Looking back… and looking forward

Looking back and looking forward Rasmusson, Bodil; Andersson, Lena; Wångdahl Flinck, Agneta; Leo, Ulf; Wickenberg, Per Published in: Realising Child Rights in Education 2016 Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Rasmusson, B., Andersson, L., Wångdahl Flinck, A., Leo, U., & Wickenberg, P. (2016). Looking back and looking forward. In B. Rasmusson, L. Andersson, A. W. Flinck, U. Leo, & P. Wickenberg (Eds.), Realising Child Rights in Education: Experience and Reflections from the International Training Programme on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management (1 ed., Vol. 1, pp. 217-225). Lund: Lund University. 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Apr. 2020 Realising Child Rights in Education Experiences and Reflections from the International Training Programme on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management BODIL RASMUSSON, LENA ANDERSSON, AGNETA W FLINCK, ULF LEO AND PER WICKENBERG (EDS.) | LUND UNIVERSITY Realising Child Rights in Education Experiences and Reflections from the International Training Programme on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management Bodil Rasmusson, Lena Andersson, Agneta W Flinck, Ulf Leo and Per Wickenberg (eds.) ISBN: 978-91-982261-6-4 Lund University Commissioned Education Postal Address: Box 117, 22100 Lund, Sweden, Phone: +46+46-2220707 Printed by Media-Tryck, Lund University, Sweden 2016 Contents Preface 5 1. Background 7 2. Framework and Content of the ITP programme 15 3. Country Reports 27 Cambodia China Colombia Egypt Ethiopia India Indonesia Malawi Mozambique Namibia South Africa Sri Lanka Tanzania Uganda Viet Nam Zambia 29 39 47 57 65 75 83 99 109 117 129 139 149 157 167 175 4. Mentors’ reflections 187 5. Looking back and looking forward 217 3 Epilogue 225 Appendix 227 Preface This book contains experiences and reflections based on the global Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme and in particular the Impact and Dissemination Seminar held in February 2016 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with 170 participants from batches 15-21. Lund University has offered the programme since 2003, and it is an Advanced International Training Programme funded by Sida (The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). First we would like to thank all the participants (change agents) who have taken part in the training programme. We are very much impressed by the strong commitment, the hard work and the results that have been achieved. The participants give and gain in our global community and share experiences to enforce children’s rights in education. We would like to express our gratitude to our former mentor colleague Bereket Yebio at Malmö University who retired after batch 11. We would also like to acknowledge the considerable help and support this programme has received from Annelie Hartmann, Hans Persson, Erik Norman, Maja Edfast and Jonas Wikström at Sida. The programme would not have been as successful without the support provided by Florencia Aguilera Flores, Jessica Hansson, Ida Burguete Holmgren, Susanne Norrman, Richard Stenelo and all student co-workers at Lund University Commissioned Education. Finally special thanks to all the students, teachers and school principals of the schools in the City of Lund, which have welcomed our participants during many years; Flygelskolan, Genarps skola, Klostergårdsskolan, Spyken, Tunaskolan. Vikingaskolan, and Östratornskolan. These schools have generously opened their doors for 21 batches of change agents and let them experience how theory meets practice in the everyday work at schools in Sweden. There is no doubt that the efforts of everyone involved benefited thousands and thousands of children in their everyday life in schools throughout the world. It creates hope for the future in an otherwise turbulent world. Lund, July 2016 Bodil Rasmusson – School of Social Work, Lund University Emma Alfredsson – Lund University Commissioned Education Lena Andersson – Faculty of Education and Society, Malmö University Andreas Bryngelson – Lund University Commissioned Education Ulf Leo – Sociology of Law Department, Lund University Lovisa Nilsson – Lund University Commissioned Education Agneta W Flinck – Division of Education, Department of Sociology, Lund University Per Wickenberg – Sociology of Law Department, Lund University 5 1. Background Emma Alfredsson, Lena Andersson, Agneta W Flinck, Ulf Leo, Bodil Rasmusson, Per Wickenberg with Jonas Wikström. This is a book based on experiences and reflections from the global Sida Advanced International Training Programme (ITP) on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management as well as the Impact and Dissemination Seminar held in February 2016 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The ITP has been running from 2003-2016 with 21 batches all together. At the Seminar in Phnom Penh 170 participants from batches1 15-21 participated, representing 16 countries. In this chapter we present the background of the programme. In the following chapter 2, we define the objectives, content, structure, main concepts, and perspectives of the programme as it has been implemented. Chapter 3 gathers all country reports from the Impact and Dissemination Seminar. Chapter 4 consists of reflections by the mentors based on the objectives of the training programme, and their experiences of the change work through many years of cooperation with the country teams. The mentors’ reflections continue in chapter 5 on the development taken place through the ITP in connection with the global movement on children’s rights. The appendices include a short version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child followed by a paper based on a keynote presentation by Göran Hydén. The Chain of Results for ITP Child Rights, Classroom and School Management is presented in the appendices, and also includes the list of participants in the programme 2003-2016. Lastly the schedule for the seminar and contact details of the programme managers at Lund University Commissioned Education and mentors are offered. The Convention on the Rights of the Child The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in November 1989. The CRC incorporates the full range of human rights for children – civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. It came into force on the 2 September 1990 after being ratified by the required number of nations. Since then, 196 countries have ratified it, including every member of the United Nations except the United States of America. The CRC consists of 54 articles (see appendix I) and 1 A batch consists of 30 participants representing 10 countries in teams of three. 7 three Optional Protocols containing the basic human rights that children have. Every right contained in the CRC is inherent to the human dignity and harmonious development of every child. By agreeing to undertake the obligations of the CRC, national governments are obliged to develop and undertake all actions and policies to ensure the best interests of the child. Article 4 also mentions that this should be the case in the framework of international cooperation as well. In order to execute most of its obligations of international cooperation the Swedish government makes use of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Advanced International Training Programmes (ITP) As part of its bilateral development assistance, Sida offers ITPs of strategic importance to social and economic development in the participants’ countries. The overall aim of these Sida ITPs is to contribute to capacity development and processes of change in developing countries by offering training to key persons. The objectives and result chain for each ITP is set by Sida in order to reach the intended objectives. The ITPs are specially designed for persons qualified to participate in reform processes of strategic importance on different levels and who hold a position in the home organisation with the mandate to run processes of change. In a long-term perspective, the programmes should contribute to institutional strengthening and capacity development in the participants’ countries. The list of invited countries for each ITP is decided by Sida. Currently (2016), Sida is conducting some 13 training programmes. ITP - Child Rights, Classroom and School Management In 2003 Lund University Commissioned Education was given the task after a public tender, to create and administrate an ITP programme on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management following the provisions and principles contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Sida’s position paper “Education, Democracy and Human Rights” (2001) and other internationally ratified instruments in the areas of children’s rights and education. The programme was intended for target persons holding a position from which they could initiate processes of change in their home countries. During the years 2003-2009 the global ITP on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management was arranged 11 times (11 batches) with 330 participants completing it. Most of them are still working for children’s rights in their countries and have formed national and regional networks. The programme has also been conducted three times in French for West Africa. In a new procurement process in 2010, Lund University Commissioned Education won the contract for arranging the global programme twice a year 2010 – 2012 with an option for another two years. This option won approval in 2012; thus the global programme continued until 2016 with 10 batches and 300 change agents. In order to reach other countries programmes conducted in French for West Africa and Spanish for Latin America won approval as 8 well. These programmes ran from 2013 to 2016 with 2 batches and 60 change agent in each programme. In line with the international community of development cooperation, the new contract had a result-based management (RBM) approach with more emphasis on capacity building and organisational development than the previous tender. The objectives and goals were rephrased between batch 11 and batch 12 when the new contract commenced. Some changes were made in the programme, with the same purpose nevertheless: to give participants the prerequisites to initiate change processes in their countries that will contribute to the realisation of the intentions of the CRC in policy as well as in practice. With the results and experiences from the first contract and 11 batches as a baseline, some changes were made by Lund University and Sida in order to make the programme more focused on quality assurance for sustainable results. The structure of the programme was changed from three phases to five and a fourth week was added to the phase in Sweden (for more information on objectives, structure and content, see chapter 2). Another new element was the systematic monitoring of the change projects as well as the programme. In the new contract all project reports were published in a book for each batch. Ten books of Change projects from the International Training Programme Child Rights, Classroom and School Management have been distributed between 2012-2016.2 The Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme has been evaluated by independent evaluators twice (in 2009 and 2015). The last evaluation assessed the effectiveness, relevance, sustainability, and efficiency and identified the direct and indirect results of the programme3. Change Processes The Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme was one of the first International training programmes funded by Sida with a clear emphasis on change. One of the key elements in the programme is to initiate and support change processes in participants’ home organisations and countries. Participants in the programme form teams of three people from each country, usually from the same region. Moreover, they represent different levels (local, regional and national) in the education system, which anchors the change processes on a broad front and creates the prerequisites for supporting structures and sustainability of the initiated projects. In cooperation with previous participants, Lund University developed selection strategies for each country in order to recruit participants with the interest and capacity to fulfil their participation in the programme. The strategies formulated also aimed at creating good conditions for networking, forums where the change agents could exchange experiences and support each other. In most of the countries involved, there are now active national or regional networks of former participants that work together in change processes for CRC in the 2 3 For more information, please contact [email protected] http://sidapublications.sitrus.com/optimaker/interface/stream/mabstream.asp?filetype=1&orderlist mainid=18622&printfileid=18622&filex=27223890180432 9 education sector. Further, an important aspect throughout the programme was the opportunity to compare and share experiences with participants from other countries. To “give and gain” was one of expressions used repeatedly in the programme to encourage and emphasise the sharing of experiences and knowledge. In order for the training programme to contribute to desired changes, participants needed to acquire an understanding of children’s’ situation, the background of the UN Child Rights Convention and children’s rights in, to and through education. Tools to initiate and/or lead changes that make the participants’ respective organisations better able to implement and comply with the CRC and other relevant human rights instruments in the educational field were also required. The programme therefore had to supply both background knowledge and an understanding of the content of the CRC and other relevant international conventions and instruments as well as tools for capacity development and organisational change. Consequently, participants could connect theory and practice and thus translate knowledge into practical everyday work. Participants could function as agents of change – “change agents” in their domestic contexts. So far, from batch 1 to batch 21, 630 change agents have participated and the training programme has initiated more than 200 change processes in the 29 participating countries. Most of the change agents remain active in the field of education, working for change in line with the CRC. After 13 years a critical mass of CRC change agents, unique active national networks and thus plenty of results of sustainable change processes initiated in most of the participating countries exist. However, change takes time; in order to secure the sustainability of initiated change processes, to monitor the results and strengthen the community of global CRC change agents, strong national networks are essential. Figure 1: Countries with change agents and initiated change processes as a result of the Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme (see appendix III for full list of participants) 10 National Networks There are active national networks consisting of former participants (change agents) in 16 of the participating countries. The networks are an important result of the Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme, but their work and planning ahead is somewhat beyond the programme and the impact level. In all national networks participants are at national levels with the opportunity to influence progress in their country. There are institutional anchoring in the education ministry, teacher training institutions, universities, training institutions, the responsible parties for the curricula and examinations, school boards, both locally and regionally, principal- and teachers’ associations, trade unions, local authorities and schools. Many of the projects that the network operates are supported by UNICEF, Save the Children, the World Bank and local NGOs. Some networks have also chosen to become organisations or NGOs to operate as a private actor for the rights of children. The national networks work in different contexts and thus have different conditions; nevertheless all networks are preparing to work independently and long term for children’s rights in the education sector in their country. Impact and Dissemination Seminars In order to ensure an effective implementation of the CRC in the education sector through the International Training Programme (ITP), tools to measure or assess the impact of the training programme were needed. Thus, Sida decided in December 2007 to support a follow-up of the first 5 years of the training programme; through an Impact and Dissemination seminar for the change agents that participated in the first seven batches of the Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme. In January 2009, Lund University and Sida successfully carried out such a seminar for 160 change agents. The purpose was to monitor the impact of the ITP, enhance networking, follow up, disseminate and implement good practices, to support ownership and sustainability of project and change processes, and introduce a broader perspective, new research and policies on CRC. Following this seminar, each country team submitted a post-conference paper as a result of their work in the seminar. These chapters were edited and compiled into a book “Taking Child Rights Seriously” 4 together with reflections from the first five years of the ITP by the mentors teaching on the programme. The book has been distributed to stakeholders and to a wide range of other actors. Another important result from the Impact and Dissemination Seminar 2009 was consolidation of national and regional networks of CRC change agents. As mentioned before, most of these networks are still actively working together for CRC in education on different levels in their countries. Following the outcomes from the 2009 seminar and in order to contribute to improve monitoring of results, Sida decided in 2012 to give continued support to a second Impact and Dissemination seminar for batch 8-14. The main purposes of this 4 Wickenberg et al (2009) Taking Child Rights Seriously. Media-Tryck: Lund University 11 seminar were to further enhance participants in their role as change agents, to collect the results and impact of the training programme at national level and also to build on the earlier results from Impact and Dissemination Seminar 2009. In total, 160 change agents from 15 countries participated in the seminar in June 2013. Building on experience from the first Impact and Dissemination Seminar, the second one had a stronger emphasis on participation and the change agents were more involved in the seminar activities with “give and gain” as the leading motto. There were sessions by Lund University as well as invited keynotes and participants covering e.g. the role and challenges of change agents, networking and processes of good practices as well as CRC in a global perspective. Considerable time was set aside for the change agents to meet in country groups to discuss and analyse the results, sustainability and way forward for the collected change processes in their country. On the basis of the preconference papers and all inputs and discussions during the Impact and Dissemination Seminar, each country team wrote a country chapter which together with reflections from the mentors composed “Enforcing Child Rights Globally”5. The evaluation6 showed that the seminar strengthened the participants’ identity as change agents and at the same time revealed that they were all part of a global community of CRC change agents (batch 1-21), working towards the same goals. The importance of commitment and establishment of national networks for changes to be sustainable and reach national impact level was further stressed. Given the results from the two seminars and since the programme had been running for more than 10 years with results on outcomes and impact level as well as strong national networks of change agents working together, Sida decided to support a third Impact and Dissemination seminar. Participants from batch 15-21 were invited and 170 participants gathered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in February 2016. The purpose of this third Seminar was to collect and disseminate the results and impact of the training program so far; strengthen and develop national and international networks and further enhance the participants in their role as change agents. Building on the experiences from the second Impact and Dissemination Seminar, the programme for the week had a similar outline, with a strong focus on giving and gaining and sharing of experiences. Feedback from the participants in the evaluation of the seminar, as well as several initiatives taken by the networks after the seminar, both indicate that the week provided an important platform for the continued network collaboration, nationally and internationally, as well as securing the sustainability of change processes initiated during the ITP-programme7. 5 6 7 Leo et al (2014) Enhancing Child Rights Globally. Media-Tryck: Lund University Evaluation Impact & Dissemination Seminar, Lund University Commissioned Education June 2013 Evaluation Impact & Dissemination Seminar, Lund University Commissioned Education March 2016 12 The ITP at Lund University The ITP on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management has been given by Lund University Commissioned Education for 13 years. Since 2003 there has been cooperation between Lund University and different universities and organisations in the participating countries within the programme. Stakeholders benefit from the fact that this programme is given by Lund University in different ways: • Participants and their organisations – The academic approach offered by Lund University challenges the participants’ way of thinking. When asked about this in the participants’ evaluation, the change agents mention critical thinking, interactive approach, problem solving, ability to reflect, empowerment and monitoring as important lessons for their change processes.8 • Sida ITP – In this programme Lund University Commissioned Education has, in line with Sida’s guidelines, created efficient methods for quality assurance to ensure the preconditions for capacity building and organisational development. These methods are viewed as good examples and have therefore been implemented by Sida in other ITPs. • City of Lund - This programme is also an example of a qualitative and longstanding cooperation between Lund University and the City of Lund through systematised school visits to local schools. Another outcome is exchange and collaboration between schools in Lund and schools in the participating countries. • Child Rights Institute at Lund University - The Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme has resulted in the establishment of an institute for children’s rights at the Faculty of Social Science at Lund University. Based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the institute serves as a platform, promoting interdisciplinary research, education, and external engagement promoting children’s rights. • Spin-offs for student and staff at Lund University - Over the years, students from Lund University have carried out several Minor Field Studies in different schools and organisations of the change agents in the participating countries. Several cross country collaborations between Lund University and universities in the participating countries have been initiated (see attachment V for full list of spin-off effects). Also, professors and lecturers from the Faculty of Social Sciences, together with the lecturer from the Faculty of Education and Society at Malmö University share their experiences from the programme with students and colleagues. Thus, the ITP on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management is a great example of internationalisation at Lund University. With the present publication, Lund University disseminates the results and reflections from the Impact and Dissemination Seminar in February 2016 as well as the experiences of 13 years of the ITP on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management. 8 Ibid 13 The ITP at Sida - comments from Jonas Wikström, programme manager, Sida The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) is a governmental agency working on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government with the mission to reduce poverty in the world. To this end, the government instructs Sida through strategies for countries, regions and thematic areas. The current government strategy on Capacity Development and Exchanges (2014-2017) instructs Sida to contribute to capacity development among organisations and institutions in Sida’s cooperation countries as well as in other low- and middle income countries. The strategy also instructs Sida to contribute to the creation of strong and sustainable networks and partnership between participants, their organisations and Swedish actors. The main vehicle for Sida to achieve the objectives of the strategy is International Training Programmes (ITP). During 2015, 13 ITPs were open for applications on various thematic areas ranging from chemicals management to gender statistics and renewable energy. The ITP on Child Rights in School and Classroom Management started in 2003 and is one of Sida’s longest running ITPs. Since the start more than 800 participants have graduated from the programme and the majority are still active in the global network of Child Rights change agents. Sida’s intention with the programme has been to build capacity and support change processes within organisations and institutions on the implementation and application of the Child Rights Convention (CRC) in the education sector and to support networking and exchanges between participants and their organisations. An independent evaluation of the programme conducted in 2015 identified substantial positive effects of the programme furthering the work of implementing and applying the CRC in the education sector in a large number of countries as well as networks having been formed in at least 16 countries. The national networks were found to be, in different ways, extending the work along the intentions of the programme in their countries independently from the Sida funded activities. Another more unexpected result of the programme is having contributed to the establishment of the Child Rights institute at Lund University (CRi@LU). The independent evaluation confirms that the expected results from the programme to a large extent have been achieved. Sida sees positively on the fact that strong networks of change agents exist in several countries and expects that change processes on the implementation and application of the CRC initiated through the ITP will continue long after the end of the Sidasupported programme. Sida also sees positively upon the fact that the programme has contributed to the establishment of a Child Rights institute at Lund University and expects that the institute will play a positive role on forwarding research, capacity building and education on the rights of the child globally. 14 2. Framework and Content of the ITP programme Emma Alfredsson, Lena Andersson, Agneta W Flinck, Ulf Leo, Bodil Rasmusson, and Per Wickenberg. In this chapter we describe the programme more thoroughly; objectives, content, structure, main areas and perspectives of the programme as it has been implemented. Objectives From a development perspective the overall and long-term objective of the new Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme was: “to improve participating countries’ capacity to offer and ensure everyone’s right to relevant and quality education, an education that is safe and secure, inclusive, student-centred, democratic and problem-solving and that creates opportunities for all, regardless of background, to participate in community life as active citizens.” The programme objective to be expected at the end of the contract was that changes which contribute to the realisation of the intention of the Child Rights Convention (CRC) in policy as well as in practice will take place. The goals for the participants of each and every training programme were to gain: • Increased knowledge and understanding of the CRC. • Increased knowledge and understanding of the Education for All (EFA) and MDG’s targets, relevant international concepts such as child-friendly schools, inclusive education and education for democracy and human rights (EDHR) as well as other relevant international instruments. • Increased knowledge and understanding of experiences, methods and tools for organizational change in general, and rights-based (participation, inclusive and transparent) and democratic methods and tools for change in particular. 15 • Knowledge and understanding of Swedish and other international methods for translating children’s rights and democratic values into practice in schools and in the classroom. • Expanded international and national networks to work with the CRC and other relevant international conventions and other instruments. In appendix IV you may find the result chain for the programme. Contents The programme provided tools for participants to connect theory and practice and thus be able to translate knowledge into practical everyday work. The entire training programme was based on a Child Rights approach. The right to education, in education and through education was the guiding principle of the programme. The training programme stimulated the transformation of conventional top-down approaches into participatory rights-based, learner-friendly and gender-sensitive approaches to teaching and learning. The following topics were included in the programme: • Policy documents and laws in the subject area related to human rights - CRC, Education for All (EFA) and other internationally-agreed instruments of key importance in this context, • Key aspects of children’s rights to, in and through education and their practical implications • Democracy in the school and the school’s role in society “citizenship”, inclusive education and gender equality • Opportunities to use Information and Communication Technology to promote increased quality and increased access to information and knowledge • Appropriate forms of leadership as well as organizational structures, forms and behaviour and a leaders’ role in the various structures • Difficult situations such as disciplinary measures, bullying, corporal punishment and sexual abuse and possibilities to make a change • Importance of problem-solving, critical thinking, participatory approach in the participants’ context • Education for Sustainable Development as a holistic approach where social, economic and ecological issues are integrated. • Quality assurance as a method for continuous development and sustainability of change. 16 Structure The new Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme ran over a period of 1.5 years and consisted of five phases as shown in the figure below: Figure 1: Structure of the Child Rights, Classroom and School Management (1.5 years) A change project was the frame of the ITP on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management and a process which continued throughout the entire programme. The change project was made possible through teamwork and thus it was of great importance that the entire team was involved in the process and that the project had a high level of practical relevance for each team member. Each team was assigned a mentor who was responsible for supporting and monitoring their work as well as the networking process. Throughout the various phases of the programme, participants were given tools for developing and implementing the change project and for making it sustainable. Phase 1 – Preparations in the home country was when the participants contacted the other team members and former participants in the programme. The team began to explore the work and implementation of the CRC in their own country. According to assignments given, they also prepared the background information which contributed to the baseline of their change project Phase 2 – Programme in Sweden lasted for approximately four weeks and consisted of children’s rights studies combined with study visits to relevant Swedish institutions and different schools. Interaction between the participants from the different countries added to the experience and increased the knowledge gained. The change project, which should have a high degree of practical relevance for the participants and their home organisations, was identified, planned and decided on and before the participants left, they submitted a project plan. Phase 3 - Work carried out in the change project in the home country with regular assistance from the team’s mentor. The teams kept close contact with their mentor, the organisations and the stakeholders, and they also submitted a progress report 17 Phase 4 – Progress workshop in one of the invited countries for 10 days focused on the change project carried out by the country teams. The participants were asked to present their results so far and develop and discuss future plans for applying the programme content in their change project. Visiting former participants’ existing projects and organisation were also relevant. The principal idea of phase 4 is to give and gain as much as possible from the mentors and the other participants in order to implement the change project. Phase 5 - Implementing the project in the home country with assistance from the mentor. After phase 4, follow-up visits were conducted by the respective mentor in the teams’ home countries. The mentor together with the team met stakeholders, agreed on the following steps and also evaluated the project for change. After this visit the teams submitted the final change project reports in this book. The final report was the end of the programme; however it was not the end of the initiated change processes. Throughout the years almost all change agents have continued their work on children’s rights in their respective countries and networks. Main Areas and Integrated Approach From the objectives, goals and content, three main areas were distinguished: CRC, Child Rights in Schools & Teaching/Learning Processes and Leadership/change agents, represented by a triangle in figure 2 below. Figure 2. The content of the programme presented in an integrated way framed by the objectives and goals. 