you would do to punish anyone who breaks these rules e.g. Name of School............ Rules Punishment for breaking rules 1............................... ............................. 2............................... ............................. etc. - - - - - - - - (6) COMMUNITY PROJECT. For 'Health'. Identify local facilities provided for pregnant women, infants and growing children. Are they adequate? Discuss amongst yourselves and perhaps ask some of the staff and patients who attend these facilities how you and they would improve the cleanliness, appearance and safety of local *areas* (parks, playgrounds, riverbanks, streets) in which young children are growing up. Perhaps target your local neighbourhood; part of the school and local shopping areas/precincts. Ask yourselves and other people: what are the 'good and bad' features of the local area? What is and is not 'acceptable' in the environment? When looking around the local area look for things which are unsanitary, dangerous to young children, the disabled, and old people; and points that are inconvenient for mothers, the disabled and the elderly. After your 'field research' decide: what needs to be done? Who would be the best people to do it (yourselves, the local community, the town council)? How could you activate these groups? Why not write about your 'research' and efforts in a local newspaper? For Education. Ask yourself and your friends what you think you should learn at school? What changes would you make to the *way* you are being taught and *what* you are being taught? 'Many schools have a school council to which pupils elect their own representatives, who then carry the pupils' requests and statements to the council for consideration. After discussion by the council some requests may then be put to members of staff or the headteacher. In many schools this apparently democratic process actually fails to really respond to the pupils' strongest desires, but rejects them time and time again.' (Heather Jarvis, UNICEF Education Officer 1993). Does your school have a school council? If so, does the council have pupil representatives? Are your views being heard or considered? Article 12 of the UN Convention states: 'States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the view of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.' Article 13 states: 'The child shall have the right to freedom of expression, this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.' Are these rights being met at your school? Perhaps carry out a survey e.g. Is using Information Technology such as 'email' and 'IRC' on the KIDLINK network a good way or a bad way of learning? Could such technology be used for more teaching? Have you learnt about 'Child Rights' from being involved in this UNICEF project on KIDLINK? What else do you think should/could be taught or discussed using the KIDLINK network?