18 The three main areas were more and more integrated the longer the programme ran. The content, structure and methods of the programme have developed from batch to batch over the years. Still, the main content and the objectives were the same and all change agents from batch 1-21 would recognise the programme. The methodologies used during the training in Lund and during the follow-up workshop were adapted to the content; this will be explained in the following sections together with a more detailed account of the three main areas. The Convention on the Rights of the Child Besides basic knowledge about the content, main principles and implementation of the CRC, this part of the programme offered many opportunities for the participants to test and discuss their own understanding and interpretation of CRC in relation to different cultural contexts and above all their own experiences. A variety of methods were used, such as short lectures mixed with workshops and group discussions, role plays and case studies. Exploration of the content of CRC took its starting point in article 1 and the holistic view upon the child reflected in the CRC. The task for the participants in the first workshop, on this theme, was to make a description of a child in each of the participating countries. The question was: What is it like to be a schoolchild in your country? Describe an ordinary day for this child. What happens from the moment he/she wakes up in the morning until he/she goes to bed? What is he/she doing? Which people will he/she meet during the day? Problems and joys… The aim of this workshop was to continue and deepen the poster presentations (done by country) during the first day, to give an opportunity to the teams to start working together and to introduce the child-centred approach contained in the CRC. Another workshop aimed at discussions on definitions of the child was held. The participants were asked to give their definitions without using the concept of age. These discussions were an entry point for further exploration of different views upon children, e.g. vulnerable, weak or competent. It opened up opportunities for reflection on how the CRC could be interpreted and implemented in different cultures, the values included in the CRC and how they are understood by different actors such as teachers, parents and decision-makers. Further exploration of the content and meaning of the CRC as a whole took its point of departure in the 3 Ps: Provision (access to food, healthcare, education, social security); Protection (from maltreatment, abuse, neglect, all forms of exploitation) and Participation (having the right to act, be involved in decision-making). This is a frequent categorisation of the content of the CRC, especially used by Eugene Verhellen1. A workshop on the 3 Ps started in the following question: 1 Verhellen, E. (2000) Convention of the Rights of the Child: background, motivation, strategies, main themes. Leuven: Garant 19 What do you think about the relationships between these three concepts? Over the thirteen years we have mainly stuck to the 3 Ps as a simple way of making this UN Convention as clear and pedagogical as possible for all our participants. We have also had great use of the Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child2. Besides the 3 Ps, we always highlighted the four basic principles formulated by UNICEF – article 2 (non-discrimination), article 3 (the best interest of the child), article 12 (right to participation) and article 6 (right to life and development) with our main focus on article 3, 6 and 12. In working with article 3, the groups got an assignment to construct and present a case to show (in role plays) conflicting interests that could be actualised in application of this article into practice. Roger Hart´s Ladder of Participation3 was used as a tool to deepen the understanding of children’s participation and to share experiences between countries. Rights versus Responsibilities was another theme worked on through a case study illustrating different perspectives (children, teachers/adults) on a conflict between the school council and the principal/ teachers. Article 6 was given a special focus in a workshop about the meaning of key concepts on child development - risk factors, protective factors, vulnerability and resilience4. Presentations from this workshop created the foundation for further discussions and work on concepts like respect and positive discipline. Work on the CRC continued with some broad outlines and reflections on the traditions of UN and International Conventions, the origin, development, and present status of Human Rights, Education for All (EFA, 1990), Millennium Development Goals and the main ideas and monitoring systems behind, in and under the CRC. Special attention was paid to the responsibility of the State. All the issues mentioned were closely connected to the objectives and goals of this ITP. The participative dialogue between teachers-facilitators-mentors and the participating change agents was also there from the very first day of the training programme – and even before their arrival in Sweden. Child Rights in Schools The Right to a Relevant, Qualitative and Inclusive Education The second side of the triangle in figure 1 is about taking the child, together with the CRC, to school. With every batch we started by asking the same question; why should we use the CRC as a point of departure in education? Article 28, the right to education, and article 29, the aim of education, were discussed in relation to the current status of education with reference to the millennium development goals. This added up in a common vision: that all children should have the right to a qualitative and relevant edu2 3 4 Prepared for UNICEF by Rachel Hodgkin and Peter Newell (UNICEF 2002 (Fully revised third edition, September 2007) Hart, Roger A. (1992) Children’s Participation. From Tokenism to Citizenship. Florence: UNICEF International Child Development Centre. Montogomery, H.; Burr, R.; Woodhead, M. (2003) Changing Childhood. Local and Global. 20 cation. The concepts were discussed and elaborated in a workshop based on questions such as “what is qualitative education?” and “what is relevant in different contexts?” The concept of inclusive education was problematized and one of the definitions used was from UNESCO5 where inclusion is seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion within and from education. Teaching and Learning Processes The training programme stimulated the transformation of a conventional top-down approach into a participatory rights–based, student-friendly and gender-sensitive approach to teaching and learning. To initiate and support the change processes taking place inside schools and classrooms, the following were some of the issues that this content area focused on. By using strategies from our international “tool box” and participatory methods such as cooperative learning strategies, discussions, performances, role plays and games, we dig into the focus areas and try to implement a universal culture of Child Rights in our different school systems. Rights-based Approach The opposite of the conventional top-down approach is a student-centred approach which indicates a paradigm shift in the relationship between the teacher and the student. The teacher must have a didactic competence, good subject knowledge and to be skilled in the “art of teaching”, i.e. to select, adjust and communicate relevant content towards clear learning objectives through a wide repertoire of teaching methods. He or she needs competence in leadership, in how to manage and organise classrooms and gradually transfer responsibility to the students. Further, a teacher needs competence in relationships; to be able to build social relationships and to meet the needs of every individual student. The student should develop to be an active and democratic participant in the learning process, aware of his or her rights, acting as a present citizen. The mentioned rights-based approach may also enhance teacher capacity, morale and commitment. Negative attitudes may be altered through the practice of conflict resolution, democracy, tolerance and respect in the classroom. Many countries have developed handbooks and definitions of positive discipline, which recommend that disciplinary action be relevant to the misbehaviour, proportional to the offence, focused on correcting the behaviour, not humiliating the student and aimed at rehabilitation, not retribution6. By starting to discuss positive discipline in a broader perspective which includes different contexts of values in society, we then entered the classroom. From there on we discussed relevant action plans for promoting respect in schools and classrooms. 5 6 http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/inclusive-education/ Alternatives to Corporal Punishment, Creating Safer School Series. Volume 1. Kampala: Makarere University, 21 The Classroom as a Micro Social System Teaching and learning processes appropriate to the student’s developmental level, abilities, and learning style promote effective learning. The recognition of a classroom where teaching and learning are part of a complex and largely invisible socio-emotional flow makes it easier to understand how good relations and stable social bonds require good communication between teachers and students, and why gender equality is a must to raise students to their full potential7. By sharing ideas and understanding within and between countries we raised the topic and learned from each other. The Concept of Knowledge Social constructivism emphasises that learning takes place through interaction with other students, teachers and the world at large. Vygotskij8 stresses the importance of social interaction in learning. The students learn together within their socio-cultural context. These developmental theories pay attention not only to what the student has already learnt, but also to the importance of leading the student towards the next developmental stage. The zone of proximal development is a well-known concept by Vygotskij and includes activities like scaffolding and coaching. To fully develop our students, the teacher must use cooperative teaching and learning methods9 that include problem-solving strategies and develop critical thinking. From the Curriculum for the Compulsory Swedish School System10 we analyse four representations of knowledge: experiences, understanding, skills and facts, and use them as a framework for discussions on productive teaching. • Experience - The student commences class with informal knowledge of a concept or subject. Teaching can start from the informal knowledge level and the student’s experiences. • Understanding - The students need to articulate their thoughts and develop cognitive structures. The teacher needs to listen, ask open-ended questions and challenge them by extending their vocabulary. • Skills - Every subject has its own vocabulary. The different signs and symbols require time and practice to become part of a student’s language. • Facts - The transition from informal to formal knowledge is an ongoing process of broadening concepts, exploring linguistic structures and fixed expressions. 7 8 9 10 Scheff, T. J. (1990). Micro sociology: Discourse, emotion and social structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press Vygotskij, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/techniques.html 2013-10-15 Skolverket (2011). Curriculum for the Compulsory Swedish School System, the Pre-school Class and the Leisure-time Centre, Lgr 11. Stockholm 22 The Swedish School System and School Visits in Sweden One of the objectives of the programme was to familiarise participants with Swedish and other international practices at the school and classroom levels in relation to democratic principles and human rights. Issues concerning school governance and relations between national and local levels were discussed. The Swedish school system was explained through topics such as decentralisation, steering documents, organisation of the school, responsibility of school principals and teachers and the Swedish system of school assessment, e.g. how to assess teaching and learning through systematic evaluations, student grading, and national inspection. After theoretical discussions, it was time to meet Swedish children, teachers, school principals, other staff and stakeholders in the Swedish schools. The school visits served as a way to understand how theory and practice can go hand in hand, how children’s rights are implemented in Swedish schools in various ways. It was through the school visits that we integrated the different parts of the programme, to give the participants an opportunity to experience how theory meets practice in a school and classroom context. We had three school visits during phase 2 in Sweden. In groups, we visited elementary schools, Flygelskolan, Genarps skola, Klostergårdsskolan, Tunaskolan, Vikingaskolan and Östratornskolan, twice and the whole group visited the upper secondary school, Spyken. The participants prepared the school visits by putting on “CRC-glasses” as a symbol of taking on a special Child Rights-perspective while observing relations and communication in the schools. There was also special focus on important aspects such as participation, inclusive education, democratic values, critical thinking and gender. In the second school visit at the elementary schools, we also added a special focus on leadership issues. After the school visits we followed up the observations to get a better understanding of how and why CRC is implemented as it is in Swedish schools, and what the challenges are or could be in all our countries. Leadership and Change Agents The third area of the triangle (fig 1) re presents the area of leadership, a co ncept not found in the title of the programme: Child Rights, Classroom and School Management. However, to strengthen and focus on the importance of stimulating a more participatory approach, the concept of leadership was introduced to replace the concept of management. In most literature and research on management and leadership, the concept of management represents a more structured, administrative, and profit-focused approach while the concept of leadership represents a more flexible, innovative, and participatory perspective (Yukl, 2012)11. Other researchers define the meaning of the concept of management in terms of being an authoritative relationship that exists between a manager and subordinates for the purpose of producing and selling goods and/or services. Leadership, on the other hand, is defined as being a multidirectional-influence relationship between a leader and a follower with the mutual purpose of accomplishing 11 Yukl, G. (2012) Leadership in Organizations. Upper Saddle River: PEARSON 23 real change. Considering this, the use of the concept leadership seemed to be more appropriate. We used leadership in a very broad and general sense as we wanted to include a variety of levels in the area of education from ministries to classrooms, covering all kinds of people ranging from ministers to students. A leader in this sense is anyone acting together with a group of others in order to reach a jointly agreed purpose or goal, independent of age, level, or position. This means that teachers and students are included in this understanding of leadership, as are administrators at the national, regional, or district level. For students, this approach to leadership is one of the aspects of citizenship training, which is a highly prioritised area for students to be able to cope in the future. Another aspect of leadership we wanted to cover is project leadership or leadership of initiating, implementing and running change processes. All the teams participating in this programme initiated their own change projects/processes in their countries of residence. This was a challenging task, partly because all of the team members were already working full-time and partly because it takes a thorough and specific understanding of leadership to convince authorities and colleagues of one’s ideas of a change process and to realise the ideas in a sustainable process. Commitment and dedication are necessary ingredients in project leadership, but will not reach all the way. There will be use for other capacities too, such as analysing target groups and stakeholders, identifying useful partners, creating workable teams, and communication skills. The main idea behind the third area in focus was to create an understanding of the concept leadership and its implementation in the specific context that this programme created. To create this understanding, the theoretical base was the outcomes of research carried out mainly within behavioural sciences. Research from other areas such as economics and social sciences was not used as it has other perspectives and targets macro levels of society. In today’s working life, it is not enough to only know some specific “dos and don’ts” about leadership. When there is a full understanding, the actual leadership behaviour will be adjusted and adapted to specific situations, specific contexts, specific team members, and specific personalities. Based on the framework of the programme (mainly the time limit) one main aspect of leadership was selected for the phase in Sweden: Space of Action. As it is of vital importance for a leader of today to be pro-active, to be in the front, the leader has to know his/her Space of Action.This is why it was focused on as the main issue of this part. Specifically, the team members of this programme had to add new responsibilities on top of the responsibilities already inherent in their full-time positions. Space of Action was discussed first in terms of how to identify it and then how to expand it. Identifying the Space of Action is necessary to understand the objective degree of freedom. The discussion of the ways of expanding the Space of Action highlights the importance of fully understanding the concepts and uses of power, group dynamics, as well as empowerment and delegation. The base of the triangle, the Rights of the Child, was the base of the leadership part of the programme as well. Implementation of the Rights of the Child in the educational context was the leadership part throughout the framework. The second area in 24 the triangle was also used as a contextual background as an integrated approach was chosen. Other important contexts for the leadership part were the public sectors of the respective ten countries. (Almost all the participants represented the public sector; very few came from the private sector). All the team members contributed with examples, challenges and issues from their own workplaces; examples that all participants could learn from. As to methodology for the leadership part, it is important to plan for the usage of participatory methods, which in themselves are examples of the areas covered. Besides a few more traditional lectures, always accompanied by discussions and questions, a variety of methods are used. To understand the importance of various opportunities to expand your Space of Action, one has to work in a way that will enable the experience of the feeling of being successful in implementing these opportunities. To understand group dynamics, one must have the experience of group dynamics, the feeling of the processes of the life of a group. Thus, different cases are used, some from literature and some from experiences of lecturers and/or participants, role plays and activities, to start group dynamic processes. All the activities are always followed by debriefing and discussions. The book Leadership in Organisations by G. Yukl (2012) was used as course literature for this part. This book was used within some of the Human Relations programmes at Lund University and highly valued by students. Besides being up-dated with research results, this book was also presented in a very pedagogical way, which was appreciated by the participants. Certain chapters or parts of chapters were selected as background for the different aspects covered. All the chapters could not be covered, but the participants were instructed in how to use this book on an individual basis or in groups at their workplaces. A number of research articles, most of them very new, from various data bases were also used. 25 26 3. Country Reports In this chapter the change agents who participated in the third Impact and Dissemination Seminar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia reflect on their work with the process of change from a country perspective. Before coming to Phnom Penh, each team prepared a written pre-conference report which included a short summary of the focus of the project, the status of the project, all results as well as the effects of the project. The pre-conference papers served as a starting point for discussion and analysis of the process of change from a country perspective. The country reports were written during the seminar and edited by the national networks and are presented here in this chapter. 27 Cambodia Cambodia had its first team in batch 12 (2010) and in total 7 teams and 21 change agents in batches 12-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 1521, where Cambodia has 6 teams and 18 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 Comments National 8 3 Ministry of Education Region/Province/District 11 3 Teacher Training Local 2 1 Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The Child Rights Programme has been implemented in the north and in the center of Cambodia. In Stung Treng Province at the Regional Teacher Training Center has the change work focused on participation and in Phnom Phen at different departments in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Curriculum develop department, Early Childhood department and Teacher training department) has the change work mainly focused implementation and sensitization of CRC in general and participation in particular. Area: 181,035 km2 Population: 15,135,169 (est. 2014) Capital: Phnom Penh Independence: 9 November 1953 (from France) Official languages: Khmer Network Coordinators: Prak Kosal, [email protected] Yahan Chin, [email protected] Vongsy Seuy, [email protected] 28 Cambodia Post Conference Report Prak Kosal, Chan Sophea, Chin Yahorn, Hou Saomoline, Sok Sokhom, Than Thavy, Srey Soksaphat, Roueng Serey Dara, Um Lakhena, Pok Saroeun, Noun Sokchantra, Pich Hay, Phon Sophea, and Thong ChanChhada. Introduction This document is a summary on the implementation of the Child Rights Convention (CRC) in Cambodia from 2010 to 2016. This paper looks at the legal framework done by the Cambodian government and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS) and current status of CRC implementation done by Change Agents, divided into the focus areas of participation, protection and provision. It further reflects on the successes and challenges experienced in implementing the different CRC change work in the country and finally it concludes with a way forward. Current status and focus of the change work Current status of the Education and the legal framework in Cambodia Cambodia Education system has been presented during French colonial and primary level was the first education system established. After the French colonial rule, the education system has been developed and expended in several years. 1. According to the Education Congress report in academic year 2013-2014: 1. Preschool sub sector covers children age 3 to 5 years old in public preschools, community preschools, private preschools and in home based education program. 2. Primary sub sector covers children age 6 to 11 years old in public schools and private schools. 3. General Secondary Education sub sector covers both lower secondary and upper secondary. The system usually applies for student age 12 to 17 years old, and performs in public and private schools (MoEYS, Report on Education in academic 29 year 2013-2014). MoEYS also have non-formal education for illiteracy people in the country and its own sub sector. After the country was completely destroyed by genocidal regime from 1975 to 1979, the Royal government of Cambodia has well understood that Child Rights is an indispensable element for the country’s´ development. In 1989, the Convention on the Right of Child (CRC) became the first legally binding international convention to affirm human rights for all children. Since then the Convention has become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. On 15 October 1992, Cambodia became a state party to the Convention and has ratified both of its optional protocols. The Royal Government of Cambodia has made strong commitment to protect and promote the rights of children as: Education for All National Plan 2003-2015, Strategic Plan 2009-2013, Child Friendly Schools Master Plan 2007-2011, Policy on Education for Children with Disabilities 2008, Master Plan on Education for Children with Disabilities 2009. In order to reach MDGs target as well as to achieve Education for All goals 2030, Child Rights implementation in school is invaluable. Based on the high commitment mentioned above, the Royal Government of Cambodia has succeeded to overcome obstacles in implementing of CRC in many schools. After the Cambodia teams attended the advanced International Training Program on Child Right, Classroom and School Management in Sweden, all change agent teams of Cambodia came back with the spirit of CRC to contribute to their target sites and to our country. All teams had used the concept of the 3Ps (participation, protection and provision) to implement our change work on CRC. Below is a table of the titles of the change project: 30 Change Project Focus Area Child Rights Awareness Raising for Stung Treng Regional Child Rights, 3 P´s Teacher Training Center Strengthen Trainees learning and living conditions at Stung Student Council, participation freedom Treng Regional Teacher Training Center of speech Participation Receiving a monitoring tool to assess teacher trainees´ application of CRC in the classroom towards increasing students´ participation The responsibility of school directors and teachers in Protection, participation implementing CRC in classrooms and school management. Integration of CRC in home based programme in Takeo Participation, gender Province Guideline for increased participation in pre-school Participation curriculum, piloting Battambang town Pre-school, Battambang Province Enhancing active student participation by using the “bottom Student council, participation, freedom up- approach” in the Student Council in Bunrany Hun Sen of speech Samaki Primary School Phnom Penh Focus Participation and change work done by Change Agents of Cambodia The Cambodian change agents have emphasized participation in three of their projects from two different perspectives: from a student councils´ perspective in a primary school/teacher training center and from monitoring perspective for teacher trainees at primary and secondary level. The student council is part of the Child Friendly School (CFS) concept that is implemented in nearly 7000 schools in Cambodia. The research tells us that most of schools did not manage to implement student councils well. In general, the form of the guideline is very good and in detail, but in reality it does not work. The teachers do not how to facilitate democratic norms and the students not aware of the concept participation. The change work wanted to highlight the norms in school and discuss why they need to change in order to create better opportunities for the school to implement democratic student councils. By raising awareness of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) the need for the bottom – up approach will be visible. All the processes of the student councils today follows the top-down approach, which means that all the activities in the student council are set up by the adults and implemented by adults. The main objective of this change work is to reinforce the implementation of student councils from the top-down- to the bottom up approach and to encourage students to participate in activities and make decision by their own. By developing the knowledge and the practice of the school council and focus on roles and responsibilities and the norms of teaching and learning processes we hopefully gain increased participation. Student council will be run by confident students expressing their value of democracy and knowledge based on the concept on CRC. Its declaration emphasizes to listen to children and ensure that participation is implemented. Adults must respect children’s´ right to express themselves and to participate in all matter affecting them, in accordance 31 with their age and maturity, engage in play and recreation activities appropriate to the age of the child. The other change project on student council was implemented at Regional Teacher Training Center in Stung Treng. The council was set up to strengthen the trainees living and learning conditions and to emphasize the practical meaning of CRC. By establishing a student council the capacity of trainees will raise and help them to solve problems themselves. In the long term this will be a democratic way of participation and will benefit the trainees future work as teachers at primary schools in different provinces and to help the communities to overcome the cycle of poverty. Another team of change agents have succeeded in reviewing a monitoring tool which can be used by the Teacher Training Department (TTD) for monitoring primary and lower secondary school teacher training program. The existing tool does not focus deeply on the CRC so that trainees do not place great emphasis on it. Therefore, the reviewed tool will help to understand to what extend trainees apply the CRC in the classroom and encourage trainees focus much more on the learning and teaching practices in the classroom and school, thus encouraging students to participate more in class. Consequently, teachers will in the future ensure that boys and girl equally contribute to learning activity, teachers will engage students in asking questions and giving answers, and teachers will not use corporal punishment to correct students. Our aim for this new monitoring is to implement it nationwide. Reflections on the successes and challenges Result on Participation The school principal at the primary school is paying more attention to the CRC, she motivates the teachers and support them with teaching and learning materials and enforcement to get more participation in and out class and there is now a wish to motivate the children and involve them in all activities in and out classes. She suggested establishing Parental Education in her school, to apply CRC for children at home and everywhere when children have caregivers close by them. Teachers have understood the impact of the CRC and the 3 P´s. They suggested changing their daily lesson plan and follow the CRC content. 80 % of the children in the target school are more active compared to the baseline of children shying, crying, and fearing. The School Committee has also understood the CRC message. They suggested making a school plan supporting child participation. Provincial and National Level of Education have understood the importance of the CRC and learned a lot from the target school and the project for change. The team has recommended implementing of training modules such as Community Preschool Training module and Parental Education Program Training Module and the Early Childhood Education at National Level has agreed on that. Student Council will be run by confident student expressing their values of democracy and knowledge based on the concept of CRC. Three clubs (Sport club, Art club, Study club) has been created by member of student council idea. 32 At the RTTC Stung Treng a number of improvements have been done by the trainees. 90 % accepted the idea to establish a student council. Representatives of the student council are aware of their rights and the importance of good leadership. They have improved their capacity and self-esteem. They are able to seek solutions to problems concerning their studies and their living conditions. Through help from link teachers and school management the trainees have become more outspoken on school matters. They use meetings, the suggestion box or other ways to communicate. These indicators show an improvement in different democratic performances at RTTC Stung Treng. The developed monitoring tool to assess teacher trainees’ teaching practice including the application of the CRC in the classroom towards increasing students’ participation is approved and used by the Teacher Training Department and will be implemented nationwide. It is obviously seen that the CRC concept is put in place in the classrooms and schools. Those who are responsible for supervising the teaching practice of trainees know more on the CRC and place more emphasis on it. The grassroots people especially teacher trainees understand the essence of the CRC in classroom and school. It can be seen that students both boys and girls participate more in learning activities such as asking questions and giving answers. The view upon the students in class that have changed: • • • • • from neglect to welcoming from acceptance to decision making from tense to friendly and safe from assigning to doing/experiencing from ignorance to participatory The new monitoring tool will be piloted and submitted for approval. After getting approval, the new tool will be used by Teacher Training Department for monitoring teacher trainees practice their teaching for primary and lower secondary school teacher training program at Provincial Teacher Training Colleges and Regional Teacher Training Centre nationwide. Focus Provision and Change work done by change agent The Home-based program is one of the successful Early Childhood Education services in Cambodia. The program operates mainly in rural and remote areas and focuses mainly on education services for mothers with children aged 0 – 6. The team wanted to develop the capacity for the practitioners on the importance of the 3P´s in general and participation in particular through the article 12 and 18 in the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The main purpose is to guaranty the young children's rights to play, learn and participate in learning environments at home and in the village. By highlighted the article 18 (parental responsibilities; state assistance) which says that 33 both parents share responsibility for bringing up their children, and should always consider what is best for each child. Governments must respect the responsibility of parents for providing appropriate guidance to their children. The service/program was only open to women. The title of the practitioners was called “core mother” and the training was only for mothers or young women in the village. The practitioners were the target group and since the team were stressing article 18 to their project, they realized that they needed to invite fathers to the training and to the workshops as well. After finishing the change project the practitioners included the fathers. Practitioners will then be called core parents, parent's group leaders and parent's member. Early Childhood Education (ECE) will support and monitor the activities of participation, provision and the training agenda. Result on Provision The team has shared the knowledge at Early Childhood Education Department, during a training course for sub national core trainer. Mr Prak Kosal shared the importance of CRC at the World Bank office during a meeting with UNICEF. He informed them on the effective training course management and course design, quality assurance and results based management, CRC international convention, and school study visit in Lund. In December 2012, Prak Kosal, participated in join monitoring with H.E Sam Sereyrath, General Director of Education to Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear province. During these missions they visited all types of Early Childhood Education services which includes Home Based programme in those area and learned about the real activities in disadvantages area. The best practice from the project of integration of CRC in Home Based Program in Takeo province will promote the ECE program and link it to quality. In 2014, the activity plan and financial resources were prepared at the national and municipal/provincial level. This includes Early Childhood Education SubSector Strategy Plan 2014-2018, which will be incorporated into the Education Sector Strategy Plan 2014-2018 of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Focus Protection and Change work done by change agents The change project was set up for mainstreaming the CRC guideline and appealing every sort of contribution, especially calling for voluntary adoption and implementation among school principals, teachers and teacher trainers in the whole country of Cambodia, to make achieving the universal goal of education. It will complement the existing Child Right based National Curriculum, and ensure further CRC implementation in the school and classroom management, gradually to the larger scale In the past there has been acts of discrimination, negligent, maltreatment and exploitation of the Cambodian child in schools and classrooms. It needs to be changed to respect for achieving children´s rights of protection and rights to quality of education, with deeper understanding and practices of Child Rights with the responsibility of school principals, teachers, and teacher trainers. In addition, this implementation will offer 34 children to meet their rights as being integrated and seen in their textbook lessons as well as to gain their space of actions provided in the application session within each lesson. In 2012 - 2013, we have started implementing our project within the image of a pilot program in Stung Treng, working for and with the Draft of Guideline on CRC implementation in classroom and school management, aiming at complementing the existing the Child Right based Curriculum (2005-2009). Result on Protection Our project plan had been implemented completely. We have collaborated with total 75 educators from Stung Treng Province in developing and piloting the Draft of Curriculum Guideline for primary and lower secondary education” within the timeframe of June 2012 – July 2013. In the school year of 2013-2014, the 4th Draft of Curriculum Guideline entitled “Responsibility of School Directors and Teachers in CRC implementation in the classroom and school management” in Khmer language will be submitted to the approval board for comments and adoption to be “the Formal Curriculum Guideline”. In the school year of 2014-2015, it will be printed and distributed to related departments and institutions at national level, to all provincial and district offices of Education and to every teacher training center and school in the country. It will be put in the 2nd part of the National Curriculum for Secondary and Primary Compulsory School, 2014, of Cambodia. If training workshop is needed at any spot area, school directors and teacher of the four target schools at Stung Treng will be selected and assigned to be the temporary facilitators. Challenges The main challenge for some of the change work is that it is hard to get authority and power to make decision on implementation for the changes. It takes time to get approval from leaders or authorities. Another challenge is that it is hard for the change agents to find appropriate time for us to meet. However, there is an advantage for us since we all work in the same area of education we learn from each other as individuals and as a group. We have met some challenges as a number of school teachers and director have lack of understanding key concepts of Child Rights and child friendly practical methodologies in education. We think that this is the cause of child neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment in school and classroom managements without their intention. This kind of school teachers and director need more and more workshop training for their effective way of teaching, classroom and school management 35 Way forward We are happy to say that some of the projects have reached national level of implementation. Our work is well recognized of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports. We have change agents working in many of our departments at Ministry of Education: Early Childhood Department, Teacher Training Department, Primary Education Department and Curriculum Develop Department. The director of Primary Education Department and the director of Early Childhood Department are change agents. At the opening session of the Impact seminar in Phnom Pehn the Minister of MoEYS H.E.Dr Hang Chuon Naroni gave the opening speech and several others where special guests: Name Position H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon NaronH.E.Dr Hang Naro Minister, MoEYS H.E. Dr. Nath Bunroeun Secretary of State, MoEYS Her Excellency Kim Sethany Secretary of State, MoEYS H.E Thong Borann Director General of Admin and Finance, MoEYS H.E Put Samith Director General of Education, MoEYS H.E Chey Sarin General Inspector of Education, MoEYS H.E Lim Sothea Director General of Policy and Planning, MoEYS The positive outcome of having seven batches in the programme is the establishing of a national network for Cambodia. Since members of the change agents come from different level namely national level, provincial level and local level and the mail implementation is in the center and the north of Cambodia, we have decided to set up two regional networks to coordinate and facilitate. We hope that the initiative of the CRC and the CRC implementation in education will be better and stronger through networking of the change agents. Our first national network meeting was held in 2013 with five batches gathered. We hold a national meeting one or two times per year, to be able to easily communicate we have a Facebook account and a What’s App-group. We have also created a CRC library and folders on CRC and we try to share as much information as possible. We have had successful meetings with the Swedish Embassy and it is promising for the future. In 2012, the Swedish Embassy invited us to join an alumni meeting. This year after the Impact and Dissemination Seminar in Phnom Pehn all the change agents was invited to the Embassy together with important education stakeholders (Child Fund, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, UNICEF, Unesco, Save the Children, Care Cambodia, KAPE,NEP, USAID) and representatives from LUCE and Sida. We presented our change work and had a fruitful discussion. 36 Sustaining the change work The sustainability of the CRC in Cambodia needs the following: 1. To get involved with the stakeholders/NGO´s of Education in Cambodia. We need to work together in training programmes for inspectors and teachers on the implementation on CRC. We, the change agents have a lot of experience in how to run workshops on CRC. 2. Budget We need a budget to be able to meet twice a year in our national network and organise and plan our activities (transport, accommodation) 3. Implementation of Student Councils at the Teacher Training Centres The model we have developed in RTTC Stung Treng can be implemented in other TTC in the Cambodia. It will strengthen the teacher trainees to understand CRC. 4. Regional network The Cambodian Change Agents are part of the global network, we have several network in nearby countries that we want to communicate with, meet, share knowledge and develop CRC activities. Viet Nam is the closest country and we can see that a regional seminar between the countries can strengthen the spirit of CRC and we can learn from each other. 5. Global network To be able to participate in CRC conferences arranged by other networks in the programme. 37 China China has its first team in batch 1 (2003) and in total 13 teams and 38 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where China has 6 teams and 18 change agents (March 2016). Level Position of Change Agents Change Projects in in Batch 1-21 Batch 1-21 National 3 0 Region/Province/District 30 7 Local 5 6 Comments TeacherTraining Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The Child Rights Programme is focusing Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in China. The implementation of CRC in education, learning and teaching has been gradually dominated by participants from teacher training institutions, and directed against participation by students in schools and universities, and student teachers at Inner Mongolia Normal University, Tongliao Vocational College, Chifeng University, and Hulunbuir College. Area: Population: 9,706,961 km2 1,393,786,836 (est. 2014) Capital: Beijing Independence: 19 December 1949 Official language: Mandarin Chinese Network coordinator: Sun Baijun, [email protected] 38 China Post Conference Report He Zhiying, Wei Jianqiang, Zhang Aihua, Guo Xuelin, Ren Lei, Wu Xiaochun, Jiao Feng, Ma Jingxin, Qi Ying, Su Rina, Cao Yiming, Wang Xiaohua, Liu Chang, Sun Xiaorui, Wuyungaowa, Zhang Yu, Li Jie, and Ma Wei. Current status and focus of the change work Current status The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was approved by the United Nations in 1989 and it was ratified in China in 1992, followed by the related laws and regulations in order to protect the interests of children in provision, protection and participation. CRC change agents in Inner Mongolia, China, have been the pioneers to raise the awareness of CRC and participation at different levels from Batch 1 in 2003 to Batch 21 in 2014. They have integrated CRC and participation into the decision-making process and school practice in Inner Mongolia, including training pre- and in-service teachers, designing CRC-based curriculum and developing training materials. Specifically, the work that has been achieved by Batch 16 to 21 included promoting participation in and out of class, implementing CRC-based training programs, providing materials on CRC, piloting research of Participatory Approach (PA) in middle schools, developing training handbooks for classroom practitioners, and providing CRC-oriented modules for teacher training. To strengthen the work done previously, a local network has been built among change agents, ranging from the classroom teachers to the department of education in Inner Mongolia. 39 Focus of the change work In order to enhance the implementation of CRC and the sustainability of participation, we believe changing from teachers would be the most effective and sustainable way. Moreover, it is our privilege that of most of the change agents in China are working at higher education level. Therefore, the change work has been focused on teacher training for the sustainability of CRC and participation in education in China. Training pre-service teachers To begin with, all the four universities involved including IMNU, TVC, CFU and HLBRU set out to reform their curricula. We not only integrated CRC into different courses for both undergraduates and postgraduates, but designed a course on CRC on different levels as well. Furthermore, in 2015, we launched an intercollegiate project that we will train a group of volunteering undergraduates within three years to prepare them for future practice in CRC education. Besides, change agents actively implement participatory approaches in their training classes. This, to some extent, is also an effective ways of enhancing the pre-service teachers’ understanding towards CRC. Training in-service teachers In order to raise the in-service teachers’ CRC awareness and equip them with CRC knowledge, skills and approaches of implementing Participatory Approach in their classes, change agents have conducted short- and long-term CRC programs for teachers from basic education to higher education. Teachers from different levels and background have taken the training program. Over 580 teachers from K-12 levels and 294 backbone teachers from colleges in Inner Mongolia were trained. In several projects, in-service teachers are target groups or stakeholders participating actively throughout the process. In addition, change agents trained the teachers by holding discussions and seminars, giving demonstration classes and by evaluating classes. The content of training included both the CRC-related knowledge and participatory teaching approaches. Furthermore, different training approaches focusing on improving trainees’ participation were utilized by change agents. Designing training materials Reflected on the projects of the precious batches, we decided to develop CRC-based training materials for the related courses and the training programs in Inner Mongolia. A reference book Child Rights and School Education was produced and used for the courses provided in the universities in Inner Mongolia. Another resource book A Handbook of Rights-Based Participatory Approach for EFL Teaching (English as a Foreign Language) has been in progress in English, and hopefully in Chinese and 40 Mongolian as well. In addition, CRC-based leaflets have been designed and distributed to local primary school students and parents. Establishing a network In order to enhance the sustainability of the achievement, the change agents in Inner Mongolia have been working on constructing the network from the following aspects. 1.Network seminars In 2013, 2014, 2015, we held Network seminars focusing on various topics including the implementation of CRC-based teaching training, integrating CRC into current curriculum, Participatory Approach in EFL teaching, CRC and basic education reform, etc. All the seminars attracted teachers, researchers and related government officials around the region to participate. Considerable research and practical fruits have been beard. 2. CRC QQ network In 2012, Batch 17 initiated the QQ network project. At the time of its establishment, there were only 10 change agents registered as members. Now the QQ groups have a large amount of followers including all 31 change agents and backbone teachers from several schools. 3. CRC WeChat network With the popularity of WeChat – a social communication network in China, in 2014, the CRC WeChat network was established with the WeChat Group and WeChat Platform. The Group, with all CRC change agents and our Mentor Per, makes our communication more efficient and instant. The Platform is to disseminate the CRC-related knowledge and update the latest news about CRC-related research and development. Meanwhile, QQ network has also been used to share CRC resources and documents. 4. Inner Mongolia Research Center for Child Protection and Development In January 2015, with the approval of Inner Mongolia Education Department, Inner Mongolia Research Center for Child Protection and Development was founded to initiate CRC education, teaching, research and social service. The Center was founded at Inner Mongolia Normal University with Inner Mongolia Department of Education and the Lund University professors as advising team. The purpose of the founding of the Center is to relocate the current resources, bring school reforms, improve the scientific research capacity, broaden and deepen the field of research in child development and protection, and provide strategies, methods and materials for child development and protection in school and family education. The center will also organize workshops or other training programs to facilitate and provide intellectual support for teachers, parents and social workers. The center also aims to 41 draw attentions of people with same goal, to influence more people, and to lead the role in child development, rights protection and school education regionally and nationally. The Center includes all the Inner Mongolia change agents from “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management” Advanced International Training Program as the main members and will invite new members, especially the renowned specialists in child development, school and family education home and abroad. The Center activities will be mainly operated by School of Foreign Languages at IMNU, collaborating with TVC, Chifeng College, Hulunber College, Hohhot Education Bureau, Yuquan District Teacher Professional Development School, Hohhot No. 3 Middle, Tongliao No.1 Middle School and Helin No.1 Middle School. Integrating scientific research, dissemination and education, the Center will organize different activities under the guidance and supervision of Inner Mongolia Department of Education and the Sweden experts. The research and work of the Center will be more focused on the following aspects: • Cultivate CRC awareness and capacity among pre-service teachers and develop CRC-based Child Rights protection and participatory approach course. • Cultivate CRC awareness and capacity among in-service teachers and develop the relevant courses. • Work on participatory teaching reform, develop participatory teaching mode, guide and implement the teaching reform, and put participatory approach into classroom teaching on the daily basis. • Do research on the integration of school management, Child Rights protection, child safety and child development, and develop the management mode to ensure the promoting of the participatory management concepts and mode. • Research on the presentation and implementation of CRC in school education, and provide suggestions for the enactment and amendment of laws and regulations. • Organize variety of activities such as workshops, training, seminars to widen influence and improve scientific capacity. • Research on concepts and methods good for child development and protection, and provide counseling service for the society and for the parents. • Hold annual meeting to communicate, discuss, and cooperate on research projects and accomplishments. • Other relevant research and disseminating activities. The current task for the Center includes the following aspects: • Establish the website of the Center within a year to provide a platform for the research, dissemination, education and communication in terms of child development and Child Rights protection, and school education. • Develop courses, syllabus and materials within 3 to 5 years such as Foreign Language Teaching and Child Rights Protection, Child Development and Protection 42 Management Concepts, Participatory Classroom Reform and Model, and Subject Teaching and Child Rights Protection. • Actively apply for the relevant scientific research projects at school level, regional level and national level, try to manage to successfully apply for three regional projects within two years, make breakthrough for national projects, organize and guide the implementation of the approved applications. • With the operation of the constructive tasks, raise the influence of the Center, and work hard for the most influential research center within 3 to 5 years regionally and even nationally. 1. Partnerships with local schools on different levels Through years of efforts of all change agents, we have established good partnership and friendship with lots of local schools. We conducted lots of research by observing classes, working with the teachers and school administrators and interviewing the students. 2. Impact and Dissemination Seminars in Bangkok and Phnom Penh Both Impact and Dissemination Seminars have offered great opportunities for all of the change agents to strengthen the network internationally. The importance of international cooperation and communication have been recognized and strengthened. All we have been done so far with the network has ensured the dissemination and sustainability of CRC and participation in teaching practice. Reflections on successes and challenges The successful implementation of the CRC project is based on great support of Education Department of Inner Mongolia and the four universities. The CRC-based teacher training program was started from the English subjects, targeting both preservice and in-service teachers in universities, primary schools and secondary schools. Reflections and challenges are listed as follows. Reflections • • • • • Students’ awareness and knowledge of CRC and participation have been improved; Teacher-centered classrooms have been changed to some extent; Teachers’ competence and students’ social practice abilities have been improved; More systematic resource books have facilitated in the change work process; More approaches and channels have been utilized among the change agents locally and internationally; • Research work and practice of sustainability have been conducted actively. 43 Challenges • How to integrate CRC into local cultures and education system in Inner Mongolia in China; • Constant resistance and reluctance from the classroom practitioners in the change work; • Insufficient financial support for the teacher training resource books; • Time and fund constraints for the networking; • The weak linkage between the CRC based projects with the K-12 schools; • A lack of existing evaluation for the teacher training and networking. Way forward However long and tough the journey is, the first step must be made. We sincerely hope children would benefit from our projects. To keep the sustainability and dissemination of CRC, we are all determined to continue making efforts with the following plans. Firstly, in order to achieve continuous dissemination of CRC, more research related with CRC and student-centered approaches should be carried out. School teachers from different levels should be involved in regional, national and international conferences, seminars and trainings. By communicating and training, teachers’ awareness of child right will be further aroused with the broadened horizon. CRC awareness will help both teachers and students. Furthermore, related academic books, training manuals, academic papers and research projects on CRC will be encouraged to disseminate the concepts of CRC. Secondly, more training program should be designed and implemented on larger scale. We plan to expand the scale and scope of the existed training program by utilizing internet and technology. We will not only train the pre-and in-service teachers face to face, but also train them through synchronous and asynchronous videoconferencing online courses. In addition, we plan to design and record some micro-lessons or minitraining lectures on CRC knowledge and participatory approaches and post them on our website and WeChat platform. By utilizing the technology, we could break down the barrier of time and location. The training program could benefit more trainees. Thirdly, we plan to further strengthen our network. Based on the existed network and the Research Center on Child Protection and Development, we plan to invite more in-service teachers, researchers and related government official to join in the network. Moreover, we would establish corporations with national and international organizations or networks. Seminars at different levels will be held among more target groups, like teachers, parents, social medium and NGO groups. 44 45 Colombia Colombia had its first team in batch 4 and in total 13 teams and 36 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 focus batches 15-21, where Colombia has 4 teams and 12 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1 - 21 Change Projects in Batch 1 - 21 Comments National 6 2 Projects are on more than one level Region/Province/District 12 4 Local 18 12 Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socioadministrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. Main topics of most of the Colombian projects are linked with participation, conflict resolution and cultural heritage. Several projects are targeting both local schools and teacher training in universities or districts/localities in the capital city Bogota. Projects with representatives from national level are also disseminated in the country. Area: Population: 1,141,748 km2 47,791,393 (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: Bogotá 20 July 1810 (from Spain) Official language: Spanish Network coordinators: Andrea Jaramillo, [email protected] Yanneth Consuelo Sanchez, [email protected] Bibana Rubio Saavedra, [email protected] 46 Colombia Post Conference Report Luis Calderon Uribe, Jose Alexander, Hernandez Lopez, Ilona Murcia, Judith Castellanos, Carlos Galán, Yanneth Sanchez, Pedro Cabrejo, Judith Guevara Uribe, Sandra Santos Ortiz, Armando Calderón, Julián Ernesto Castro, and Eliana Garzón. Current status and focus of the change work The situation in the country before the peace treaties held in La Habana, Cuba, and its implications in the public school. Colombia is a country that has been in civil war for more than 50 years. Rebels such as the Colombian Armed Forces (FARC, its acronym in Spanish) and the National Liberation Army (ELN, its acronym in Spanish) have been fighting against the official Army of Colombia, generating an armed conflict in various regions of the country. There are several reasons for the war: inequality in the distribution of land, poverty, social inequity, and difficulties in coexistence, among other problems. The war has resulted in internal displacement of refugees coming from rural areas to the large cities, impoverishing Colombians and generating serious problems of coexistence between different social groups. These problems are characterized by the violation of the human rights and in particular the rights of the children. In the public schools, the implications of the war are various: not every child has access to education in the rural areas in conflict. In the cities, the schools have enrolled children that belong to families in situation of displacement. These schools may have problems of coexistence such as bullying, alienation, conflicts among children, and the sort. Also, outside the schools, the communities face coexistence challenges that reflect the general situation in the country. The Colombian CRC network’s response to the country’s coexistence Since the country is about to start a post-conflict era, our role as change agents becomes essential. Consequently, we have worked from our respective fields to contribute to the 47 construction of a nation at peace. In particular, all the batches that have participated in this process have worked towards the improvement of coexistence in the public schools. The primary concern has been enforcing Child Rights in the public schools towards fostering citizenship and a greater capacity for living together peacefully. The analysis done by the participants in the Bangkok 2 Seminar, comprised the different change work of batches 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 into four trends, namely, Teacher Development, Materials Development, Cultural identity, and Building Community. The subsequent batches 16, 17, 19, and 20 continued nurturing these trends with their different projects. Teacher development Teacher development is an important area of study devoted to the promotion of reflective processes in regards to personal and professional concerns (Evans, 2002). It also implies enhancing classroom practices and decision-making processes, updating in terms of approaches, methods, innovation and research (Cárdenas, Gonzalez & Alvarez, 2010). In addition, teacher development deals with teachers’ empowerment and the building of their identity (Danielewics, 2001). In the projects developed by the batches of our country, we can evidence some learning practices that can enlighten the current status of this trend. First, The Annual Professional Development Seminars were conceived to sensitize teachers towards CRC issues. It has the following features: (a) It has brought together current and potential change agents, Pre-service, novice and in-service teachers of all fields of study, and the children as subjects of rights since every child has a story to tell; (b) it has been institutionalized as an Annual Seminar that raises teachers’ awareness of CRC issues; (c) it has set the grounds for the creation of a Colombian network; and (d) it is sustainable as change agents can take the change project forward (empowered to take action). Second, we have worked with preschool and elementary school teachers of two public schools in Bogotá, training them in conflict resolution strategies inside and outside the classroom. Accordingly, teachers would become skilled at dealing with conflict with their pupils. In turn, pupils themselves would benefit by learning how to deal with conflictive situations by themselves peacefully. These can turn classroom conflict in sources of learning; stimulate learning and the enforcement of social values to contribute to coexistence and citizenship. Another successful outcome of this project is a book, in press, containing the conflict resolution strategies. In addition, we trained teachers of another public school in the collective construction of human ecology and published a book containing such experience. These publications will allow sharing the knowledge with other in-service teachers in different public schools in the country, becoming an outstanding opportunity for continued teacher development. Third, we have also trained student-teachers in materials development in public universities, generating didactic material based on CRC and producing narratives on student-teachers’ reflections about their pedagogical interventions involving CRC. Having developed training with preservice teachers is fundamental, as future teachers will be more aware of the enforcement of CRC in the schools in Colombia. Accordingly, the 48 scope of our work on teacher development has reached both pre-service and in-service teachers. Material development Considering the amount of didactic materials we develop every day for pedagogical practices, we need to acknowledge Tomlinson’s (1998) and Graves’ (1997) words in the sense that all teachers are potential material developers. Those materials can be created, designed or adapted for several purposes and contexts (Tomlinson, 2012). A condition for those materials is the reflection on the needs of the teaching context, as stated by Núñez and Téllez (2009), “The onset of teachers’ reflection is the individual assessment of the EFL classroom, which enable[s] them to make decisions when they create or adapt materials that fulfil particular needs and learning settings” (p. 172). Thus, we could use those materials for promoting children rights in class as one of the most assertive didactic and pedagogical resources. Some of the materials that have been designed with this purpose through the different projects in Colombia include a dictionary of peasant language of a Colombian town created and compiled by children and youngsters, student-generated video clips on child abuse and violence, a digital book about strategies on conflict resolution, a booklet on CRC for teachers, parents and children and big books developed by student-teachers and children. Reflective materials have been also developed through this process. Reflective workshops on the three P’s (Protection, Provision, and Participation) were relevant for this CRC practice with student-teachers. Workshops related to participation, positive discipline, critical thinking and materials development; and memories of the daily pedagogical interventions of in-service teachers regarding practices on rights, citizenship, and peace were also part of this reflective material designed in the CRC projects. Cultural identity There is a melt of many creeds, races and customs in Colombia. In public schools, CRC projects have improved the strategies that teachers, students and parents can implement to make this race diversity be one of the most enriching features of culture. Learning practices such as the creation of memory centers on cultural heritage and identity with children and youngsters in towns of Colombia; and field trips to natural, historical, and cultural places near a public school enhance the development of a sense of belonging and identity. Building community The construction of community is an on-going process and our role as change agents is pertinent to achieve this objective. Educational community and society in general must generate opportunities and ensure that children rights continue being the approach of our schools. Some learning practices in various public schools include the institu- 49 tionalization of a school’s day that involves activities related to CRC; and the creation of theme-classrooms, such as a theater, a restaurant, a library, a cafe internet, a gym, and a dance room. Both practices ensure quality instruction in the schools. Moreover, informative meetings, reflective workshops, and brochures regarding the three P´s (Provision, Protection, and Participation) make students, teachers and families aware of the importance of children rights. Reflection on successes and challenges The following tables include the successes and challenges we have identified so far in each trend. Table 1 Teacher Development Successes Challenges Organization and participation in the CRC Annual Seminar To position the CRC Annual Seminar at a national level Sensitization around the importance of CRC Training in-service and student-teachers on CRC To spread out teachers training on CRC to the national level Including CRC in the curriculum of an upcoming undergraduate teaching program To make our space of action wider regarding student-teachers’ participation. Continuing a CRC Research Agenda (There is a current research study entitled: Professional Development Seminars to Sensitise Teachers Towards Child Rights Classroom Practices (Núñez, A., Téllez, M.F., & Torres, C.) 50 Table 2 Materials Development Successes Challenges Books To disseminate the materials in different schools nation-wise Castellanos, Sánchez & Galán (in press). Resolución de Conflictos Dentro y Fuera del Aula: Estrategias Pedagógicas para Fortalecer un Currículo de Paz [Conflict resolution inside and outside the classroom: pedagogical strategies to strengthen a curriculum for peace]. Guevara, J. (2014). Derechos de los Niños: del Sueño a la Realidad [children rights: a dream come true]. Murcia-Ijjasz, I. & Martínez, F. (2013). El Pequeño Diccionario de la Lengua Campesina Compilado por Niños y Jóvenes [Dictionary of peasant language written by Children]. Sánchez, Calderón & Mendoza (2015).Ciudadanía para la Convivencia y la Paz (citizenship for coexistence and peace). Didactic material developed by change agents Sandra Marcela Falla Barragán wrote children’s short stories that deal with familiarizing children with their rights, preventing discrimination, preventing sexual abuse, and preventing bullying. These books are being used in more than 20 public schools, in the city of Bogotá. Falla, S. M. (2015). Tú También Tienes Derechos [You have rights, too]; El Abrazo del Gallinazo [The embrace of the vulture]; Todos menos uno [All except one]; Rodney en el Colegio Miau [Rodney in the Miau school]. In Instituto para la investigación Educativa y Desarrollo Pedagógico IDEP (2015). Cuando Nos Notan es Una Nota! Album de los Derechos [When we are noticed is cool. Sticker album of the Child Rights]. Bogotá: IDEP. María Fernanda Téllez Téllez and Javier Alexis Junca developed workshops related to participation, positive discipline, critical thinking and materials development with 4 teachers at the Administrative Centre of Local Education (CADEL, its acronym in Spanish) in the locality of Bosa, Bogotá. Didactic material developed by student-teachers and school learners Pedro Cabrejo Ruíz and student-teachers in a public university designed the didactic materials named Big Book1, 2 , and 3) (Big books based on Protection, Provision, and Participation) Sandra Santos and her learners designed short stories on Bullying in a public school. Audiovisual material Alejandro Calderón and his learners created a video in a public school. Séptima Puerta (The seventh door). A short film directed and acted by students at Sierra Morena School. Sponsored by Ojo al Sanchocho NGO. Web pages Pedro Cabrejo Ruíz created a Facebook page called Children Rights Change Agents. https://www.facebook.com/ Childrenrightsagents/?fref=ts 51 To use and evaluate the materials To create different communication channels to share materials and experiences To design a bilingual digital kit with all the production Table 3 Cultural Identity Successes Challenges Creating discussion circles about cultural diversity and coexistence To coach public school learners as junior change agents Implementing the subject named cátedra Villa de Leyva [Villa de Leyva subject] in public schools of Villa de Leyva, a town in Colombia. To make the children’s participation as defenders of their rights visible Fostering children’s awareness and appreciation of their multicultural heritage. To reach out to teachers and parents through workshops, meetings, and the sort. Table 4 Building Community Successes Challenges Fostering a CRC culture with three target groups: inservice teachers, student-teachers, and learners. To consolidate the Colombian CRC Network Promoting reflection upon CRC To gain sustainability of the four trends Recognizing and empowering natural, historical and cultural heritage of the surroundings of a school in Bogotá. To enhance the efforts with the aim to involve parents in the CRC culture Students coaching other fellow students on CRC issues in a public school. Way forward To guarantee sustainability of the four trends and our national CRC network, we have agreed upon four major strategies, namely, integrating CRC in the curriculum, sharing experiences, and creating a web-page. Likewise, we consider of paramount importance to continue developing a research agenda around topics concerning CRC. Integrating CRC in the curriculum We find necessary to develop skills and behaviours to strengthen the CRC culture and build a child-friendly environment and coexistence in our schools. This can be achieved through guaranteeing participation of the different target groups; that is to say learners, teachers, principals and other important stakeholders in the school decisions. This can be done through mechanisms that will guarantee informed and critical participation. Some of the actions to be taken in the school involve first including CRC in the mission and vision of the school; second, training teachers as change agents; third, involving CRC in the syllabi of the school subjects, the instructional materials, resources, and the teaching methods; and fourth, improving the infrastructure of the school and distributing the school budget. Likewise, we should continue to work with student-teachers to train them as change agents. On the other hand, we should advocate for and mainstream CRC issues in pre- 52 service programs so that CRC can be involved in the pre-service programs syllabi, as it will be the case of an upcoming undergraduate teaching program that will include a CRC subject in a public university in Bogotá. Sharing experiences It is important to consolidate the exchange of experiences through give and gain. This involves sharing the experiences through (a) an annual network meeting; (b) a students´ annual meeting; (c) an annual CRC seminar; (d) participating in existing networks. Annual network meeting To strengthen the Colombian CRC network, we deem necessary to have a yearly formal meeting in March. In this meeting we will reach agreements and organize both the students’ annual meeting and the annual CRC seminar. Students’ annual meeting This is a novelty that we will implement in the schools to give students a voice and to empower their practices and engage them as junior change agents. This give and gain meeting will be held in September and the venue for each year will be one of the schools where CRC have been implemented. The most salient experiences can be selected to participate in the annual CRC seminar. The annual CRC seminar Five seminars have been organized. We will continue to organize the seminar that will be held in October. The attendees will continue to be student teachers and in-service teachers, and school principals and other guests. As presenters, we have had the change agents and some in-service teachers talking about their CRC projects. Also, we want to include school students and student-teachers as presenters. They have been involved in different CRC projects as target groups; therefore, they can participate presenting their experiences. This will give them a voice and continue to ensure participation. In the future we would like to position this seminar at a national level. Participating in existing networks There are several national and international networks that deal with issues like coexistence, peace, and child education, which can become an opportunity to advocate for a CRC agenda in the schools by sharing our expertise and experience in CRC. 53 Creating a web-page We consider necessary to create a web-page for our national CRC network. This space will guarantee visibility of the network and systematization of the experiences of our CRC projects. Facebook may constitute a free and friendly user virtual space where the CRC project reports and materials such as booklets, manuals, didactic units, videos, literature and the sort can be shared with others. Continuing a CRC research agenda Finally, we consider paramount to continue conducting research about CRC related issues (see Table 1, Teacher Development). Other change agents will start a research study on children’s participation entitled Harvesting Seeds of Participation, which will emerge from the Students’ Annual Meeting. The different batches can continue to strengthen their existing projects through action research, case study or classroom ethnography to mention some. The previous strategies will help us sustain the four trends and to reinforce the CRC national network. We are committed change agents who want to favour coexistence in the learners, teachers, and principals; therefore, contribute to the peace construction in the post-conflict Colombian society. References Castellanos, J., Sánchez, Y. C. & Galán, C. E. (in press). Resolución de conflictos dentro y fuera del aula: estrategias pedagógicas para fortalecer un currículo de paz [Conflich resolution strategies in and outside the classroom: pedagogical strategies to strengthen a curriculum for peace]. Bogotá: IDEP. Cárdenas, M. L., González, A., & Álvarez, J. A. (2010). El desarrollo profesional de los docentes de inglés en ejercicio: Algunas consideraciones conceptuales para Colombia [In service English teachers' professional development: Some conceptual considerations for Colombia]. Folios, 31, 49-68. Danielewics, J. (2001). Teaching selves: Identity pedagogy and teacher education. New York, NY: State University New York Press. Evans, L. (2002). What is teacher development? Oxford Review of Education, 28(1), 123-137. Taylor & Francis Ltd. DOI: 10.1080/03054980120113670. Retrieved from http://www.education.leeds.ac.uk/assets/files/staff/papers/What-isteacher-Development.pdf Falla, S. M. (2015). Tú También Tienes Derechos [You have rights, too]; El Abrazo del Gallinazo [The embrace of the vulture]; Todos menos uno [All except one]; Rodney en el Colegio Miau [Rodney in the Miau school]. In Instituto para la investigación Educativa y Desarrollo Pedagógico IDEP (2015). Cuando Nos Notan es Una Nota! Album de los Derechos [When we are noticed is cool. Sticker album of the child rights]. Bogotá: IDEP. 54 Graves, K. (1997). Teachers as course developers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Guevara, J. (2014). Derechos de los niños: del sueño a la realidad. Bogotá: SED. Murcia-Ijjasz, I. & Martínez, F. (2013). El Pequeño Diccionario de la Lengua Campesina Compilado por Niños y Jóvenes. Villa de Leyva: Editorial Villa de Leyva y Ministerio de Cultura. Núñez, A., & Téllez, M. F. (2009). ELT Materials: the key to fostering effective teaching and learning settings. PROFILE: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 11 (2) 171-185. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Núñez, A., Téllez, M. F., & Castellanos, J. (2012). A framework for materials development: a path for in-service teachers to build up the instructional design of their research projects. In A. Núñez, M. F. Téllez, & J. Castellanos (Eds.), Teacher research on English didactics issues (pp. 17-37). Bogotá: Departamento de Publicaciones Universidad Externado de Colombia. Sánchez, R., Calderón, A., & Mendoza, M. E. (2015). Ciudadanía para la convivencia y la paz. Bogotá: Autores Editores. Tomlinson, B. (1998). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tomlinson, B. (2012). Materials development for language learning and teaching. Language Teaching, 45(02), 143-179. 55 Egypt Egypt had its first team in batch 3 and in total 8 teams and 24 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 focus batches 15-21, where Egypt has 4 teams and 12 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents Change Projects in Batch in Batch 1-21 1-21 National 7 1 Region/Province/District 7 3 Local 10 4 Comments Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The teams present in Cambodia are working with projects in Cairo and Port Said. They are focusing teacher’s awareness on child rights and the ability to teach in a participatory way. Area: Population: 1,002,450 km2 87,449,700 (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: Cairo 28 February 1922 (from the United Kingdom) Official language: Arabic Network coordinators: Ghada Attia, [email protected] (Port Said) Mohammed Mohammed Hamed, [email protected] (Cairo) 56 Egypt Post Conference Report Mustafa Mahmoud, Samar Mustafa, Mona Gad, Manal Alsehrawy, Sherif Imam, Maha Elkiki, Hossam Samy, Noha Ekram, YaraShokry, Omnia Nasr Allah, Reham Rabie, and Mahmoud Mohasseb. Introduction Egypt was among the first countries to sign the United Nations Child Rights Convention (CRC) in December 1989 and ratified it on the 6th of July 1990. It further declared its first decade for the child protection (1989-1999). The promulgation of Child Law number 12/1996 is considered one of the most important accomplishments of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood in Egypt. In 2008 amendments were made to the Child Law, to adopt a rights-based approach for Egyptian children deprived of their rights to education, health, social care, and especially the right to family care. Egypt has made significant progress over the past decade toward achieving the millennium development goals with substantial gains in child survival rates, school enrolment, immunization coverage, and accesses to safety drinking water. We believe that the Child Rights Convention has to be disseminated among concerned stakeholders; decision makers, parents, teachers, school admin, students …etc. Child participation “Article 12, CRC” is the area that has influence on our students’ lives especially after the Egyptian Revolution that committed a change in all aspects of life of the Egyptian people. Empowering the students’ participation, building up their personality, increasing their involvement in all school activities is the overall target that could promote the idea of considering the child an active citizen, who can practice democratic values effectively. If we, adults, believe that we can change, we could change our attitudes, concepts and beliefs to see children as subjects, competent actors that are guaranteed freedom of expression, instead of looking upon them as objects. This will make them enjoy a better future where they will have space to build their society on principles of good citizenship. 57 Based on the above-mentioned context, Egypt CRC projects focused on students’ participation to create a child friendly school environment, where student voices are heard. Current status and focus of the change work The network change agents are coming from different governorates and implement the projects in four governorates. But the journey for all of the change agents started easier because of the help and support received by the previous batches and change agents. The agents work on similar basis but each batch has a significant achievement that enhance the outreach and involve the other batches as well. As we started the project, the awareness of the CRC on the formal (governmental) level was very limited, it was only protocols and agreements but real implementation on the ground wasn’t enough. So it was normal at that time that our main concern was to spread the concept of the CRC. We started to plan how to approach the targeted groups (teachers, students and parents) under the 25th January 2011 revolution circumstances and the security issues by getting the necessary official approvals. And then it comes to the planning and setting strategies of how we will train our targeted groups and what to teach them. We decided that what our targeted groups need to learn was a general idea about the Child Rights Convention and its articles. We also decided that they needed to learn new ways and be armed with new tools that will help them to implement the CRC with their students inside the classrooms and at homes with their children. Visits to the targeted schools were made, workshops were held and activities inside schools with students were conducted, a new spirit was looming. The steps towards securing the CRC path in Egypt were gradual moves presented in a variety of activities designed and implemented by each batch building on the previous efforts. Some of these activities were: Delivering training workshops and seminars on CRC in general with a focus on the right of children’ participation and how to increase it at schools. Positive Discipline is the most popular topic needed by both teachers and students. The target groups are: students, teachers, administrators from many schools, and staff members and student teachers from the University. The network was very concerned with sustainability and integration. We wanted to build upon the outputs and efforts of the previous batches.we are proud to be a strong sustainable network that integrated the efforts of the batches. The network depended on utilizing the multiplier effect, recruit and build the capacity of new change agents to achieve the targeted dissemination. One of the network achievement is forming and registering a Community Development Association (NGO) for child development named Blossoms” (or Bara3em in Arabic). Barae3m is offering training sessions and activities to children and the involved stakeholders as teachers and parents.Through this growing entity, we managed to unify all the efforts exerted in CRC field and arrange regular activities and programs under its umbrella. 58 Conducting an International conference: “Towards A Child Friendly School” that aimed at raising awareness of CRC and introducing an implementation model of CRC in education since the core of batch 21’s project is to encourage the implementation of CRC in teachers’ education for which the major problem is that CRC is seen as merely a legislative package of laws, a starting point was to adopt an implementation model that introduces CRC in applicable form. According to the UNICEF definition, “means of transporting the concept of Child Rights into classroom practice and school management:(a) participation of all children. (b) relevant education to children needs for livelihood knowledge. (c) healthy and safe for children emotional well-being (d)gender-responsive, fostering gender equality,and (e)actively engaged with students, family and community. Thus, conference provides a central activity that creates a suitable environment for working with: (a) Faculties, as the conference was discussing a model for the educational implementations of CRC when adopted first and foremost will create ownership which is a core for sustainability, involvement in preparing, evaluating and editing papers for the conference bulletin would increase the targeted group awareness, motivate to produce more literature in this field, and would lead to infusion of CRC in teachers’ education without breaking norms, (b) In-service teachers are invited to present workshops, to submit research papers or to attend for free, they are targeted by a promotional workshop on child friendly schools model giving them the opportunity to reflect on and evaluate their school and their practices against a criteria, and a targeted school was chosen to be developed as a child friendly school. (c) Pre-service teachers were also targeted by a promotional workshop on child friendly school as the topic of the coming conference held by the faculty, invited to voluntarily participate and invited to attend for free. As the conference provided an opportunity to work with all the targeted groups, it was also a great opportunity for working together as a network of change agents and not as a separated team of three increasing our space of action, and catalyzing a change environment creating awareness of CRC and its educational implementation even to the local community through media coverage before, during and post the conference. Dr. Ulf Leo and Lena Andersson also attended the conference and participated on both tracks. All CRC batches and many change agents from Cairo, Mansoura, and Port Said were represented in the conference as attendees or by conducting workshops. Results The targeted faculties adopted “Towards a Child Friendly School” conference and all worked on the conference organization, the evaluation, editing and publishing papers at the conference bulletin, presenting 15 research papers and two workshops at the conference, and working on the conference recommendation and its application, and creating partnership with the ministry of education for the implementation of these recommendations. Moreover, some of the faculties added to their courses some topics on participatory approaches, right based approaches, child friendly schools, cooperative learning, and active learning and two PhDs and three MA proposals were approved on related topics – three of them attended the forum on writing a research proposal con- 59 ducted by our team. Also, a postgraduate diploma entitled Child Educators was opened for registration this year upon the conference recommendations. The faculties are now engaged in organizing a new conference “Egyptian Schools in the 21st Century in the Light of International Educational Trends” that would be held on April 16th – 17th, 2016 at Port Said International Schools in cooperation with Egyptian network. There is also a group of additional results:(a) the media coverage of the conference spotlighted the CRC educational implementation principles and highlighted the child friendly school adding to the community awareness of CRC, (b) the ministry of education encouraged the in service teachers to participate in the conference and to develop their schools announcing a competition for encouraging them, (c) There were participation from five foreign universities and seven national universities participating at the conference (d) about seven hundred pre-service, in-service teachers, principals, postgraduate students, educators, faculties and child right advocates attended the conference. Our network had an opportunity to work together at the conference sharing and gaining experience: participating in organizing the conference, preparing and conducting workshops which was an opportunity to introduce our network and to get some requests for offering workshops for in-service teacher training. Although most of change projects were implemented and the two-year project was over but the network is still active in many activities related to the project and even initiating a new one, Recently, and in the light of Integrating and networking between the involved stakeholders to promote Child Rights especially participation, a new protocol between change agents and Directorate of Education was launched and implemented to train 70 teachers (secondary schools) annually on CR and Projects based learning. The good thing about this training that most of the 70 teachers are senior teachers who will have the multiplier effect on the teachers they are supervising. Our network also targeted three kindergartens in three different cities: Port Said, Mansoura and Cairo. One with a prime focus one with focus on reducing violence in schools targeting schools at all levels that was adopted by the UNICEF and published on its cite and the other aiming at enhancing security and safety procedures as well as enhancing the communication with the parents and society. However, we are preparing to target kindergarten faculty in order to have more sustainable results. Concerning the targeted pre-services the six groups submitted their evaluations of their schools and their plans and efforts to develop them into child friendly schools; some of them were introduced at the mentor’s visit. A group of prospective teachers collaboratively wrote a one act play on Child Rights in education and child labor presented by their students at their last day on practice training as an extracurricular activity. They developed many strategies for avoiding corporal punishment using positive reinforcements, encouraging participation and providing a child friendly classroom what encourage us to create a Facebook page to publish and discuss their achievements, share and gain experiences among them especially that twenty-seven of them are currently graduated and three new groups of twenty-six students who started their practice 60 training this year are added. The students attended and some voluntarily participated at the last year conference and workshops and are encouraged to do the same this year. Reflections on successes and challenges Looking back to our journey we think that we took the first step but so many steps are still ahead. We had our ups and downs. If we want to highlight our ups they would be mainly that we managed to encourage teachers and school administrations to attend our workshops and convince them “for a certain level” to give a space (even if it is a small space) to their students to participate and express themselves through conducting different activities such as drawing, acting plays, morning broadcasting and also planting. It was also great to see the smile on the students’ faces when they were participating, to see the surprise when they were listening to us as if we were opening a window to a new world or even when some of the parents came to us asking for advice or demanding to keep doing these activities with their children, it was really a rewarding feeling. We also consider the approval of our formal authorities on the program and their support (even if it is at a small level) especially for a central country such as our country, a success. Now a part of our community knows something about CRC and this is good. But we didn’t go through the road without any obstacles, and the biggest one that we faced was the strong resistance from teachers and parents to the change as they felt that they are losing control over their children or misleading these rights by the children. We discovered that we can conduct workshops and bring people to listen to us but nothing was changing, we need to get to their hearts and their minds. We also discovered that change is a long way process that needs us to be patient and persistent. Other blocks on the road were regulations and curricula, it may be important to work on a school level or even on a street level, but to legislate or to write new curricula speed up the change process. Despite the successes the project has brought, there were some challenges that the team has faced after our last report. One of the biggest challenges is the bureaucratic procedures that we are facing to end the registration process for BARAEM (NGO). In addition, the resistance to change among some teachers and staff members whom we targeted in our training was another big challenge. However, believe that change does not happen overnight. We are still eager to proceed in our change projects and participate in creating our new society that we hope to be based on democracy and freedom of expression. We hope that our child-based project could help shape the future of many children by drawing the attention of many educators to activate their role in society. Reflections On the national level, we managed to train some targeted groups of students, teachers, and administrators in almost 12 schools, students teachers and staff members at Port Said Faculty of Education of CRC in general and child participation in particular. The 61 trained groups were very motivated and enthusiastic to know about the project and to provide solutions and recommendations that could help achieve the purpose of the project. Stakeholders also played a great role in facilitating and supporting our project. Without their help, this project would not have become a reality. As a result of networking and collaboration between schools and university to hold an annual conference in relation of Child Rights. The conference recommendations resulted in issuing the Disciplinary Code by the minister which was a good step on the positive discipline road in Egypt. We managed to focus more on the university level by targeting more faculty staff members and student teachers from the Faculty of Education. We can summarize the strength points of the Egyptian network are: Sustainability, Networking, Scaffold Change and Dissemination In our perusal to expand our space of action, we learnt how networking and power delegation was a core for success. Convinced by scaffolding change and not insisting on leading change gave the room for the targeted groups to create ownership for the change projects, and to lead the change by themselves having us -the change agents of Port Said network- as a scaffold for change to help with resources and volunteering, this created new change agents having their own goals and motivations granting sustainability: a lesson we learnt back at Lund Although many members of our community already know about the CRC, and some members are considered rather important as they occupy positions in the university and have the power to integrate the CRC in their colleges’’ curricula and other members work in the Ministry of Education which means they also have the power to talk on behalf of ourselves but still we have much more to do in spreading the awareness of the CRC and this includes recruiting more faculty members, adding more schools to our program, having more meeting and writing more letters to governmental employees, holding more conferences and inviting more people to present. Also it is very important at this point to focus more in our work NGO Bara3em it can spread the idea of the CRC on a different level which is the street level. Since we work now as change agents in four Egyptian cities, then Networking is a keyword at this stage as union is power, so one of our concerns is to gather and integrate all our efforts and we hope that holding conferences and activating our NGO is going to play an important part in addition to any ideas that we may have in the future, this is for the national level. On the international level we know the importance of being connected to the change agents all around the world, so it is going to be a priority to come up with a way to stay connected with them to give them a picture about what we do and gain their experience. 62 Way forward We have just started, and we still have many things to do if we really want to make a difference, but we can’t make this difference alone, we need all the help that we can get. We intend to work on two parallel lines. The first line represents working inside our schools to strengthen the idea of the CRC, and this means more activities and workshops for teachers, students and parents inside these schools or by hosting these events. Inviting groups of these schools to Port Said International School to see how teachers in PIS are teaching and PIS is implementing CRC in a typical school day. More drawing, playing music and writing will be offered for these students. We learned a lot from the change agents that we met during the “Impact and Dissemination Seminar” in Cambodia 2016, we will try to implement some of these ideas, after all the slogan of the whole program was give and gain. The other line is the dissemination line which means that we will continue in raising the awareness by including more schools in the program. We also intend to work on developing the content of the courses that will be given to teachers during their training with us. There is a dream that we don’t know how long it will take us to make it come true, it is writing a paper about how we can integrate the CRC in our Egyptian curricula and send it to the Egyptian Ministry of Education, it is an ambitious dream but we know that for dreamers the limit is the sky. To target pre service kindergarten teachers at the faculty of kindergarten, Port Said University and to conduct our workshops there as we have so far indirectly targeted the faculties which participated by five research papers at the last conference and we’ll target the in service teachers soon but the prospective kindergarten teachers were only invited for both conferences for free as all students, teachers and postgraduate students. • Conducting a protocol between the faculty of Education and the Ministry of Education enables the Faculty to certify schools as child friendly and to offer suitable training for those who don’t meet the indicators. • Proposing a general course in Child Rights for all specializations of student –teachers. Including the Child Right of Participation in Teachers’ official Oath. • Keep networking with other funding or supporting institutions as US Embassy, Program of Cultural Exchange, Education Circle (one of the change agents is an alumni). They will provide $500 for teachers’ training of Child Rights. 63 Ethiopia Ethiopia had its first team in batch 1 (2003) and in total have 13 teams and 34 change agents in batches 1-21 participated. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 1521, where Ethiopia has 3 teams and 6 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 National 5 0 Region/Province/District 22 3 Local 7 10 Comments Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. Geographically the recruitment has been focused on Addis Abeba and SNNPR a region in the Southern part of Ethiopia. In Ethiopia education is mainly handled by the Regional Education Bureaus (REB), and we have had heads and members from the REB in Addis Abeba and SNNPR and also Amhara. The projects have had various focusses, but there has been a main emphasis on participation, mainly through student councils. Area: Population: 1,104,300 km2 96,958,732 (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: Official language: Addis Ababa Amhari (Working language) Network Coordinators: Abera Lankamo, [email protected] (Awassa) Yeshi Damte, [email protected] 64 Ethiopia Post Conference Report Abera Argo, Elizabeth Amare, Geremew Sime, MitikuKajisho, Tarekegn Sakato, and Zelalem Bogale. Introduction Ethiopia ratified the UN convention of Child Right (UNCRC) in 1991 to ensure children’s protection and their wellbeing. The Right to education is one of the major components of UNCRC, which is being implemented in different parts of the country. Ethiopian schools are providing all the needed services to all school age children irrespective of age, sex, race and other factors. As service providers, schools are expected to implement a right based teaching-learning approach; which in turn ensures the right of children in all affairs including protection, provision and participation. However, majority of schools and school community members including children, principals, teachers and other stakeholders have less understanding about CRC principles and applications; poor coordination and networking among the local stakeholders in implementing CRC. School environment where children spend majority of their life and interact with other communities should own a mechanism of protection from any forms of discrimination and punishment. And state party should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members (UNCRC Article 2,a). It is also important to consider that Schools as a service providing institution should establish standards established services and facilities for children and the state must ensure that the standards are complied with through appropriate inspection (UNCRC Article 3, 3), which in turn protects children from any form of malpractices, put schools and staffs in safe manner. In addition to these, children in any settings including schools, as service providers; should be protected from any harmful social and cultural practices and the state should take all appropriate measures to eliminate harmful social and cultural practices affecting the welfare, dignity, normal growth and development of the child (Article 21). 65 Children should also be ensured their participation in the society and also to understand their responsibilities towards the society and contribute to the best of their abilities at all times and at all levels, to the promotion and achievement of African Unity ( Article 31,a-f ). Cognizant to these facts, Ethiopia ratified African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which focuses on the Rights, and Welfare of the Child. In relation to this, the Sida International Training Programmes on “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management” following the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has contributed to the realization of the intention of the Child Rights Convention in developing countries like Ethiopia. Accordingly, the inclusion of Ethiopia in the Sida organized international training (ITP) has been a good opportunity for the dissemination of the issue of CRC among the school communities in particular and the larger population in general. In this international training program 34 trainees took part in 13 different batches. The trainees were recruited from three different cities of the country namely: Addis Ababa (the capital of the FDRE), Bahir-Dar (the capital of Amhara Regional State) and Hawassa (the capital city of Southern Nation’s, Nationalities’ and Peoples’ Regional State). As these cities have played significant role in the socio-economic and political aspect of the country, the recruitment of the trainees have its own strategic importance. Moreover, the recruitment of trainees from such geographically far apart cities enables to cover the vast territory of Ethiopia by scaling it up to different towns and rural schools of its respective jurisdictions. Furthermore, the recruitment criterion which involves heads of education offices, manage deans and vice deans of Colleges of Teacher Education, school principals and NGO employees enabled to create diversified experiences to be shared among the change agents. Basically, the implementation of each child right projects was undertaken in collaboration with the government education offices. This collaboration between the Sida Change Agents and the heads of Education Offices at different administrative structures has helped to give the projects a legal ground so as to avoid some bad practices that would hinder the right of the child in schools. On the other hand, the child right projects have cumulative impacts beyond their respective area of implementation. To begin with, the projects were successful in breaking the long held traditional practice of treating school children violently and harshly. As a result of the CRC project implementations, school rules and regulations that consider the best interest of the child has been adopted. It is also as a result of the implementation of the CRC projects that the participation of school children in school matter has been well structured and strengthened in primary schools. Moreover, as some of the Sida Change Agent members are working in the influential government positions, they managed to enforce the principles of CRC in the policy frameworks of the country at large. Above all, the establishment of the National Network would sustain the very objective of the CRC projects by providing refreshment trainings on CRC, reproducing or by scaling up former CRC projects. 66 Overview of the Achievements of former Projects in Ethiopia When writing our post conference report, we thought that it is important to give a brief overview of the change projects of all Ethiopian teams who participated from batch One to batch fifteen (namely Batch 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18 and 21). The target groups of the change projects were about 61 primary schools, 2 high schools and 4 colleges of Teacher Education. (One can understand the ambitious intention of the project of Batch 10, which had targeted all primary schools in Southern Nation’, Nationalities’ and Peoples’ Regional State (SNNPRS) of Ethiopia.) In terms of purpose they intended to achieve, all the change projects seemed to be similar except some differences that existed on their respective point of emphasis. In this regard, each of the projects had intended to address knowledge (awareness) gaps among school communities on CR. But, their major aims were in improving active learning methodology, rights based approach to education, creating child-friendly classrooms, enhancing students’ awareness on their rights, creation of student bodies by which they could take part in school decision making, improving students’ academic competency, enhancing co-curricular activities, minimizing child right violations, developing CRC training guidelines as well as improving students’ confidence. On the other hand, the former change projects were also similar in terms of the methodology they had employed and the challenges they faced. Most of the projects were started on the bases of findings from baseline survey or on the bases of action research, which is also similar to the current three projects implemented by batch 16, 18 and 21. Moreover, most of the projects had resorted methods that bring a lasting effect beyond the project’s life span. Accordingly, almost all of the change projects were engaged in either producing CRC training guidelines or incorporating CR issues in teaching and learning materials. Some of the projects also introduced the issue of Child Parliament and Child Right Clubs in to school system, which helped students exercise the right of children in schools and outside the schools. As the inheritances of the future leadership of the country and institutions, the students’ participation in the school parliament paved the way for students to exercise democratic leadership. In addition to these, each change project had conducted intensive training workshops for teachers, supervisors, club members, school principals and others professionals. The focuses of the trainings were mainly to make sure those teachers who are new about the CRC and to put it into practice while they interact with their students in or outside the classroom. Although most of the change projects were suffering from the financial problems to run their projects as intended, they tried their level best to make the projects reality through mobilizing little funds from local sources including the pocket of the change agents. The success of the these previous projects paved the way for the current three projects which tried to make the issue of child right sustainable in the operational regions in particular and in the country in general Integrated Purpose: The overall purpose of the three projects was to ensure child friendly school and Child Rights based teaching and learning in Primary Schools of Hawassa City Administration. 67 Projects’ Interventions: The Projects were implemented in collaboration with the Southern Nations Nationalities’ and Peoples Regional Government Education Bureau (SNNPREB), Hawassa College of Teacher Education (HCTE), Non-Governmental Organizations executing Child Rights projects in the locality, and Bureau of Women’s Children and Youth Affairs (BoWCYA). As it is indicated above, the three projects had almost relevant goal and target groups. The only difference that can be mentioned here is point of emphasis on the target groups. The project of Batch 16 focused its target on college and primary school, the project of Batch 18 focused on one of the Primary school and the project of Batch 21 targeted on Hawassa College of Teacher Education. In any case, each project has common thematic area of raising awareness on the UNCRC and promoting right based learning in primary schools and College communities. To this end, different intervention mechanisms were carried out by each project. The following are some of the activities implemented in their respective operational areas of the projects. Base line Surveys: With an aim of understanding and identifying existing gaps, problems and needs in the areas of Child Rights interventions, each project started with a baseline line study in their respective operational areas. The findings of the baseline survey suggested and provided the team to focus on some major activities such as organizing awareness raising workshops; capacity building training to school communities on CRC; strengthening existing co-curricular school structures; establishing and strengthening CR forums; networking structures, supporting low performing students through arrangement of tutorial classes, establishing good coordination and effective communication. Organize Awareness Raising Trainings and Consultative Workshops: To address the existing knowledge gaps identified from the baseline survey, awareness raising workshops and successive training on CRC were conducted. Participants of these training workshops were members of the Academic Commission in Hawassa College of Teacher Education (HCTE), Child Right club members of student teachers at HCTE, Principals and vice-principals, schoolteachers, Child Rights club members and PTA members in respective schools. The training workshops have enhanced their knowledge in understanding the principles of CRC among the participants and inspired participants for the implementation of the project. Strengthen Child Right Clubs and Student Parliament at Schools: The co-curricular structures are the salient means to realize children participation in schools. Prior to commencement of the projects, these structures nominally existed in each school but they were not active and vibrant in demonstrating their roles and responsibilities. Therefore, each project intended to enhance the co-curricular structures in their respective operational areas. School CR clubs and Girls’ clubs were working hand in hand with the project to reduce Child Rights violations including girls’ harassment, bullying and corporal punishments in the schools. To this effect, representatives of these clubs and leaders of cooperative learning groups were engaged in activities promoting Child Rights. 68 Celebrate Child Rights Events and Promote Local Advocacy: The sensitization programs on Child Rights issues comprises celebration of the International Child Rights day in schools, designing educational scenarios on child right abuse, dramatization on Child Rights violations and protection issues, competition among students in poems, and rewarding students who actively perform in CR club. Moreover, each project had emphasized on producing training materials and organizing programs for broadcasting through mini-media. Prepare and Disseminate Information, Education and Communication Materials: To convey key messages on CRC principles to school and surrounding communities, each project designed and disseminated various Information, education and communication materials in the form of billboards, brochures, leaflets in each school where the project operated. All targeted groups had opportunities to access information on CRC principles through the materials. Organize Tutorial Programs: Based on the baseline survey findings on academic achievements of the students, each project also intended to support students in their academic achievement. The tutorial programs were carried out as part of child right promotion. Accordingly, tutorial programs were undertaken especially for slow learners in general and for girls in particular. In due course of the tutorial programs, students learn not only academic matters but also give an opportunity to exercise child right based learning. Mentorship and Close follow-ups: Each change agent paid mentorship and consecutive follow-ups to each phase of project implementation. Moreover, CRC clubs and forum got opportunities to get technical support and guidance from the each project change agents. Current status and focus of the change work Most of the projects implemented in the country are similar as to their objectives. In this regard, the integrated purpose of the projects is ensuring child friendly school and Child Rights based teaching and learning in Primary Schools. To realize the goals in to practice, the change agents have formed regional networks, one in Addis Abeba covering the central and one in Hawassa City covering the SNNPR. The Network nominated its coordinators; the network in Hawassa is the newest and was established in 2014. After the establishment of the Network all the batches have been working as one group and focused on the scaling up and sustainability of the projects. The following activities were the focus area of the networks. Strong Collaboration with Concerned Stakeholders: during and after the implementation of each project, the network created collaboration with other stakeholders such as Regional Education Bureau, Hawassa College of Teacher Education, Bureau of Women’s and Children Affairs, NGOs operating in the region, community based organisation, etc). The creation of collaboration helped the change agents to get more support for the scaling up of the project and for ensuring sustainability. 69 Strengthened CRC Network: Territorially, Ethiopia is a vast country. The majority of Sida Change Agents were recruited from two cities, Addis Ababa and Hawassa. The distance between the two cities had adversely affected the formerly established National Network. For the betterment of the National Network practices, a mutual agreement was reached among the Change Agents in order to have Regional Networks at Addis Ababa and Hawassa under the umbrella of National Network. The establishment of the Regional Networks helped members of the different batches to work effectively in the respective networks. Practically, the two regional networks have a common goal that is ensuring child friendly school and Child Rights based teaching and learning in Primary Schools. Hence, the networks have scaled up the good practices of the projects and performing different CRC activities mentioned above. CRC Projects Scaled up to other Non-project Schools: The three projects have been operational in two primary schools of Hawassa City (namely Adare Primary School by batch 16; Ethiopia Tikdem School by Batch 18) and Hawassa College of Teacher Education by batch 21. The creation of the Network has helped to scale up the CRC activities in to 22 Primary Schools of the City. In this regard, different two different trainings that focus CRC and life skill were conducted to participants drawn from these 22 schools represented principals, vice principals and CRC club heads from each school. Based on the lessons learnt from the current experiences; the network also has a plan to scale up the good practices to non- project schools, Regional and National level. CRC Training Complimented with Life Skills Training: As stated above the projects have been focusing onensuring child friendly school and Child Rights based teaching and learning in Primary Schools. While addressing this integrated goal of the projects, members of the network in collaboration with Regional Education Bureau have incorporated the issue of life skill training with CRC program which may help bring about positive behavioral change in their life and enhance leadership quality including developing of self confidence and self-esteem, rational thinking, withstanding peer pressure on issues such drug abuse, pornography, unwanted pregnancy, harmful traditional practices (HTP) etc. The incorporation of the issue of life skill training with CRC activities helped school children to exercise their rights and discharge their responsibilities in their respective schools. Institutionalization of Child Right in Sectors and Schools: To ensure the sustainability of the CRC projects in project and non-project schools, institutionalization work was done. One of the ways of making the CRC issue institutional is incorporating it in to the main annual plans of the schools. In this regard, during the workshops conducted in January 2016, institutionalization of CRC in to their annual plan, the participants have come in to consensus that the CRC issue should be incorporated in to the main annual plan of their respective schools. During the training, the network members provided technical guidance on preparation of action plan. The participants discussed and commented on the draft action plan. After their comments were incorporated, each school developed its own action plan that would be incorporated in to their main annual plan during re-planning. 70 Reward to best Performing Schools on CRC Project Implementation: With an intention of motivating schools and CRC committee members working on Child right issues with commitment; the reward scheme is designed by the network. The schools are informed about the reward scheme where the three best performing school would be reward based on the criteria set by the network team. This is believed to motivate the schools and CR Committees in each school to work on the program and to make the activities of the CR to be mainstreamed in all activities and the teaching and learning process of the schools. Close Follow ups and Technical Support by Change Agents: Members of the network visits the project and non-project schools on quarter bases and gives professional support to the school administration, CR Committees and Child Parliaments. The close follow up is also the great input for the sustainability of the activities in the school. Designed Exit-Strategy: During the workshop held in January 2016, the network team discussed with the participants the sustainability of the activities in the schools and the exit strategy. The participants understood that the Network could not stay with each school in giving capacity training and providing technical support to them. Rather they would take the lead and discharge their responsibilities to carry out the CR related work by mainstreaming it in to day-to-day activities. In this regard, as stated above, each school in the city has designed their own CR Action plan and agreed to incorporate it into the main annual plan of the school where Regional Education Bureau (REB) and Local government took the lead. Reflections on success and challenges Success: The following are key successes achieved due to the interventions of the projects: • Increased Awareness on CRC Principles: Knowledge and understanding about 3Ps had been a key gap in all schools where projects centred their operation. Strong commitment by change agents, gaps centred interventions, strong participation of stakeholders at large, support from the Regional Educational Bureau; close mentoring and follow ups by change agents to the existing school level structures brought significant changes in the areas of 3Ps mainly addressing knowledge and skills gaps. • Avoided Child Rights Violations: In line with the baseline survey findings, schools had been practicing Child Rights violations commonly corporal punishment, bullying and harassment. Interventions focusing on these issues, interactive discussions and feedbacks by target group during training, increased participation and response of school clubs in addressing the existing gaps and dedications of stakeholders to implement action plans helped to mitigate all school level violations. Based on the current monitoring of schools, all project schools are free of child right violation practices. 71 • Increased Girls’ Participation and Empowerment: Due to various socio- economic barriers, girls had been passive on issues affecting them. The CRC project enabled them to take part and lead in all affairs related to their rights and decision-making process. This in turn has given them an opportunity to identify their problems, design appropriate response mechanisms, claim their rights and involve in all decision making process. • Increased Students’ Participation in School Decision-making and Co-curricular Activities: Prior to the projects’ commencement, the approaches used by schools were not student centred. And also students had no chance to take part in decision -making process in the schools and co-curricular activities. The interventions of these projects in all schools helped both students and teachers to realize students’ rights in decision-making process. This in turn facilitated approaches by school to be student centred. • Improved Academic Achievements of Students: Different factors contributed to the lower achievements of students in their respective schools and classes. The projects focused on the importance of initiating tutorial programs to enhance their academic achievements with due consideration to girls. As the results, all schools where the projects focused improved their academic achievements and received rewards from the Regional Bureau of Education for their better achievements. Challenges: In the course of the projects’ implementation, there were various challenges encountered with various level and extent. Some of them include: • Resistances from School Community: During the initial phase and commencement of the projects; school communities including students, teachers, principals and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) were resistant to internalize the CRC principles. It took long time to assimilate the concepts to school community and address all related bottlenecks. • Turnover of Teachers, Principals and CR Committee Members: There has been a continuous turnover of target group mainly who were at leadership positions in their respective schools. Most of the time the turnover happened after exhausting some phases of the project. Training new members about the project and bringing them to a loop have been challenge in terms of resources and expertise. • Lack of Budget: Since the focus of the projects demand different level of trainings and materials support to the target groups; the unavailability of budget sources was one of a core trial in all some phases of the project. • Time Constraints: All change agents involved in the program have a leadership positions and responsibilities in their respective organisations. Besides, their routine job assignments demand field works and meetings depending on their positions. On the other hand, the CRC project needs commitment and dedication to bring all 72 needed changes at school level. Therefore, time constraint was one of the key issues during the project life. • Lack of Commitment from some Stakeholders: Due to various nature and capacity of stakeholders involved in the projects; all stakeholders were not on the page in gearing the intended outcome. Way forward • Sustainability and Networking • Focus on Institutionalization to Reduce the Impact of Turnover: Due to an increased turnover of stakeholders and school level change agents; there is a need to design appropriate strategies. This includes school CR activities need to be mainstreamed in to sectors’ annual plan. • Strengthening the Existing Structures: Prior to the exit of the projects, there is a need to ensure that the existing school level structures and stakeholders strengthened. Capacity building trainings, equipping structures with teaching aids and training materials, linking them with key stakeholders and supporters are paramount important. • Establishing and Strengthening Regional Forum: In order to establish a coordinated action and feedback mechanisms, effective utilization of resources, experience share and learning practices among the structures; establishment and strengthening of a Regional Level forum would have an equivocal importance. • Advocacy: To mainstream issues of CR, bring principles of CRC to the system level; influencing structures at different level is vital. This could happen with due commitment of regional government in all affairs related to CRC in the Region. • Leveraging Local Resources: Instead of relying on external funding to carryout project related activities, looking for opportunities from various local resources would be an appropriate mechanism to address resource related gaps. • Strengthening Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation: With a goal of tracking changes being obtained from the project, lessons learnt and impacts geared from the project; establishing a monitoring and evaluation mechanism is important. • Networking and Scale up of the Project to other Non –operational Areas: strengthening Regional network among CRC change agents, establishing clear communication mechanisms, sharing experiences and lessons learnt from project areas to non–projects schools would ensure the presence of vibrant networking. 73 India India has its first team in batch 3 (2005) and in total 11 teams and 33 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where India has 3 teams and 9 change agents (March 2016). Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 National 2 0 Region/Province/District 20 5 Local 11 6 Comments TeacherTraining Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The Child Rights Programme is focusing Kerala, one of the 28 states in India, in southwest. The implementation of CRC in education, learning and teaching has been dominated by participants – or change agents – from local schools and teacher trainers at the district level. The change projects are often directed against participation in decision making processes by students in primary schools. Area: Population: 3,287,263 km2 1,295,291,543 (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: New Delhi 15 August 1947 (from the United Kingdom) Official languages: Hindi, English Network coordinator: Mohandas Ep, [email protected] 74 India Post Conference Report Ibrahim Kutty P. K, Babu Varghese, Sherly P, Chandini KK, Krishnadas KM, Ravisankar TA, Jayalekshmi. S, P.S. Mathew, and M.V. Mukundan. Current status and focus of the change work India has made remarkable progress in the field of education since independence. It has made progress in terms of increasing the primary education attendance rate and expanding literacy. India’s improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors of its economic development. The National Policy on education (NPE) was adopted in 1986. The Child Labour (Prohibition and regulation) Act, also enacted in 1986 was a land mark legislation prohibiting child labour. India ratified the CRC in 1992. Persons with disability Act was introduced in India in 1995.The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). NCPCR was set up in March 2007. The commission’s mandate is to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes and administrative mechanisms are in consonance with the child right perspectives as enshrined in UNCRC and the constitution of India. The Right to Education Act (RTE), a revolutionary law came into effect in India in 2009. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act came to effect in 2012. The Government of Kerala has established the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) in April 2013, which is responsible for the protection of child rights in Kerala under the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Rules, 2012. Kerala situated in the southwestern tip of India is one of the 29 states. No doubt, Kerala’s achievement in social development and quality of life is inspiring and encouraging. The state has achieved a human development index comparable to developed countries. The society attaches much importance to education after its formation since 1956. The people of the state and the administration are receptive to new ideas. Kerala CRC network evolved, in this context, and has been able to do a notable work in the field of Child Rights in the state. So far 31 change agents attended from the 75 state in the ITP on child right, classroom and school management at Lund in Sweden from Batch 3 to 18.They evolved a strong CRC network and implemented commendable work in the field of CRC. Now an NGO named, APPRoCH, formed by the change agents and has been actively involving in the child right activities. It was in 2005, in batch 3 the Indian team had participated in the International Training programme on “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management”. It was a starting point for many new things to start happening in Child Rights in Kerala. In addition to the individual projects undertaken, the CRC network in Kerala has undertaken several remarkable tasks at state level as a team. It was started when they conducted district level training programmes of headmasters in all the districts of Kerala with the support of Sarva Shiksha Abhayan, Kerala. At the time when the state of Kerala was formulating rules related to the Rights to Education Act, Change agents prepared a representation and submitted it to the commission, which were preparing the Rules. As mentioned in the book, published by The Kerala Network of CRC Change Agents, “Kerala’s Real Story in Ensuring Child Rights” India is one of the cradles of human civilisation in which children enjoyed very much freedom, love and recognition. Most of the rights of children as mentioned in CRC are guaranteed in the constitution of India and hence, Government of India ratified the CRC in 1992 itself. It is also to be worth mentioned that our previous batches conducted several state level initiatives and one important among them was an International seminar on “Child Rights: Violation and Solution” organised at the Indian Institute of Spices Research in Calicut on 8th March 2008 in which our mentor Dr. Per Wickenburg delivered the key note address. In 2015, the Indian change Agents attended the Cross Country Network meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In the same year a network meeting of India and Sri Lanka was organised at Trivandrum, capital city of Kerala by Sarva Shiksha Abhayan, Kerala for further dissemination. The change agents who attended the program up to batch 14 have initiated a number of CRC related work which really build the foundation change agents initiative from batch 15. The main activities were as follows: 1. Local Level Earnest effort has been made to improve provision in schools. Some of the interventions are listed below: • Providing breakfast and nutritious noon meal to children • Supply of free uniform to children • Transportation facility for children coming from remote places • Ensuring safe drinking water to children • Establishing child friendly class room/ smart class rooms with internet connectivity • Conducting awareness programmes for parents to improve provision for children at home 76 • Vegetable cultivation and farming with the support of Local Self Govt. To improve noon meal • Training in self-supporting and job-oriented areas such as soap making, bag making, stitching etc. • School radio programme • Student Photo Album in the classroom • Placing complaint box/ suggestion box for redressing student’s grievances • Display Board highlighting Child rights and code of conduct in schools • Awareness programmes for children for self-development • Life skill training for self defence – cycling, swimming, Kalari etc. • Help desk for addressing issues related Child rights • School parliament for ensuring student’s participation in the school activities • Class councils for students participation and voicing their ideas and suggestions • Leadership training for students • Pupils-Parents- Teacher Association • Film Club and Film making • Individual development Plan for students • Confidence building classes for girls. 2. District Level • • • • • • • • Teacher training Headmasters/school Principal’s training Training to Local Self Government members and officials Production of materials – for teachers and parents Blogs for popularizing sharing ideas and initiatives on Child Rights Studies on Child Rights issues District level Parliament for students District level initiative for enrolment-providing transportation, food and awareness campaign with the help of Local self Government • District level seminar related to Child Rights issues • Linkage with NGOs for protecting Child Rights. 3. State level • Cascade mode training on Child rights and related concepts for all teachers – primary, secondary and higher secondary • Material preparation for all stakeholders 77 • Intervention from a Child Rights perspective during the formulation of the ‘Right to education Rules’ in the state. • State level seminar for popularizing Child Right. The change agents from batch 15, 16 and 18 took their respective projects in CRC at different levels and their current status and the focus of change work is depicted below. In their project, Batch 15 focused the transformation of the then existed situation of the children in Govt L P School Edivanna, Malappuram District as regard to their diverse ethnic cultural social and economic conditions. This objective was realized through interventions based on the three Ps highlighted in the UNCRC, with the support of entire stakeholders including parents, teachers, local community, LSGIs administrators and policymakers. Batch 16 aimed at the changing of attitude and empowering parents, teachers and members of student parliament with regard to participation aspect as mentioned in the CRC. In order to achieve this objective, the change agents selected Government Higher Secondary School, Thottada, Kannur. Various interventions such as workshops for parents, teachers LSG members, conduct of school parliament and student initiatives on various occasions helped to realize the objective. This experience was expanded to other schools in the district. Whereas Batch 18 focused to strengthen Child Rights Convention throughout the State by providing proposal to the Policy makers and Administrators for integrating CRC inputs in the ongoing revision of Primary school curriculum in Kerala. At present the CRC components have been integrated into the state curriculum from pre-primary to higher secondary levels. Consequently, the textbooks, teacher texts and other learning materials have been developed. The entire teacher population within the state is provided with deeper understanding on CRC. Reflections on success and challenges All the projects taken up by the change agents of Kerala were successfully implemented the principles of Child Rights, and the change in children and the atmosphere of schools is remarkable. As a part of the project, a multidimensional learning centre was established at a tribal hamlet within the catchments area of the school. The activities carried out at this centre were complementary to the learning achievement of the target group. The success of this centre motivated the LSG authorities and they extended to 16 other such hamlets. After the implementation of the project the school has been elevated to the status of a centre of excellence. Local people, people from other districts and states started to visit the school. The fame of the school also attracted international academics and universities such as Malmö University in Sweden and international organizations such as UNESCO and they paid visit to the school. The qualitative inputs originated from this comprehensive education project became an impetus to other academic in- 78 stitutions. The school development plan evolved out of this project was again made a model to the entire educational activities within the district. This success story of the child friendly school prompted Nilambur Municipality to initiate a child friendly city project. Through this project the entire schools under this LSG ensured academic achievements, child mental health, and creative talents of the students. Subsequently the LSG through converging support from other government departments such as health, social welfare and social justice organized varieties of activities to make the entire city a child friendly one. UNICEF also supported this project. As part of these initiatives all the schools organized school parliament. Orientation programmes on Child Rights for parents, teachers and student were also conducted. The Municipality organized a Students’ Parliament in which student representatives from all schools participated. They presented a “Child Marriage Prevention Bill” which got passed. The entire network of change agents in India can be proud that this initiative became the first in India which highlighted the active participation of children in decision making. Another important area, we focused was the Higher Secondary sector. Through this participation and capacity building in decision making were ensured. In order to realize this objective student council was formed in the school and a comprehensive school development plan was introduced. To implement the plan a strong bond between students, teachers, parents and local self government officials was created. This project was extended to other school schools in the district for further dissemination. And this project led to design and implements a module on comprehensive school management for teachers and Principals of higher secondary sector. During the next level all the initiatives related to CRC were extended to state level through systemic interventions. This up scaling resulted in implementation of CRC interventions in the state school curriculum. The experiences of the entire change agents were pooled out and the participation of all stake holders involved in their projects got incorporated in the curriculum development process. Noteworthy is that, the change agents were able to convince policy makers, curriculum developers, textbook writers and other experts of the importance of CRC elements. As a consequence, CRC elements were included in the curriculum vision paper. Following this the new textbooks contained spaces and slots for the students to participate in the learning process. The contents highlighted issues related CRC at various grades. The inner cover page of each textbook carried the CRC messages. For the last three years the entire teacher community in Kerala has undergone in-service training in which a special module on Child Right was included. The same training was extended to teachers of Union Territory of Lakshadweep Islands. In order to sustain the achievements so far gained, the Govt. of Kerala has initiated a new project entitled, ‘Our Responsibility to Children’ (ORC). So far the change agents contributed their suggestions pertaining to the forthcoming National Policy on Education. Societal awareness about CRC has been created through media such as ViCTERS (Education channel) in Kerala and the National Channel, “Doordarshan India”. Many of the change agents were able to participate and 79 to share invaluable ideas and suggestions to the Kerala State Child Rights Protection Commission on various occasions. Though we have succeeded in many aspects, we are aware of the challenges existing at all levels. First among them is the issue of sustainability. The difficulty in coordinating various departments dealing with issues of children is another challenge. The problems in shifting traditional approaches to an activity based participatory approach still exist. Since some of the stakeholders, especially at policy and administrative levels are yet to be sensitized as regards the importance of CRC.The interventions at the implementation and monitoring level needs to get serious at tension from the concerned authorities. Way forward However, we are on the right path and in our way forward, we believe the following tasks need to be prioritized. Expansion of network: The main task, we the Indian network of change agents have decided to expand it to the South Indian States namely Karnataka, Telungana and Tamilnadu the following actions will be initiated with this end in view. • • • • • • • • Initial meeting of State Project Directors of SSA Identifying the target districts in each state Baseline need Assessment Study of child right status in selected schools in each states Developing action plan Identifying the fresh batch of change agents from the selected districts Training to selected change agents Sharing seminars Monitoring by the CRC change agents Promote the participation of children as an integral part of school education at all levels. Exchange of good practices – among other states of India and between other nations. Research initiatives on CRC Involvement of APPRoCH (the NGO) will be widened as a vibrant change agent. A Project will be developed and submitted to the ministry of HRD for approval. 80 81 Indonesia Indonesia has its first team in batch 1 (2003) and in total 14 teams and 39 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where Indonesia has 5 teams and 15 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 National 2 0 Region/Province/District 26 8 Local 11 7 Comments Teacher training institutions Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The Child Rights Programme is focusing Central Java, one of the regions of the most populated island in Indonesia. The implementation of CRC in education, learning and teaching have been dominated by participants from teacher training institutions (Universitas PGRI (UPGRIS), Semarang and Muhammadiyah University (UMS), Surakarta) and directed against development of child-friendly teaching models and child friendly schools in cooperation with local schools. Area: Population: 1,904,569 km2 254,454,778 (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: Jakarta 17August 1945 (from the Netherlands) Official language: Indonesian Network Coordinators: Senowarsito, [email protected] Siti Zuhriyah, [email protected] 82 Indonesia Post Conference Report Endang Fauziati, Nur Hidayat, Joko Riyanto, Siti Zuhriah Ariatmi, Anam Sutopo, Suprihanto, Aryati Prasetyarini, Ning Setyaningsih, Mohamad Ali, M. Amir Zubaidi, M. Thoyibi, Dewi Candraningrum, M. Amin Sunarhadi, Mauly Halwat Hikmat, and Agus Supriyadi. Introduction Indonesia has been taking part in the International Training Program since Batch 3. The first three batches, namely: Batch 3, 4, and 7, had successfully identified the right theme for the Indonesian contexts. Based on their experiences at that time, as presented on the first Impact Dissemination Seminar held in Bangkok in 2009, they laid the common ground for the Indonesian projects under the umbrella theme “School and Community as a Child-Friendly Zone”. They decided to implement CRC in education rather than in legal and political realms. Considering the vast area of the country, however, these first three batches started their projects by formulating the structural networking between stakeholders, especially the government, CIDA, SIDA, UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank, USAID, AUSAID, and the local NGO’s, such as NU and Muhammadiyah in order to prepare for the Child Rights mainstreaming. It was Batch 7, which decided Central Java as the locus of the CRC project implementation. The theme had inspired the following batches, namely Batch 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13 to focus on the implementation of CRC at schools by formulating and implementing the Child Rights-based approach in teaching-learning processes that they called Child-Friendly Teaching Model (CFTM). This teaching model constituted four steps of implementation: Engaging, Activating, Sharing, and Empowering (EASE). Based on the Child-Friendly Teaching Model, they initiated Child-Friendly School Model. Supported by the former Teacher Training and Education Institute of the Republic of Indonesian Teachers Association of Semarang (IKIP PGRI Semarang, now University of PGRI) the five batches integrated their projects into the core business of the institute by putting CRC as part of the compulsory materials learned by the teacher trainees. 83 Child-Friendly School remained an interesting theme for the last five batches. Batch 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 developed the Child Rights-based approach in both classroom and school levels by implementing child-friendly classroom management and childfriendly school management. Just as the earlier batches, those five batches found the support from Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, one of the private universities organized by Muhammadiyah, the largest organization in the country. For this reason, most of the CRC projects were conducted in Muhammadiyah schools. The umbrella term they chose to unify their projects was “Child Rights Education”. Current status and focus of the change work The change agents of the earlier batches from Semarang are still strongly committed to the Child Rights even after the projects have been completed. In addition to the publication of the revised CFTM module and its inclusion in the teaching material, the agents are still working on the implementation of CRC, CFTM, and anti-bullying in the Early Education, Primary Schools and Secondary Schools through the community service activities. At the university level, they implement the CRC by raising the student awareness on the Child Rights through microteaching and teaching training. In addition, they also serve as resource persons in the Center for Community and Woman Empowerment and Child Protection. The projects they implemented include: (a) mentoring on model and cluster schools (Semarang and Magelang), (b) research and development (R&D) on the intervention model of parents-students-school communication, and (c) intensive collaboration on promoting Child Friendly City with Magelang Regency. They also develop some institutional programs at the university, namely: (a) inserting the concepts and ideas on Child Rights into the course content of the subjects of Education Foundation and Micro-teaching or teaching methodology, (b) refreshing course before the students’ practice teaching at schools, and (c) establishing the Center for Community and Women Empowerment and Child Protection (PKP2A). The projects of the five last batches from Surakarta fall into two categories: classroom and school levels. The classroom level consists of the classroom design and teaching methods while the school level comprises the empowerment of the student council and the establishment of safe school. The classroom design focuses on the thematic classroom; the teaching methods include the collaborative learning, the authentic learning, and the realistic learning. The empowerment of the student council focuses on the participation of the students in decision-making processes, whereas the establishment of safe school includes the infrastructure, knowledge, and skills. Thematic Classroom Design Thematic Classroom Design was the major concern of Batch 15 that implemented its project in Sekolah Menengah Pertama (Junior High School) Muhammadiyah I under 84 the heading “Combining the Thematic Classroom and Cooperative Learning to Boost Students’ Participation and Protection in Learning.” The project aimed at creating a child friendly classroom environment and management for all students to have maximum access to learning. Thematic classroom refers to a classroom that is pre-populated with various learning resources design to support learning about specific topics and issues. The topics and issues represent basic disciplines like Mathematics, Social Science, Natural Science, English, History, and Islamic studies. In other words, a thematic classroom is designed to accommodate one discipline or school subject. The prominent features of the thematic classroom are the room decoration and seating arrangement. The classroom usually has complete décor: pictures, charts, artifacts, realia, and other teaching aids that represent the discipline. Teachers and students can work in an environment that encourages the natural process of learning. Thematic classroom literally could boost students’ participation in learning. This model was first implemented at some Muhammadiyah schools in Surakarta and was recommended to be implemented in Muhammadiyah schools in Indonesia. This model was favorable for both students as well as teachers; hence the result of teaching learning process in general was satisfactory. On the part of students, moving from one class to another class make them much happier; since moving is energizing. They appeared more focused to each subject since there was a sign or mark of movement from one subject to another. When they entered a classroom, their mind was also engaged with subject they wanted to study as if the classroom greeted them, “Hi guys, welcome to mathematics world or welcome to biology world”. On the part of the teachers, having their own classroom made them feel at home. They became more creative in decorating the room as to show the kind of world knowledge they wanted to share to their students. The teachers were also very happy as if they were the owner of their own room. They felt free to explore and to express themselves as creative and prolific teachers. Prior to this CRC project, the standard for many classroom activities was to have lecture-style lessons and teaching. This might often be done through choral drills so that everyone could see the teacher and the board during a content course. It is a kind of one-man show, the teacher stood up as to see all students, moved freely around the classroom and tried to gain the attention of all the students. The teacher was super active while the students were very passive receivers of information. It was not uncommon to have students fall asleep in the classroom. With the sponsorship of Muhammadiyah Board, this CRC project designed a thematic classroom, a classroom that was very conducive for teaching learning process. In the music classroom, for example, the teacher had a corner of the room set up in such a way as to place all the music instruments used to teach where the students could play music instruments that they are learning. In thematic classroom, the teachers were more creative and had greater freedom to express themselves. They became the owners of the classroom and designed it in ways compatible with their own style. They provided students with different teaching aides, charts, pictures, and other relevant written elements on the walls of their classrooms. This could bring the students to the real world knowledge they are studying. When 85 students first stepped into thematic classroom, they would be able to make a judgment about the type of class they were going to be taking. They also looked to see how seats were arranged and noticed what was hanging on the walls. This classroom allowed them to come to the real world. The modified seating arrangement, such as, Circle, Square, Horseshoe, Back-to-Back, and separate tables made classroom activities vary. Teachers were willingly to transform from teacher-centered classroom to students centered classroom. They utilized different types of cooperative learning such as debate, discussion, work group, etc. This strategy worked well to promote the students social skills such as, asking for clarification, asking for explanation, checking understanding of others, elaborating ideas of others, explaining ideas, giving information or explanations, paraphrasing and summarizing, receiving explanations, as well as requesting. In addition to keeping the practice of Thematic Learning at SMP Muhammadiyah 1 Surakarta, Batch 15 has promoted the application of Thematic Learning to other schools. One of the most successful schools in adopting the thematic learning is SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta, which is now nominated as a thematic learning school model. Teaching Methods The first three batches, Batch 15, 16, and 17 focused their projects on the classroom management by initiating the child-friendly teaching-learning methods, including the Cooperative Learning (initiated by Batch 15), Authentic Learning (initiated by Batch 16), and Realistic Learning (initiated by Batch 17). a. Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning is “an approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups of learners in the Classroom” (Richards and Rodgers, 2004: 192). Olsen and Kagan (1999: 8) define Cooperative learning as “group learning activity organized so that learning is dependent on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in groups and in which each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning and is motivated to increase the learning of others”. The impetus of its emergence is the need for student-centered model of classroom learning. Batch 15 promoted the application of cooperative learning method to be combined with the thematic classroom design.Compared to the traditional model in which learning tended to be more teacher-centred and fostered competition, cooperative learning was more student-centred that fostered cooperation in learning. Here group activities were the major mode of learning, and the activities were used to increase the amount of students’ participation in the classrooms. They also provided students with comfortable environments through the seating arrangement. Seating arrangements played vital role in these learning activities. In cooperative learning, the classrooms were commonly placed in a circle or square. Students could see each other clearly. They worked together 86 collaboratively answering open-ended questions or worked in pairs working together on dialogues. Students felt that they were equal with each other. At present, more and more teachers in the school adopted cooperative learning method as they believed that the method was more appropriate to the new curriculum. b. Authentic and Participative Learning Authentic and Participative Learning refers to the type of learning process emphasizing the importance of the students’ authentic experience. Authentic and Participative Learning was promoted by Batch 16 that implemented its project in Sekolah Dasar (Primary School) Muhammadiyah 16 under the heading “Children’s Rights to Participation and Protection through Authentic and Participative Learning.” The type of learning method aimed at developing the students’ participation in teaching learning process through authentic and participative learning and to reformulate the school rules to raise the students’ protection. The Authentic and Participative Learning was characterized with two strategies: bottom up and start from the inside. The bottom up strategy means that the team approaches the school members (i.e. teachers, students, and parents) then the school committee and Muhammadiyah Board. Start from the inside means that the team reveals the awareness of the school community members about the significance of implementing CRC in school, rather than persuades them using mass media, experts, or Muhammadiyah Board. Among other most important characteristics of authentic learning was the natural setting. Authentic teaching and learning process was conducted in a specific environment relevant to the learning objectives. As an example, learning about “milk production,” has the setting in a ranch where students could do the milking themselves, question everything about milk production, observe the human resources involved and the way to handle the waste and its benefits, and do the planting and harvesting the crops. The results of hands on learning were then discussed in the classroom and students who worked in group presented their learning results. The teachers explained the essential parts of the materials, and did the evaluation at the end of the session. The result indicated that authentic learning provided the students with hands on experience about the real world. The teaching and learning process was very effective since the students had maximum participation in learning and easily understood the concept. Their participation increased from 40%, in average, to 91% in all stages of learning, i.e. in observing, questioning, associating, and networking. The students’ achievements were also better than before. In the tests conducted by the school and the government, the students’ scores increased from 76 in average to 89. The students became happier as they were freed from the boring rote learning, i.e., memorization. The students’ absentee also decreased from 2% per day, in average, to 0.8%. The core project of Batch 16 can be characterized as follows: (1) dealing with the implementation of Authentic Learning, the team designed a teaching model based on Child Friendly Teaching Approach in collaboration among students, students’ parent, 87 teachers and change agents under the supervision from Center for Child Rights Studies; (2) making a collaboration between school and real practitioner as the recourse of teaching process—outing class activity and indoor activity; (3) encouraging the students to construct their own rules based on CRC values; (4) making the teaching process more friendly, interesting and joyful; (5) building more mutual and comfortable interaction among students, teachers, parents, principle and stakeholders; (6) giving greater freedom to students but under control by the school rules; (7) establishing the Child Friendly School model. Reformulating the school rules was meant to promote protection. The students, teachers, student parents, and principal worked together to reformulate the school rules. The results indicated that the students’ self-confidence improved. They were more polite and care to each other than before. The complaint from the parents related corporal punishment, bullying and other rude behaviors decreased significantly. And the students felt safer and more responsible as they directly participated in designing the school rules. The model of Authentic and Participative Learning has attracted many other schools in the province. SD Muhammadiyah 16 has been a visiting target for teachers and principals in the neighborhood. The learning model is now being adopted by other schools, including those in Semarang City, following their visit to SD Muhammadiyah 16 Surakarta. The model has also been adopted by a number of Muhammadiyah schools, especially those serving as the laboratory schools of the Teacher Training and Education Faculty (FKIP) Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta. c. Realistic Learning By Realistic Learning was meant the type of learning approach emphasizing the importance of experiencing concrete objects prior to learning abstract concepts, especially in mathematics. This type of learning was promoted by Batch 17 that implemented its project in Sekolah Dasar (Elementary School) Muhammadiyah Program Khusus under the heading “Building Learner’s Empathy through Child-Friendly Realistic Learning Approach. ”Realistic Learning aimed at improving the rights of the learners for protection and participation by building their empathy on mathematics subjects and revitalizing the students’ class council model and school’s regulation based on CRC. The main difference of Realistic Learning from the Authentic Learning is that realistic learning is characterized more by laboratory than natural setting. Realistic learning is a cooperative learning approach which is adopted from teaching learning strategy called Realistic Mathematics Education (RME).The principles of this strategy are (1) using real-life contexts as a starting point for learning; (2) connecting the strands to other disciplines, and to meaningful problems in the real world; (3) using models as a bridge between abstract and real, that help students learn material at different levels of abstractions; (4) using student’s own production or strategy as a result of their doing; and (5) interacting as an essential for learning between teacher and students, students and students. 88 The “child-friendly quality” of this type of learning refers to the participation of the learners in a joyful learning and working together with their peers. The cooperation among the students is useful to cultivate their empathy so that they can contribute to the minimizing bullying. In this case, some instructional components, such as the ways the teachers interact with the students inside and outside classrooms, the method of teaching, and the classroom environment were designed in such a way that it can promote Child Rights. The class council was maximized in order to give the learners a chance to express their ideas and minimize bullying. Some agenda were carried out to bring the success to the project such as by disseminating CRC principles and Child Friendly School, revitalizing the model learner class council, consulting to psychologists and mathematics lecturers, and conducting workshop on Child Friendly Realistic Learning Approach (CFRLA). The team made use of the school magazine to share the idea of CRC to the community. The team also involved the teachers, school staffs and administration, and the school committee in this project. The results of the project are as follows: (1) there was a positive change on the part of the teachers in teaching mathematics on active involvement in learning on the part of the students. The teachers gave contextual problems, which motivated students to actively participate in solving the problems. They did it within a group. In this way, the teachers became more creative in teaching while the students became more active and critical in solving problem and giving opinion; (2) there is a change in the students’ behavior, in which they were more empathetic and caring with one another. This was the result of the learning cycles, which required the students to work together and listen to the others. The results of questionnaire on empathy indicate that the students’ empathy increased from 55% to 70%. With regard to the revitalization of school council model, the team tried to raise the teachers’ awareness of the benefits of captain’s diary and to revitalize the existing learner’s class council model. The diary functioned not only to observe the students’ interaction in the classroom but also to give feedback to the teachers about the method implemented. The core project of Batch 17 can be elaborated as follows: (1) dealing with the implementation of Realistic Learning, the team designed a teaching model based on Child Friendly Realistic Learning Approach/CFRLA by involving the colleagues in Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) UMS. The model was implemented in Muhammadiyah Program Khusus Elementary School and Muhammadiyah 16 Elementary School Surakarta, (2) Captain’s Diary as the tool for the teachers to identify the learners’ empathy is developed. Other schools copy the use of the diary in the teaching learning. Since giving questionnaire to measure their empathy is not enough, (3) The learners’ empathy increased. The increase can be seen from the reduction of the number of bullying in the school. The impact of the project can be categorized into inside and outside of the school. Inside the school, the students’ participation improved. They were involved in making decision such as in choosing the meal, determining the place to visit for recreation, and recruiting the new teachers. The realistic learning model was applied for mathematics at 89 Grade 4 and had now been adopted for other subjects at different grades in the school. Outside the school, the teacher who was involved in the project was chosen by the local government as the trainer of the implementation of Curriculum 2013. Besides, Muhammadiyah Program Khusus Primary School Surakarta was nominated by the municipality as one of Child-Friendly Schools in the city. Empowerment of the Student Council The Empowerment of the Student Council refers to the participation of the student council in the school management, especially in the improvement of teaching-learning process. The theme was promoted by Batch 19 that implemented its project at Sekolah Menengah Atas (Senior High School) Muhammadiyah 2 Gemolong, Sragen. The project aimed at assisting Organisasi Siswa Intra-Sekolah (student council) to identify and exercise their roles in developing child-friendly school, to strengthen the role of OSIS in school management, formal and informal, to participate in decision-making processes, and to connect the CRC initiatives to the endeavor of Child-Friendly Regency. The results of the program showed that the student council began to be aware of the rights of the students to participate in the school management. As the student council, OSIS began to be empowered so that students could voice their ideas in realizing childfriendly school-management. Previous practice that OSIS constituted the apparatus of school management had changed as well. They now began to contribute their ideas about how teaching-learning processes should consider the aspiration of the students. They evaluated the teachers’ performance in class. In addition to the evaluation, OSIS wrote letters and gave their opinions to the principals and teachers about the betterment of the school management. Since the inception of the project, OSIS, principal, teachers, administrative staffs and parents were aware of children’s provision, protection and participation under the CRC. Batch 19 specifically focused on empowering OSIS to strengthen the capacity of school management. The agents incepted two major strategies in year 2014, namely bridging OSIS to the principal and teachers, meaning collaborating students’ ideas to the betterment of school management. During the first half of the year, OSIS was involving in writing letters, opinions, and meeting with principal and teachers. The principal and teachers were responding positively toward their ideas. Most ideas of OSIS concern the betterment of school library and teachers’ performance. It was a rare case for OSIS to voice their ideas regarding school management. What came across their mind was that the school was under the responsibility of teachers and principal. Since the intervention of Batch 19, OSIS was fully aware that they had the rights to insert their voices and ideas to make the school better. Batch 19 and OSIS conducted several workshops from May to August 2014 after progress-report in Zambia. These workshops were conducted in two ways, with the intervention of Batch 19 and on their own. Batch 19 cooperated with students to exercise their voices by writing letters to the principal regarding school management. These letters were then sent to the principal. Never before had there been such an activity of OSIS to write to the principal 90 and teachers regarding school-management. Principal and teachers were then aware of the importance of the participation of OSIS. By the second half of the year 2014, Batch 19 implemented and cooperated with the students to design a participation-tool that could influence the performance and capacities of the teachers. The participation-tool was agreed in the form of “Students Evaluating Teachers”. Batch 19 and students were sitting together and had several workshops to formulate students’ evaluation to teachers’ capacity and performance. The activity was considered taboo before the inception of the project. But since the introduction and workshop on CRC, teachers realized that the students had the right to participate. The agents promoted the project to some other schools in the neighborhood. The project of empowering the students’ organization was now adopted by SMA Muhammadiyah 8 Kalijambe, SMA Muhammadiyah 9 Sumberlawang, and recently SMA Sragen Bilingual Boarding School (SBBS), Sragen. Empowering the Students in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Empowering Students in Disaster Risk Reduction refers to the participation of the students in disaster preparedness. The theme was promoted by Batch 20’s theme, “Empowering Students in Disaster Risk Reduction: A CRC Project at Muhammadiyah 1 Senior High School Klaten”. The DRR project was focused on empowering students in DRR and was conducted at Muhammadiyah I Senior High School in Klaten, Central Java. The students were empowered by improving their participation in DRR. The specific objectives of DRR project are: (1) providing students with the knowledge of disaster, (2) involving students in disaster preparedness and socializing the knowledge and disaster preparedness to other students and community, and (3) integrating DRR knowledge in the curriculum. The school had experienced the effects of Mount Merapi eruptions many times, including some earthquakes caused by the eruptions. Dealing with the disasters in the region, the actions given so far were thus needed to help the casualties of the disasters. The local government quickly responded the disaster by some fast-responsive programs including some trauma-recovery programs for children. In this case, the government had paid its attention to the Child Rights to get recovery from disaster effects, as response to post-disaster. CRC as approach should be involved in disaster risk reduction by providing some knowledge and training especially for children and their teachers. Before the project, initial evaluation of disaster preparedness of this school was categorized into low-prepared. The project had successfully provided teachers and students with adequate knowledge about disaster and the way students participate to cope with disaster and mitigation of the disaster effects. The level of students’ disaster preparedness improved to the prepared level after the implementation of DRR project. Level of student’s participation was increasing to level 6 of Sherry Arnstein’s Ladder. Change agents had the initial idea but students were involved in every step of the planning and implementation. Not only were their views considered, but they were also 91 involved in taking the decisions. Students also educated the parents and community about disaster risk reduction as community development activities. These do not only give the impact to teachers-students relation in school but also school-community relation. The project also changed and modified the too complex existing material of disaster risk reduction into a simpler one, that is, a booklet. Firstly, the teachers and students were not happy with the book lay out because it seemed not interesting and too serious. Considering the response, CRC team modified and simplified the book in booklet form. The teachers and the students were happy with the changes and the materials were accepted. This change gave opportunity to make communication easier than before to students and also teachers. This project was now being adopted by 40 other schools, based on the priority of Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (Local Disaster Management Board), in the neighborhood in various levels from primary (Sekolah Dasar, Madrasah Ibtidaiyah) through Junior Highschool (SMP and MTS) to Senior High School (SMA, MA and SMK) both public and private schools. The partner school—being a lab school of FKIP UMS—has been nominated as a model of Sekolah Aman (Safe School) by BPPD, Sekolah Adiwiyata (Environment-Friendly School or Eco-School) by the local (regency) government. In addition, Child Rights values have also been adopted by the Geography Education Department of FKIP UMS to be integrated into the curriculum as a separate subject entitled Disaster Response Standard (2 credit hours). Reflections on successes and challenges Successes The Indonesian change agents can, to a great extent, claim that they have been successful in implementing their projects. The success story was due to the following factors. 1. The increasing number of human resources: As the change agents played their roles in different activities, such as discussion, training, lecture, research, and community service, more and more people became better informed about and interested in CRC. Some of them were even actively involved in the activities. This means that there were new agents beyond the formally certified change agents. 2. Small scale: Most of the projects were conducted on small scales, i.e. one school only. From the small scale, the projects developed. Although the target group was the students, the projects also involved the principal, the teachers, and the administrative staff to ensure that the projects worked. Then some of the projects were adopted by other schools. 3. Congruent values: Most of the values underlying the CRC projects are compatible with the Islamic teachings, especially taught in Muhammadiyah schools. Despite the initial prejudice suggesting resistance at the introduction of the project, the 92 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. negative response was minor as most of the stakeholders could slowly but surely gain the CRC concept and willingly materialize it into practice. Access and network structure: The projects were made possible because both PGRI and Muhammadiyah gave the agents access to their schools. This explains why most of the projects were carried out in Muhammadiyah schools and those affiliated with PGRI. The network structure helped extend the implementation of the projects in other schools at the local, regional, and national level (whether school or university). Mobility and effective communication: Most of the university change agents worked in two main university-based clusters, namely Universitas PGRI Semarang and Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, and live in the neighboring towns. The cluster pattern had made it easy for them to coordinate themselves and work in a team. Strong commitment in the project implementation: The change agents spared their time, energy, ideas, to their projects amidst their busy routine work. The partner schools consistently maintain to implement the Child Rights program even after the project was completed. In the contexts of the earlier batches, Semarang cluster, teachers at Model and Cluster Schools showed their high commitment in the implementation of Child-Friendly School and CFTM in classroom. In the contexts of the later batches, Surakarta cluster, Muhammadiyah Board of all levels accommodated the Child Rights values in the organizational policy. The local government recognized the effort and was willing to collaborate with the change agents to connect the child-friendly initiative to the Child-Friendly City program. Access to mass media: The success of the agents from all batches, especially the Surakarta cluster, could not be separated from the access of the change agents to mass media, especially newspaper and television. The strategic position of one agent at the public relation of the university made it possible for the agents to communicate their concerns in the Child Rights to the larger community. Positive response and internalization of Child Rights: The Media coverage and consistent socialization conducted by the agents from all batches helped the target groups of different levels internalize the Child Rights values. Academic members of the university readily adopted the Child Rights issues research, seminar and community service. Networking: Finally, the success of the Indonesian team could not be thought of apart from the networking of the agents, namely the collaboration between agents from different batches either at the same or different clusters. At the national level, networking also referred to the collaboration of the agents with the government, other NGO’s, different stakeholders, and the wider community. At the international level, by networking was also meant the collaboration of the Indonesian agents with the global agents and international institution to implement CRC. 93 Challenges There have been and will be some challenges that most of the Indonesian agents need to encounter. Among other chief challenges are as follows. 1. Vast geographical area of the country: Being a large country consisting of thousands of islands, Indonesia was divided into 34 provinces running from the northwest Sabang to the southeast part Merauke. The nation is also a diverse nation with different cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. However, most of the Indonesian agents are coming from one of the most populated provinces, Central Java Province. This means a problem for the Indonesia agents to spread or socialize the Child Rights to the ethnically and culturally diverse nation. The Indonesian teams had to be able to deal with the large geographical area of the country. Among other means that the agents could make use of was through the organization structure of Muhammadiyah, PGRI, and IGRI from the national to the local board. 2. Access to the government bureaucracy: Most of the change agents are outside the government bureaucracy. In the Indonesian contexts, just in many other countries, power is very important in order to make changes. Having access to the government bureaucracy may result in the more powerful and effective implementation of CRC. 3. Different interpretation of scriptural teachings: Among other challenges that the Indonesia team should deal with was the conservative monolithic interpretation of the scriptures giving no room for another different interpretation. 4. The scarcity of financial resources: and the further decrease in budget allocation by the university to study centers will cause difficulties to secure commitment to the projects. Thus seeking commitment of funding outside Muhammadiyah University for the certain period becomes a priority to achieve sustainability of the projects. 5. The increasing number and complexity of child abuse and violence. Way forward Realizing the importance of the sustainability and the extension of the projects, there are some agendas that the Indonesian team should accomplish in the near future. In general the agendas can be classified into internal and external plans. Internal plans include keeping the project of each batch going and expanding: 1. The Semarang cluster: In order to sustain the CRC projects, the Semarang cluster agents encourage their fellow lecturers to conduct research and community service on CRC and send their resources to seminars and conferences on CRC. They also empower and encourage the model schools to enlarge the outreach of the cluster 94 2. 3. schools, in addition to campaigning for raising the awareness of CRC and child protection. The Surakarta cluster: In order to keep the projects moving on, the Surakarta cluster agents develop their projects for expansion. Batch 15 expands the projects by encouraging the adoption of the thematic classroom, especially at the primary schools. Batch 16 develops the teaching model to be applied in the in the higher grades (fourth, fifth, and sixth grades). The agents also revise the school rules accommodating the feedback from the parents. Batch 17 revises the teaching models for the pre-service teachers. These pre-service teachers apply the models in Program Khusus Elementary School and Muhammadiyah 16 Elementary School Surakarta since School of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) UMS adopts the schools as the school laboratory. Batch 19 continues to give assistance to student council, especially the new structure, to internalize the Child Rights values and exercise their rights to contribute to the school management. Batch 19 also extends the projects to other schools, especially in Sragen, as some school principals in the neighboring area are interested in adopting the projects. Finally, Batch 20has to extend the projects by assisting the students from the schools that have implemented the project to give training to other students from the new schools. In addition, Batch 20 still has to develop the module by accommodating the feedback based on the previous practice in order to be used by other schools. DRR needs also be integrated into the activity of the students of the Geography Education Department. The Center for Child Rights Studies: As a team of all batches, the Surakarta cluster agents are aware of the shared need for a more effective coordination to outreach the wider target groups. They organize themselves through the newly established organization, The Center for Child Rights Studies, by which they can work together as a team with a stronger power. Through the center, they can coordinate themselves to guarantee the sustainability of the projects by the greater involvement of the university, parents, schools, UNICEF, and other NGO’s having the similar concerns in the Child Rights. In addition to the above internal plans, the batches also have other plans related to the external parties, as follows: 1. National networking: In order to have a stronger power and louder voice, the Indonesian agents need to build a national network that unifies the agents of all batches to collaborate. The Semarang cluster agents can optimize the role of the Center for Community, Women Empowerment, and Children Protection whereas the Surakarta cluster agents can employ The Center for Child Rights Studies. In addition, the two clusters need to improve the networking with other stakeholders, namely the government—from the local, through the regional, to the central levels—UNICEF, and other NGO’s such as KAPAS and KAKAK, especially those having similar concerns in Child Rights, child-friendly city, and child well-being. The common areas that the national networking can collaborate 95 2. among others are: conferences, trainings, researches, community services, assistance on such issues as Child Rights, child friendly schools, child-friendly city, safe schools (eco-schools), and child wellbeing. Global networking: The Indonesian agents need to build the global networking that makes it possible for the global change agents to collaborate, especially under the coordination of The Child Rights Institute, Lund University. The common areas that the global networking can collaborate among others are: training, joint researches, and joint publication. 96 97 Malawi Malawi had its first team in batch 3 and in total 13 teams and 35 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 focus batches 15-21, where Malawi has 6 teams and 17 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 Comments National 12 Region/Province/District 13 8 Some projects are district/local Local 10 5 Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The focus of the projects represented in Cambodia is on reducing drop-out rate and on different forms of student participation. The target areas for the teams in Cambodia are Lilongwe and Zomba. Area: Population: 118,484 km2 15,805,239 (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: Lilongwe 6 July 1964 (from the United Kingdom) Official language: Network coordinator: Anderson Ntandika, [email protected] George Kondowe, [email protected] 98 Chichewa Malawi Post Conference Report Rose Kamwachale, Ellina Mwenegamba, Joyce Masache, Jeremiah Mpaso, Davie Kaambankadzanja, Chimwemwe Kalalo, Valentino Zimpita, George Kondowe, Susan Rockey, Noris Mangulama, Esther Kapito, Dorothy Jilani, Bennet Kapinda, and Annie Nyangulu. Introduction Malawi ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). In addition, Malawi has gone further to enact the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act, 2010. This is a milestone because the law consolidates various child friendly pieces of legislation into one legislation which entrenches the basic general principles for the promotion and protection of the rights of children such as survival, best interest of the child, development and participation in matters that affect them. Thus the enactment of this law presents the opportunity to consolidate efforts in the promotion and protection of the rights of children in Malawi. At school level, other policies and initiatives such as 50-50 selection policy between boys and girls, re-admission policy for school drop outs, child friendly school initiative as well as free primary education policy also make significant contributions to a strong legal framework for the promotion and protection of children’s right to education. However, child participation in decision making processes in the school setting remains a challenge. It is against this background that Malawi change agents continue to advocate for child participation in decision making and school governance based on the tenets of the CRC. Current status and focus of the change work Malawi started participating in the programme with Batch 3 in 2005. Over the years, she was represented in Batches 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21. While the first 7 batches focused on different impact areas in Salima, Zomba, Blantyre and 99 Mchinji districts, Batches 16, 19, 20 and 21 focused on schools in Njewa and Kalolo Education Zones in Lilongwe Rural West. As a result of this approach, child participation at school level in these zones has increased. What has been done? To ensure increased participation of learners, the programme targeted relevant duty bearers such as head teachers, deputy head teachers, School Management Committees, Parents-Teachers’ Associations and Mother Groups through trainings and review meetings on Child Rights in education. Awareness campaigns among these duty bearers continue at school level in order to consolidate the gains recorded so far. This approach has resulted in increased understanding of children’s rights in education by the duty bearers. As a result, teachers in the targeted schools are able to give learners an opportunity to participate in decision making and school governance on issues that affect them. In order to create a structure for students’ participation in decision making and school governance, Students’ Councils have been established in various schools in Lilongwe and Zomba Districts. The Change Agents have provided tailor made trainings to learners who serve in the Students’ Councils. To consolidate these efforts, the Change Agents continue to work with Students’ Councils through further trainings and review meetings to address the gaps that are identified on an ongoing basis for them to operate effectively. Following this empowerment, Students’ Councils are able to hold meetings on their own to discuss issues that affect and engage the school leadership on how to work around such issues. The Students’ Councils are also able to engage their fellow learners on issues which they feel negatively impacts on their learning in order for the school leadership to address them. In view of this, the Students’ Councils have created a platform for increased participation of children in matters that affect them. A good example is students’ involvement in the formulation of school and classroom rules. With their involvement, the students own the rules and in return, exercise a sense of responsibility on various issues that affect their education. This helps them to balance rights with the appropriate responsibilities, something that was not existent before as children largely focused on their rights than responsibilities. All this is a result of increased awareness among the students on their rights and responsibilities as they apply in the school. It is worth noting that the Change Agents have been working together by synchronizing their different projects in order to make such a meaningful impact. Further, the programme has motivated communities to play meaningful roles in the protection of the rights of children. Among other activities, the communities are able to initiate projects on their own and to formulate bye-laws for the schools. Further, the communities are now able to report cases of Child Rights violations to relevant authorities in order to get the required redress through formal justice systems and the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) as a national human rights institution. This has contributed to enforcement of laws. In this change process, there has also been collaboration with a number of stakeholders such as MHRC that provide financial support for Child Rights activities. For 100 example, MHRC in collaboration with the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) is training head teachers and their deputies at national level on Human Rights and Democracy in Schools. At the end of the training, they develop action plans which they implement in their respective schools. Head teachers and their deputies in our impact areas are also beneficiaries of this programme. Further, UNICEF provided financial support to change work in Zomba through the Child Friendly Schools initiative. This has harnessed the change work. On the whole, the change work has been successful despite meeting a number of challenges. An outstanding breakthrough is involvement of learners in decision making and school governance. Apart from working at a school level, the change work is aiming towards influencing policy so that the concept of Child Rights is well addressed in the curriculum. Although the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is aware of the change work and appreciates its positive impacts in the targeted schools, the Change Agents intends to scale up its advocacy efforts with the ministry to ensure that the concept of the Students’Councils is well understood at all levels within the ministry in order for the initiative to be adopted at a ministry level and rolled out to all primary and secondary schools in Malawi as part of the curriculum. Reflections on successes and challenges Successes The change work in Malawi has registered a number of successes at both school and community levels. At school level, these successes are categorized into two: those concerning learners and those concerning school management and teachers. On the learner front, three main successes have been registered, all of them emanating from the introduction of Students’ Councils which have greatly improved students’ participation in school affairs. The first success is that the Students’ Councils are given an opportunity to represent fellow learners during meetings on issues affecting them. This gives them the chance to have their concerns taken on board in such issues. The second success is that students participate in planning, budgeting and implementation of school programmes. Such a practice results in students owning the programmes and in the end, there is smooth implementation of the same. The third success is that students participate in dealing with challenges at school level, thereby making the work of school managers light. A good example of such participation is their involvement in the recovery of stolen and vandalized school property. In this process, students monitor each other and stolen property gets recovered easily. Further to this, students make sure that any vandalized school property is replaced by the concerned individuals. The main success at the school management and teacher level is improved understanding of Child Rights by both parties. This is manifested in different ways, one of which is improved relationship between teachers and learners. Having received the 101 CRC message, both teachers and learners have become receptive of each other, a thing that has greatly improved coordination and cooperation between them. The other success is teachers’ improved lesson preparation and delivery which is characterized by learner-centred methodologies. These successes have created a friendly learning environment in the schools which in turn has resulted in improved teaching and learning, increased enrolment and improved sanitation. Targeted schools have also benefited from improved and increased networking with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). This is achieved by infusing CRC in the activities of NGOs that are running projects related to Child Rights. For example, there is collaboration with Plan Malawi which runs child protection projects aimed at ending early marriages in Njewa Education Zone in Lilongwe District. There has also been collaboration with UNICEF on the implementation of child friendly schools in Zomba District. Further to this, there is collaboration with MHRC, the Police and Community Child Protection Workers on issues of child protection in in our impact areas. This collaboration is further strengthened by the cordial networking among the Change Agents which has resulted in the synchronization of projects by different batches, thereby making a bigger impact in project output. Communities have also registered a number of successes, one of which is the ability to report cases of Child Rights violations to head teachers, MHRC, the Police and Child Protection Workers. Further to this, having understood their role in creating child friendly schools, communities are able to initiate projects on their own. For example, the community around Domasi Government Primary School in Zomba District constructed a library and girls’ washrooms at the school. This has eased some challenges relating to sanitation and the learning environment. In addition, parents have started formulating and enforcing bye-laws at school level with the aim of ensuring effective teaching and learning in schools. A good example is that of Mbabzi Primary School in Lilongwe District where parents use Gule wa Mkulu1 to mobilize children to go to school. Further, communities also assist in tracking down absentees and school dropouts who are then brought back to school. Therefore, the existing collaboration between schools and the communities has further helped scale up efforts towards bringing awareness against teenage pregnancies which is one of the sources of school dropouts among the girls. Challenges Despite registering the successes, the programme encountered some challenges as well. The first one was resistant to change. For example, some stakeholders such as teachers were not ready to be reminded of their teaching time or to stop corporal punishment. However, with time, they embraced change. Another challenge was that of financial constraints which at times resulted in failure to monitor implementation of activities or to conduct review meetings. Change agents tried hard not to have projects suffocated 1 Performed by the Chewa secret societies, the Gule Wamkulu (or “Great Dance”) is a masked dance which takes place at male initiation ceremonies, funerals, and major local and national celebrations 102 by using own resources to fund the activities. Time was also a challenge but change agents worked hard to balance official work and project implementation such that by the end of the day, activities in the change work were successfully implemented. Other challenges emanated from emerging issues. For example, there were times when activities could not be carried out because teachers were on a strike. That was solved by carrying forward such activities. In other instances, the situation on the ground required that planned activities be changed to suit the targeted area. This was a big challenge as re-modeling of activities meant the redirection of resources or re-strategizing of the activities all together. However, with proper networking by the Change Agents, such problems were finally resolved. Lack of interest in Child Rights by some stakeholders was also a challenge. For example, parents and teachers showed very little interest in Child Rights work mainly due to lack of understanding of the concept. The situation improved with continued awareness campaigns to them. Another challenge is that while it is the wish of Change Agents to have CRC mainstreamed, some stakeholders seem not very ready to embrace it. Consequently, some teachers regard Child Rights work as extra curricula. It is hoped that gradually, they will change this perception. The last challenge is the movement of Change Agents. When a Change Agent has been posted away from a school or his or her previous duty station, CRC gets weakened even though the school to which he or she is posted gains in the sense that CRC is introduced. However, the number of such cases is insignificant. Way forward The presence of 36 CRC Change Agents in Malawi has a great potential to spread the values and principles of CRC in the schools in Malawi. The 13 projects implemented in the schools and surrounding communities have had a strong impact in enhancing child participation in decision making processes and creating a child friendly school environment. To consolidate the gains from the project, the change agents intend to do the following: Strengthening the Country Network Malawi CRC Network is in the process of registering itself as “Malawi Child Rights Change Agents Network” so that it operates as a legal entity. The Network intends to: • Strengthen its structures and ensure that it meets regularly to review its operations, activities and share best practices and challenges • Develop a Strategic Plan to guide its work and operations • Link the Network with other Child Rights fora such as National Technical Working Group on Child Protection and Child Affairs. 103 • Intensify resource mobilization through engagement with various donors and submission of proposals, fund raising activities such as open days at schools and subscription fees by the members Continuing with project implementation and following up on the activities for sustainability The Network intends to continue with project implementation and follow up on activities with the aim of providing support to the structures and systems set up in the schools and communities for project sustainability. The Network also intends to replicate the projects in other educational zones such as Mpingu, Mdzobwe, Mzumanzi, Likuni and Dzenza in Lilongwe District and scale up the activities in Zomba District. For the smooth running of the projects, the Network intends to train more targeted stakeholders by linking with MHRC and MIE who run a training programme on Human Rights and Democracy in Schools. The projects will also be linked to other existing Child Rights programmes in schools such as Child Friendly Schools as well as 18+ Campaign which advocate for children’s protection from early marriages in the impact areas of the change work. For the advocacy of Child Rights issues being championed in the projects, the Network will be commemorating different days such as the Day of the African Child and Universal Children’s Day. Further, the Network will continue to strengthen the role of the Students’ Councils in the schools and scale up their work by establishing a link and a platform for meetings to share experiences, challenges and best practices at zonal level. The Network will also infuse the various aspects of the projects into their organizational work plans for financial support and sustenance. In addition, the Network will work with schools on how they can integrate activities that support issues of Child Rights in their school activities through the use of Zonal Improvements Grants and School Improvement Grants from government. Evaluation to assess impact of the activities There are plans to carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the projects especially the synchronised projects of Batches 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21 so as to showcase the successes and the linkages on the ground with the aim of influencing policy and practice. The findings will be used for evidence based advocacy to lobby government to include Students’ Councils as part of the Educational Policy. 104 Hold a CRC National Conference The Network plans to hold a CRC conference to share CRC norms, principles and best practices which can ensure child protection and child participation in schools with the aim of creating a conducive environment for children to receive quality education. Lobby for CRC Mainstreaming in School Curriculum The Network intends to lobby for the mainstreaming of Child Rights in the school curriculum instead of having single topics in special subjects like Social Studies, Life Skills and Social and Environmental Studies. The Network also intends to lobby that textbooks for schools should highlight children’s rights and responsibilities. Further, the Network intends to lobby for the inclusion of Child Rights in Teacher Education especially at foundation stage in Teacher Training Colleges. Media Related CRC Programmes To ensure wide coverage and dissemination of the CRC, the Network will develop Child Rights based programmes that will be broadcast by various media houses with wide listenership including community radio stations. Names of Change Agents and their Respective Projects Batch No. Team Members Impact District (s) Project Title 3 Ibrahim Ntalika Zomba Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Schools in Malawi: A Pilot Study in Zomba With a Focus on Corporal and Humiliating Punishment Participation, Provision and Protection of the Child: Assessment of Awareness at School Level: The Case of Sakata Primary School, Domasi Demonstration Primary and Secondary Schools, Zomba, Malawi A Study on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Malawian Primary Schools Lucia Chidalengwa 4 Gilbert Phiri Zomba Misheck Munthali Florie Chagwira 5 Dales Mbewe Salima Prince Moyo Mchinji Lilongwe 105 7 Emma Mandala Zomba The Right of a Child to Participation and Protection in Education: A Case of Zomba CCAP Primary School and Namikasi Secondary Schools in Malawi Ernest Matengo Lilongwe Mercy Manyungwa Mchinji Reducing Dropout Rate Due to Pregnancy Grace Mulima Besta Yotamu Mchinji Reducing School Dropout Rate Due to Child Labour Lilongwe Child Rights Convention Sensitisation and Enhancement of its Implementation in Malawian Schools: A Case of Chimutu Primary School, Lilongwe Students’ Participation in Discipline Issues Among Students in Secondary Schools: A Case of Malosa and Mulunguzi Secondary Schools Child Participation in Decision Making at School Dorica Ayami Mcpeatry Kandio 8 11 Elizabeth Ngondoma 13 Steve Banda Martha Kwengwere Derix Souza 15 Learnard Banda Rose Mpazo Zomba Ellina Msiska 16 Jeremiah Mpaso Lilongwe Priscilla Thawe 18 Joyce Masache Valentine Zimpita Zomba Chimwemwe Kalalo 19 Davie Kaambamkadzanja Anderson Ntandika Lilongwe Suzan Rockey 20 George Kondowe Noris Mangulama Chirwa Lilongwe Joseph Chimombo 21 Esther Kapito Dorothy Jilani Lilongwe Anne Nyangulu Bennet Kapinda 106 The Role of Community Members in the Promotion of Child Friendly Schools: The Case of Malemia and Domasi Government Primary Schools Child Participation in Decision Making in Schools of Njewa Education Zone, Lilongwe Bridging the Gap Between Students’ Councils and Prefects CRC Based School Leadership: The Case of Njewa Education Zone 107 Mozambique Mozambique has its first team in batch 7 (2007) and in total 5 teams and 14 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where Mozambique has 4 teams and 11 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents Change Projects in Batch in Batch 1-21 1-21 National 3 Region/Province/District 3 Local 8 Comments 5 Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. Geographically the teams are divided between Xia-Xai city and the capital city Maputo. The focus of the projects has emphasized all three Ps, provision, protection and participation. Area: Population: (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: (from Portugal) Official languages: Network Coordinators: Matias Albino Parruque, [email protected] Artur Armando Dombo, [email protected] 108 801,590 km2 15,721,343 Maputo 25 June 1975 Portuguese Mozambique Post Conference Report Adolfo Tembe, Alexandre Filipe Senda, Armando Zavala, Artur Armando Dombo, Elias Marcos Banze, Ercília Natália Gune, Gertrudes Noronha, Gilberto Basílio Langa, Janete Mondlane Machava, João Assale, Matias Parruque, Milagrosa Armando Basílio Sitoe, Samuel Menezes Boque, and Virgínia Gomane. Introduction Mozambique is one of the fifty five countries of the African Continent, and it is located in Southern Africa. It became independent in June 25th 1975, and up till then, Portugal had been ruling this country since 1498. When Mozambique gained its independent, the rate of illiteracy was 93 %. Soon after independence Mozambique emerged into a civil war between Frelimo and Renamo that lasted sixteen years (1976-1992). During this period many schools were destroyed or abandoned, and many people were killed. However, when civil war was over in 1992, the Mozambican government made strong efforts to build and rebuild schools, teacher training institutions and providing teaching materials. Due to these efforts the rate of illiteracy is currently 48.1%. The Government of Mozambique has shown strong commitment to protect and promote the rights of children, such as: the Family Law, Promotion and Protection of Children´s Rights, Women Rights and others. The present paper provides a summary of the activities in education and the impact of these activities regarding the implementation of CRC, done in some Mozambican schools in the capital Maputo and in the city of Xai-Xai. The paper is divided into three parts: the current status and focus of the change work, reflections on successes and challenges and way forward. 109 Current status and focus of the change work Child rights issues needs planning, designing, delivering and evaluation which are based around the achievement of the specific human rights of children as set out in the UN Convention of Rights of the Child (CRC).The implementation of Child Rights programs in schools are necessary to reach good quality education. Mozambique is a multilingual and multicultural country where coexist ethno linguistic groups, predominantly those of Bantu origin. This cultural and linguistic diversity that characterizes Mozambique poses major challenges to the education sector. In response to the challenges, the country became a signatory of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Charter of African Child Rights since 1990, ratified in 1994. In this agreement the government committed itself to ensure the rights of all Mozambican children to basic social services such as education, health, drinkable water and community participation in issues related to the children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child contains 54 articles and can broadly be grouped in three sections named the “three Ps” (protection, provision and participation). The government has developed actions in several areas in order to enforce these rights that are stipulated in the Convention and included in the Law of National Education System (NES, 19921) which defines that the public primary education is free. As a result, considerable progress has been achieved, the number of students increased from 1.3 million in 1992 to 4.4 million in 2011, while many of the graduate’s from seventh grade still are unable to demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills specified in the curriculum. The basic education curriculum, in particular, is based on the view that education must take into account the diversity of individuals and social groups to be more inclusive. For its implementation, a workload of 20 % of total time of national curriculum to accommodate the local curriculum is expected (INDE/MINED – Mozambique, 2003.82). The Curricular Plan of Training Course for Primary Teachers (PCCFPP) has challenge of training competent professionals, able to organize and manage complex learning situations, ensuring a successful education for all (INDE/MINED – Mozambique,2012. 7). In this plan, it was defined the following transversal themes to be discussed in all modules: Education for Citizenship, Rights and Duties of Citizens, Human Rights, Children’s Rights, Culture of Peace and Democracy and Patriotic Education (INDE/ MINED – Mozambique, 2012.16). The country has been striving towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include the achievements of Universal Primary Education and reducing illiteracy and gender disparity by 2015. Regarding to this, much progress has been registered. New schools and universities are being built throughout the country so that more children can have access to education. Laws which promote children´s rights as well as laws which protect them from various harms (such as labor work exploitation, sexual harassment, early marriages and corporal punishment) have been created and are being implemented throughout the country. So it can be said that the three 110 pillars of CRC (provision, protection and participation) are being partially fulfilled in Mozambique. In fact something good is being done concerning to the implementation of CRC in society. You often hear programs on radios dealing with CRC; you can also watch informative programs on the national television as well as you can read good articles in the newspapers and magazines dealing with children´s rights. All over the country, you easily find pamphlets put up on the walls or elsewhere with some drawings, pictures and written statements about children’s rights. However, if you come to the big area, education in pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, there is no specific subject or programme in the curriculum which is dealing with CRC as such. There are some spontaneous activities on teaching about the CRC. Therefore, in our point of view, we consider that there is not as much as it should be. As we have mentioned before there is no clear design in the school curriculum that gives clues in which way the schools should walk in the teaching and implementing of CRC. Not all the schools act in the same way, some try on they own but others do nothing at all. In order to help the country fulfill the Convention on Child Rights, in 2003, the Swedish government in partnership with Lund University Commissioned Education was given the task, after public tender, to create and administrate a programme on “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management” following the provisions and principles contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Sida’s development policy on Education and other internationally ratified instruments in the areas of Child Rights and education. The programme was oriented to target persons holding a position from where they could initiate processes of change in their home countries. The objective of the Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme is: “to improve participating countries’ capacity to offer and ensure everyone’s right to relevant and quality education, an education that is safe and secure, inclusive, studentcantered, democratic and problem-solving and that creates opportunities for all, regardless of background, to participate in community life as active citizens.” During this programme 14 professionals (change agents) of education from Mozambique have been trained. These professionals are divided into five teams and come from different professional positions, as shown in the tables below: Level National Region/ Province/District Local Change Agents 3 3 8 Working Place Ministry of Education Teacher Training Institutions Primary and Secondary Schools Table 1. Change Agents’ professional position During the training, the change agents designed various change projects and worked hard to implement these projects in some schools in Maputo and Xai-Xai, in order to help students enjoy their rights at school and help teachers provide relevant and quality education to their students, as it can be seen from the table below. 111 Batch/ Year 07 (2003) Change Agents Project title Target Group João Assale, Virginia Gomane, Matias Parruque CRC in Mozambiqueincrease child participation in education; Improve school and their roles by raising awareness on CRC; 15 (2011) Janete Mondlane, Gilberto Langa Stop corporal punishment. Increase participation in grade 6 in a Primary School in Maputo; (2012) 18 (2013) 20 (2014) Escola Primária anexa ao Instituto de Formação de professores Eduardo Mondlane in XaiXai. Grade 6 students Escola Primaria 3 de Fevereiro Maputo City Gertrudes Increase students’ participation Noronha, Armando at Quisse Mavota Secondary Zavala, Adolfo School. Tembe Grade 8 students Escola Secundaria Quisse MavotaMaputo City. Artur Dombo, Elias Banze, Milagrosa Sitoe Building warm relationship between teachers and students in order to increase students’ participation in the classroom Grade 11 Escola Secundaria teachers and Quisse Mavotastudents Maputo City Samuel Buque, Alexandre Senda, Ercília Natália Raising awareness of CRC by involving parents in issues of provision and participation in education Parents Identify problems regarding to CRC and come up with solutions to change behaviors. 16 Students Project Site Escola Primaria de Inhagoia ‘A’Maputo Table 2. Teams and Change projects being implemented in Maputo and Xai-Xai. Reflections on successes and challenges In order to achieve the goals of the Convention on Child Rights, meetings and workshops with teachers, students, parents and education authorities in different levels were held in Maputo and Xai-Xai. Topics related to CRC were presented and discussed, focusing the three pillars of the CRC (provision, protection and participation). The implementation of these projects is bringing changes in education. Teachers in schools where projects are being implemented have changed their attitudes; stopped corporal punishment, use student-centered methods, encourage students’ participation in the classroom and provide relevant and quality education to their students. The parents are more involved in the education of their children. Students are more aware about their rights and duties and participate actively in the classroom and in school life. 112 Authorities in different levels (e.g. meetings with the Provincial Director of Gaza Province and the District Director of Kamubukwana, in Maputo) are aware about the importance and the impact of CRC projects being implemented in schools and are supporting the work being done by the change agents. As result of the change projects, new classrooms were built in Escola Primária Anexa ao IFP Eduardo Mondlane in Xai-Xai and a huge workshop building was built at Escola Secundaria Quisse Mavota in Maputo in order to provide safe place for the students to repair damaged desks. Different programmes has been is implemented at Quisse Mavota for example the Cutting and Sewing Project order to provide school uniform for vulnerable children. Despite these successes, we still have much work to do. We would like to extend these projects to other schools in other provinces in order to help all students enjoy their rights at school, but we do not have enough resources. The money contributed by change agents is not enough to cover transportation, accommodation and provide snacks for the participants during the workshops. We are working hard to raise money from the government and other institutions in order to carry out CRC in schools throughout the country. We are committed and we believe that one day in in future, Mozambique will be a CRC country. Way forward Our way forward contains of different projects planned to realise: INFORMATION • Inform the District and Provincial Directorate of Education as well as to the Ministry of Education, in order to spread CRC concepts to all Mozambican schools. • Translate all projects into Portuguese Language, print and distribute them to primary, secondary schools and Teachers Training Colleges. • Change Agents will hold meetings with teachers and Principals of the neighbouring schools to share good practices with them. • Spreading awareness on CRC during school meetings; parents meetings and community meetings. TRAINING • Trained students will train their classmates in the classroom as well as the new comers. • Trained teachers will share the experience with others; • Training the retired teachers on Child Rights so that they spread CRC in the community; 113 • Extend the training to others schools in different provinces; • Permanent monitoring to the students and teachers while training others. DEVELOPING • Develop small programmes in schools in Maputo Province (Carpentry, Sewing, Cooking) and then extend them to other schools in other provinces, taking examples of what is happening at Quisse Mavota Secondary School. • Promote and support students´ clubs and Student Councils. • Continue to stimulate the establishment of good relationship between teachers and students. • Organize leisure activities between teachers and students in order to improve their relationship. • Strengthen peer and group work in which good students help weaker ones to excel well in their learning. References THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, (2004). Imprensa Nacional de Moçambique, Maputo. UNICEF, (2007). Implementation Handbook for The Convention On The Rights Of the Child, Geneva. Hanushek, Eric & Woessmann, Ludger (2007). The role of Education Quality in Economic Growth. World Bank. Ministerio da Educação e Cultura (2006). Education Statistics: Annual School Results2005, Maputo. McMahon, Walter (2002). Education and Development: Measuring the Social Benefits. Oxford; Oxford University-Press. Moçambique Relatório Nacional de Desenvolvimento Humano (2005). Mwamwenda, S.T. (2006). Psicologia Educacional: Uma perspectiva Africana. Maputo; Ed. Texto Editores. Palme, Maikael (1992). O significado da Escola. Repetencia e Desistência na Escola primaria moçambicana. Maputo; Ed. INDE. Save The Children (2005). Child Rights Programming: How to apply Rights-Based Approaches to programming. A Handbook for International Save the Children Alliance Members. Lima. Verhellen, Eugeen (2006). Convention on the Rights of the Child: Background, motivations, strategies, main themes. London. 114 115 Namibia Namibia had its first team in batch 2 (2004) and in total have 11 teams and 32 change agents in batches 1-21 participated. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where Namibia has 5 teams and 15 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 National 3 0 Region/Province/District 13 0 Local 16 11 Comments Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. Geographically the main part of the teams is from Kavango province. One team is from Karas province, and so far only one team is from the Center. The focus of the projects has emphasized all three Ps, provision, protection (bullying) and also to some extent participation. 825,418 km2 2,319,085 Area: Population: (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: Windhoek 21 March 1990 (from SA mandate) Official language: Network Coordinators: Martinus Hamutenya, [email protected] Evaristus Modestus, [email protected] 116 English Namibia Post Conference Report Paulus Iiyambo, Likius Nakamwe, Olivia Shanana, Samuel Edegware, Regina Hausiku, Kingston Makoni, Penehafo Haidula, Monika Hangula, Simon Jacob, Anesu Desmond Marongwe, Mirjam Mbango, Elizabeth Valombola, Martha Amutenya, Modestus Evaristus, and Simeon Kavila. Introduction This document is a reflection on the implementation of the Child Rights Convention (CRC) in Namibia from 2004 to 2016. This paper looks at the legal framework done by the Namibian government and current status of CRC implementation done by Change Agents (CAs) in the country. It further reflects on the successes and challenges experienced in implementing the different CRC change work in the country and finally it concludes with a way forward in effort to address the challenges experienced as well as to sustain the good practices. Legal frame of references The ratification of the Child Rights Convention in 1990 was a direct consequence of the guarantee given to fundamental human rights in Chapter 3 of the Namibian Constitution in general and Article 20 in particular. The enactment of Education Act, Act 16 of 2001, and its Regulation paved a way to the crafting of policies and the interventions that ensure the realization of Child Rights in Namibia. Child Rights in Namibia are legal rights endorsed by the following laws: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The Namibian Constitution 1990 The Education Act 16 of 2001 Children status Act No 6 of 2006 The Children Act No 66 of 1967 The Combating of Domestic Violence Act No 4 of 2003 The Combating of Rape Act No 8 of 2003 117 7. 8. Labour Act No 11 of 2007 Child Care Protection Act No 3 of 2015 Current status and focus of the change work It is in line with these laws that Namibia put in place different interventions to ensure that Child Rights are realised in Namibia. In response to the laws above, the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture had developed different policies to ensure provision, protection and participation (3 Ps) by children in educational activities as well as in other matters that concern them The Policy on Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy allows female learners who leave the school due to pregnancy to proceed with their education after delivery. This thus ensures continuous provision of education and inclusion of all. The Learner Centred Approach which the Ministry prescribes enables teachers to consider learners needs, interest and abilities in their teaching. The outlawing of Corporal Punishment also ensures protection of children and thus creating positive attitudes towards schooling for learning to take place. The government has also put systems in place to involve children in decision-making on issues pertaining to their education. This was done through the election of Class Representatives, as well Learners Representative Councils (LRCs) where learners discuss educational concerns and also suggest possible solutions to address such concerns. Also, the government allows learners to contribute to governing of the country through the establishment of Children Parliament and Junior Town Councils, where learners discuss issues that affect them academically and socially. The establishment of LRCs, Parliament and Junior Town Councils equips children with leadership skills. The Ministry has also introduced a National School Feeding Program (NSFP) to school with vulnerable and orphan learners. The NSFP provides meals to these learners thus ensuring that they have enough energy to participate in school activities. This also encourages learners to attend school regularly. In attempt to ensure access and participation in education by learners, in 2013 and 2016 the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture introduced Free Primary Education and Free Secondary Education respectively. The Policy on Inclusive Education also ensures that all children, irrespective of their abilities have access to education, which is why the government prescribed that construction of school buildings are friendly to children with disabilities. The document on National Standards and Performance Indicators of Schools in Namibia also expects teachers to be considerate of learners with physical and visual disabilities in their teaching. More boarding and non-boarding schools were also established to ensure easy and more access to education. The Ministry of Gender, Equality and Child Welfare provides social grants to financially support orphan and vulnerable children to be able to afford basic needs such as school uniforms and toiletries. This policy also exempts these learners from paying all 118 education related fees. The school uniform encourage learners to feel part and parcel of the school and thus be encouraged to participate in the teaching/learning activities. Line ministries have contributed significantly to the improvement of quality of children. For example, the Ministry of Health has put mobile clinics in place to ensure access to health facilities by all children. Routine immunization programs in schools have been carried out on regular basis to protect children against contagious diseases. The Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare has also established a Child Protection Unit to protection of children against abuse cases. This unit also conducts radio and TV programs to educate children about their rights. Purpose of CRC projects done by change agents The purpose of all the change projects aimed at creating “Child Friendly Schools” by raising awareness among the stakeholders; and implementing CRC in our schools focussing on participation, provision and protection (the 3 Ps). The projects also intend to educate, sensitize and train education stakeholders (learners, teachers, parents, Education Officers, and civic leaders). Current status of the change agents’ work The country has 32 Change Agents trained on the implementation of CRC since 2004 – 2016. These Change Agents have piloted 11 CRC projects with specific focus on provision, protection and participation at 12 schools in the country. The piloting of these projects has resulted in the sensitization and training of some Education officials, teachers, learners, parents, civic leaders, and schoolboard members on the importance of Child Rights. Regional Directors, Inspectors of Education from Regions and circuits of the piloted schools were sensitized to enable them to provide the necessary support to the projects implementation and Change Agents. All batches sensitized Regional Directors and Inspectors of Education about CRC before commencing with the project. Schools Learners Teachers Principals Parents School Board members Others 12 976 148 9 215 57 31 The table below summarizes the different projects carried out by Change Agents in Namibia. CRC Focus Change Projects 1-11 Target Groups 119 Specific Focus 3P´s Child Rights Convention in the Kharas Region 3P´s Transforming schools through the Parents, teachers Convention of Rights of the Child in and learners Namibia: a case study at Andreas Haingura Kandjimi Primary School in the Kavango East Region Child-Friendly School 3P´s Child right based approach to create a conducive environment for teaching and learning at Shamangorwa Combined School in Kavango East Region Parents, teachers and learners Child-Friendly School 3P´s Education for All: Enhancing the opportunities of San Children at Martin Ndumba Combined School in, Kavango East Region Parents, teachers and learners The right to Education 3Ps Reducing dropout – a pilot study at Parents, teachers Eputuko Combined School in Ohangwena and learners Region Regular Attendance 3Ps Reducing dropout rate:(a continous on the pilot study from previous batch at Omhanda Combined School in Ohangwena Region) Parents, teachers and learners Regular Attendance 3Ps Positive discipline at Rundu Secondary School in Kavango East Region. Parents, teachers and learners, Community leaders, Inspectors of Education, Councillors, Line Ministries Positive Discipline 3Ps The right to freedom of expression through Parents, teachers active participation in the teaching and and learners learning environment at Onalulago Combined School in Oshikoto Region and Ongwediva Junior Secondary School in Oshana Region 120 Parents, teachers and learners The Convention of the Rights of the Child Freedom of Expression Teachers, learners and school board members 3Ps Parental participation in the child’s education at Etunda Combined School in Omusati Region 3Ps Focussing on provision regarding children’s Parents, rights at Tuguva Combined School in Civic Leaders, Kavango West Region Teachers, Learners and Education Officers 3P´s Walking with awareness and knowledge on Child Rights: A case study on bullying at Okahandja Senior Secondary in Otjozondjupa Region. Parents, teachers and learners Parental involvement Child Rights and Provision Bullying Methodologies The batches employed various approaches in carrying out the projects. Needs Assessment Before training, needs assessment was carried out to determine the target group’s level of understanding about CRC in general, as well as how to implement Child Rights in the teaching/learning environment. Questionnaires were administered and people were interviewed. The results were then analysed to inform the content of the training workshops. Training workshops by Change Agents The training workshops aimed at the following purposes: • To sensitize teachers, learners, school board members and parents about the importance of CRC. • To equip the teachers, learners, school board members and parents with approaches and methodologies to employ in implementing Child Rights. • To educate learners about their rights and responsibilities. • To create awareness among Regional Directors and other Education Officials on CRC. Follow-up visits a) Follow up visits by change agents to their project sites is mainly to support, to evaluate and to strengthen the change projects. 121 b) The country mentor also carried out mentorship visits with the purpose to monitor the impact of the training and to support the Change Agents. Reflections on successes and challenges Successes The interventions of the CRC Change Agents since 2004 have resulted in some success stories and challenges with regards to the 3 Ps. There was a gradual increase of successes as more change agents joined the network team. The change agents were required to carry out projects in schools which were effectively done. The implementation of projects raised awareness about CRC among the stakeholders such as the Education Directorates, parents, teachers and learners, with more understanding of CRC concepts and the 3 Ps implementation at most of the project schools. This led to creation of regional and national committees working together to achieve a common goal by supporting different projects. The network improved communication between change agents resulting in improved sensitisation on CRC activities in Namibian schools. The national network facilitated workshops and planned national events with regards to CRC activities. The national network committee had consultative meetings with Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture officials which resulted in the possibility of CRC activities to be mainstreamed in to the ministerial programmes, following the cease of funding by SIDA. The funding of all the CRC programmes is budgeted for by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture. The network has taken initiative to train more CRC Change Agents country wide particularly in regions without Change Agents, as well as organising a National CRC Conference to invite more stakeholders to increase sensitization. The other successful stories came in the form of realisation of project outcomes. These interventions led to the remarkable reduction of school drop outs, increased parental involvement in education, the increase of learner participation and the creation of conducive learning environments and an increase of learner motivation to attend school; and to an extend improved academic performance. The interventions have also improved discipline in schools. The education system is redirected to focus towards the best interest of the child. The integration of CRC activities into schools created a platform to lobby for policy amendments and reinforcement in the policy implementation process such as Education Sector Policy on Inclusive Education of amendments in the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy Policy and the circular on Universal Primary and Secondary Education etc. 122 The functional CRC National network which was created in 2014 yielded the following results: • • • • • • • • • Created CRC awareness among stakeholders. Information shared through progress reports CRC Strategic Plan developed. CRC Budget discussed and submitted to Head Office. Communique drafted for regions to mainstream CRC CRC sensitization seminars planned at regions CRC National Symposium planned for 2016 CRC Africa Conference planned for 2017 CRC International networking explored Challenges Change Agents also encountered some challenges in implementing their projects such as: Lack of commitment by some staff members During the implementation process of projects it was noted that some stakeholders lacked commitment: for example they did not attend meetings and they did not implement the activities they were advised to try out. Some principals gave excuses not to attend the workshops and refused to allocate time for the training to take place. In some projects it was noted that appointments with some Inspectors of Education could not materialise and this delayed progress in carrying out projects. Time constraints Change Agents have different commitments and the nature of their jobs could allow them to attend every meeting. In some cases the school calendar was fully packed with other activities which led to the school management not to accommodate CRC activities, resulting in most meetings to be held during weekends and public holidays. Distance between change agents within some batches and between the different batches Distance between change agents was a constrain where some change agents live far away from each other making it difficult to meet regularly and carry out CRC activities. Distance made the expansion of projects to other schools in some regions difficult to realise as schools are far apart from each other, and far from the Change Agents’ duty stations. 123 Lack of resources Resources are another constrains which negatively affected the implementation process of projects, as some Change Agents had to use their own funds to make it to their project schools. Some regions even failed to provide Subsistence and Travelling Allowance (S&T) and transport to Change Agents when attending international CRC conferences. Lack of resources also hampered the strengthening of the network between Change Agents because of lack of funds. Poor communication and support Lack of proper communication channels also hampered communication amongst Change Agents; and this delayed the implementation of activities. Poor communication between principals, inspectors, teachers, school management and Change Agents was also a hurdle to overcome. In some instances, the principals failed to pass on the important information to their staff members and learners which hinder effective implementation of activities. Some school authorities did not take ownership of the projects, and as a result they did not support the projects. Resistance due to deep rooted cultural beliefs and norms The cultural practices and beliefs that children do not respond to adults was a barrier to break through. Some teachers felt that the projects empower learners and disturb the existing power relations. Promotion and re- deployment of Change Agents into different work areas Change Agents who got promoted or redeployed where replaced and as a result the region concerned was left without a coordinator (Change Agent). Limitation on expansion of projects to schools Inadequate provision of capital and human resources derailed the expansion of projects to other schools. Way forward Namibian Change Agents are determined to expand and sustain CRC activities in Namibia through the following activities: 124 Networking Local Network and National Network: This is one area where Change Agents would work together, strengthen communication to assist each other in ensuring successes of the existing projects within the various regions of the country through: 1. (1) deliberating on issues affecting CRC in Namibia. 2. (2) monitoring and evaluate completed and ongoing projects. 3. (3) organizing CRC related events such as workshops, conferences, and competitions. Continental Network: The Change Agents believe that it is important to always refresh their knowledge and understanding on CRC related issues. As such networking with other African Change Agents is important, hence the need to bring together all other African Change Agents. This platform will enable Namibian Change Agents to learn from the success stories of other CRC participating countries in order to improve in such areas. International Network: CRC is a Global issue, and there are countries who have successfully implemented the concept. We therefore have a strong desire to go beyond the shores of Africa by way of bringing together Change Agents and mentors to Namibia to share experiences and their success stories or attending international CRC conferences. Sustaining CRC It is the Change Agents’ believe that CRC in Namibia will be sustained through the process below: Involvement of other stakeholders: Success of every activity is a shared responsibility. That is why involving parents, traditional leaders, political office bearers, NGOs, educators and children will be one of priorities. We need to make CRC relevant to all stakeholders for everyone to work towards making Namibia a child-friendly country. Budget allocation: Finances dictates every project, hence the need to secure funds to for the CRC activities. It is our hope the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture will accommodate these activities in the annual budgetary allocation. Trainings: The Change Agents planned to train new additional change agents by way of locally replicating the International advanced programme on Child Rights, Classrooms and School Management run by SIDA. Some of the existing Lund University trained Change Agents will be mentors of the locally trained Change Agents and will consistently monitor and evaluate projects conducted by the newly trained change agents. Monitoring and Evaluation of current Projects: Some of the existing Lund University trained Change Agents will be mentors and consistently monitor and evaluate projects together Integration of CRC content in school curriculum and school activities: It is our desire that CRC content be infused into all school activities. This will require an audience with NIED to discuss mechanisms to follow for this to be realised. 125 Networking and Impact Seminars: The Namibian Change Agents are part of the global network, that were strengthened at the CRC Impact Seminars in Bangkok (2008, 2013 and Cambodia (2016). It is our wish that resources will allow us to continue benefiting from this. Conclusion In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that the implementation of the Child Rights Convention (CRC) in Namibia is not a choice but is an obligation following the ratification of the convention by our government in September 1990. Therefore, paradigm shift regarding Child Rights is mandatory at all levels of our society if we are to mould our young ones into responsible, caring and considerate present citizens. Composed by change agents of Namibia Batch 2 2 Change Agents Fenny Magdalena Shanjengange Mareé Magdalena Smit 3 Emil Franciscus Franz 3 3 6 6 6 9 9 9 11 11 11 14 14 14 17 17 17 18 Venolia Mukwahepo Hamutenya Fillemon Mungongi Marthinus Hamutenya Imelda Sinzere Kandjimi Filippine Pulcheria Munkanda Elisabeth Nankali Likoro Markus Mbweti Mbundu Jakobus Mukuve Sikongo Eveline Tuhafeni Kambonde Florinus Mpareke Naftal Sakaria Ngalangi Roderick April Hendrik Coetzer Pelagia Shilamba Paulus Iiyambo Likius Nakamwe Olivia Shinana Samuel Edegware 126 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 21 Regina Hausiku Kingston Makoni Penehafo Haidula Monika Hangula Simon Jakob Anesu Desmond Marongwe Mirjam Mbango Elizabeth Valombola Martha Amutenya 21 Modestus Evaristus 21 Simeon Kavila 127 South Africa South Africa has its first team in batch 3 (2005) and in total 10 teams and 30 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where South Africa has 5 teams and 15 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 National 2 Region/Province/District 16 Local 12 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 Comments 10 Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The Child Rights Programme has taken place in 3 of the 9 provinces in South Africa: Gauteng and KwaZuluNatal, but first and foremost in Free State, where the teams have been composed by officials from the Directorate of Values in Education, Department of Education Free State and principals. The implementation of CRC has mainly focused on problems with drugs, sexual abuse, corporal punishment, infusion of CRC in school policies, orphans and child headed households, parental involvement and children’s participation. Area: Population: 1,221,037 km2 54,002,000 (est. 2014) Pretoria (admin), Cape Town (leg), Bloemfontein (judicial) Independence: 31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies) Official languages: Afrikans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu Network Coordinator: Rapuleng Matsaneng, [email protected] Capital: 128 South Africa Post Conference Report Dimakatso Mofokeng, Vangile Msibi, Lineo Molingoana, Abraham Ntho, Ramangwedi Mohlahleli, Mafalatsi Senooe, Mookho Mohapi, Selebogo Dithebe, Fhatuwani Denga, Nefthaly Maine, and Sibongile Lekaota. Protecting Child Rights to enhance learner participation in schools by focusing on parental involvement, drug abuse and support of orphans and vulnerable learners. Introduction The Child Rights program has taken place in 3 of the 9 provinces in South Africa: Gauteng (one team), KwaZulu-Natal (one team) and Free State from where nine teams have participated in the programme since 2010. All teams have been composed of officials from the sub - directorate Values in Education and primary and secondary school principals. Values in Education sub-directorate is targeting parents and learners to make them aware of the values as enshrined in the Constitution as well as the rights and responsibilities of learners as outlined in Chapter 2 of the Bill of Rights. Change Agents who were engaged in change projects include people in professional positions representing different socio-administrative levels: province- district and local level. The original idea for recruitment of participants from Free State was that all five districts should be represented together with officials from provincial level. The ambition was to create model schools that could serve as a kind of CRC-centres, rights based and child friendly schools in each district with head office overseeing the projects to ensure sustainability and networking. In relation to the engagement on CRC, the South African Government has introduced Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) which is a national programme to improve and strengthen the quality of public education by turning schools into child friendly institutions through implementation of CRC. This campaign has served as support for the projects. In total 11 school principals and 12 officials were engaged in 8 projects including 10 different project schools. The implementation of CRC has focused on problems 129 such as drugs, sexual abuse, corporal, punishment, infusion of CRC in school policies, orphans, parental involvement, child headed households and creation of child-friendly teaching and learning environment. All projects, batch 15-21, have had the same target groups and stakeholders as illustrated in the table below. Figure 1. Overview target groups and stakeholders Target Group Stakeholders Learners Parents Educators Social Workers Police Inclusive Education & SBST Health Department Home Affairs Schools & Department of Education Orphans Vulnerable Children Non-Governmental Organisations Batch 21: Batch 19: Learners rights in context of CRC with focus on participation Child headed families & need for support from school, other authorities & communities Batch 18: Improving parental involvement in school activities Batch 17: Addressing basic needs of orphans Projects Batch 11 to 21 Batch 15: Impact of drug abuse on learner performance Figure 2. Overview of projects batch 11-21 130 Batch 11 : Encourage democratic learner participation with intention of addressing cirporal punishment Batch 13 Changing attitudes and infusion of CRC in school policies Batch 14 Promotion of sexual health & prevention of sexual abuse Current status and focus of the change work Batch 15: Impact of drug abuse on learner performance The project started in 2012 at Tshepang Secondary School situated in Hlohlolwane a poverty stricken township near Clocolan in the Western part of Free State. The school include grade 8 – 12 with 800 learners. When the project started it experienced a number of challenges that affected learner performance: bullying, gender based violence, late- coming, poor attendance and lack of interest in learning as a result of drug abuse. The focus of the project was to create a conducive environment of learning that is safe, free from drugs and all forms of substance abuse in order to create a child friendly environment and cater for the 3Ps (Protection, Participation and Provision). Results The interventions of the School Based Support Team (SBST) and Department of Inclusive Education reduced the number of referrals for drug abuse by 20%.Overaged troublesome learners were referred to adult centres and Further Education and Training Colleges (FET) thus improving learner performance through activities such as Spelling B and Transnet Teenage Health project, which addresses sexuality, teenage pregnancy and HIV/ AIDS. Partnerships with different stakeholders were secured to raise awareness on drug abuse and social ills that affects learners on a daily basis. Tshepang is now a child friendly school where rights of learners are protected, the environment is safe and secured. Batch 17: Addressing basic needs of orphans The focus was to improve the living conditions of orphans, enable them access to school, access to funds, documents and strengthen their participation in education. The project started in 2012 at Rekgonne Primary School situated in a poverty stricken informal settlement in Bloemfontein. It started with identified 240 orphans. Of these learners some of them did not have school uniform, others came from child headed households and others did not have identity documents which made it difficult for them to access government grants and access education which resulted in poor participation and performance of learners. Results The parental involvement at school has increased, parents are now involved in teaching and learning of their children. Stakeholders such as NGOs, sister departments as Home Affairs, Inclusive Education and Health Care and business community partnered with the school to provide learners with school uniforms, food during school, food parcels to take home, documents such as birth certificates and identity documents as well as social 131 grants. The school, together with the parents, established the food garden which feed the learners during the school day and some learners get the vegetables to take home during the weekends. Lotto provided the school with sports ground thus increasing learner participation and sports development. Educators at Rekgonne School support the learners by giving them food, buying them school uniform and giving them parental support. Batch 18: Improving parental involvement in school activities The project started in 2013 with the two schools Matla Primary school, situated in at the informal settlement, in Bloemfontein and Ntemoseng Secondary school situated in Botshabelo, a semi-rural place which is 59 km from Bloemfontein. Before the project started few parents took part in the learning and teaching of their children. Many learners came to school hungry, without shoes and not properly dressed in school uniform. That resulted in a high failure rate of learners as they did not get enough support from parents. This is in contravention of Chapter 3 of the South African Children’s Act, Act 38/2005 Section 18(2) which states that parental responsibilities and rights that a person may have in respect of a child, include the responsibility to: • Care for a child • To act as guardian of the child • To maintain contact with the child. Lack of cooperation and poor communication between teachers, parents and learners had a negative impact on teaching and learning thus resulting in poor performance in schools. It was in this context that we deem it necessary to improve parental involvement and cooperation for conducive learning and teaching environment in the best interest of the child. Our responsibility as change agents was to ensure that all parents take an active role in the education of the child. Distance travelled by both parents and learners to schools was one of the reasons why parents were not able to come to schools when they were invited for parents meetings to discuss curriculum and language policies, academic progress of the learners, address learners’ behaviour as well as other pressing matters and school activities. It was difficult for parents to meet the above mentioned expectations due to the 3 km distance that some of them have to travel to come to the school The areas where the schools is situated are semi-rural areas established at informal settlements, where there is high rate of unemployment and poverty and as a result, most of the parents are therefore dependent on the government grants. After realising that there was poor communication between parents and the school, the two schools came up with new ways of inviting parents to school, whereby they were expected to sign an acknowledgement form and commit themselves by indicating their availability. Other than that they were sent SMS on their cell phones and we also make use of a loud hailer reminding them about meetings. 132 Results Both schools have succeeded in improving parental involvement and learner performance in the sense that parents are now aware of their roles and responsibilities, as they are turning out in numbers when called for meetings. Parents- learners- teachers relationships have now improved such that parents volunteer in supervising learners during evening studies and camps, assist with learners’ discipline and participate in Community Policing Forum that patrols the schools every night for the safety of both schools. Parents and learners are actively involved in the School Nutrition Programmes (NSP) and vegetable gardens which provide for all learners in both schools and have expanded in feeding matric camps that involve learners from different schools. Schools have formed strong collaborations with different NGOs, sister departments, business communities and the University of the Free State. Due to these collaborations learners are provided with school uniform, documents such as birth certificates, social grants, and vegetable seeds to sustain the food gardens as well as to provide basic adult education for parents of the two schools as well as community members around the schools. Batch 19: Learners rights in context of CRC with the focus on participation The project started in 2013 in both Tabola Primary and R.T Mokgopa High School and it was driven as a result of the following factors: Parents were not taking active part in school activities and educators, parents and learners were violating the legislations. The situation was characterized by poor learner performance, lack of parental involvement and knowledge of CRC as well as minimal support of learners by educators. The purpose of the project was to create a positive teaching and learning environment characterized by strong learner participation. This should be realized through initiating role modelling classes in the two pilot schools. It should involve learner leadership structures in order to assist in the attainment of the desired teaching and learning environment: The learner leadership structures that were involved are the following: Representative Council of Learners (RCL), Class Captains, Soul Buddies, CULUMBA leadership and Radically Different Species (RADS). The first step was to raise awareness about CRC to all stakeholders with special reference to the 3Ps.This was done through developing links with different sections within the Education Department such as Values In Education, (the section deals with human rights promotion, racial integration and social cohesion), Inclusive Education, (which is a section within the department of education which are helpful in the project for referral of learners with barriers to learning) and the South African Human Rights Commission (the commission would be useful in making the target groups understand and have knowledge of human rights issues) as well as Save the Children (the NGO which deals with human rights issues with a special focus on children). 133 Results At R.T Mokgopa High School there are model classes that were established in all the five grades (one for each grade): grades 8A, 9A, 10A, 11A and 12A. These classes are bringing about the desired effect of creating a more friendly learning and teaching environment. The classes are well resourced with teaching aids, and the teacher pupil ratio has been kept to a required 1:35. As a result of the project, learners’ discipline in the five model classes has drastically changed. Due to lower number of learners, there is time for remedial and corrective measures as well as personal intervention with learners. Furniture can be arranged to suit different teaching methods. Learners are now able to influence each other positively, and are able to develop communication and leadership skills. Educators are excited to work in the model classes, and are always looking forward to be in the class. Parents of R.T Mokgopa are helping in dealing with combating drug trafficking into the school. The South African Police Services continues to have a session with learners on learner pregnancy, drug and substance abuse and gangsterism. The sense of participation has spilled over to all who are associated with the school, through the programme of Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign. At Tabola Primary School the project made educators change their approach to teaching and learning. Learners have developed the interest of being at school at all times and parents and other stakeholders are now actively involved. Poverty and unemployment is gradually being addressed as a result of participation by parents, particularly in vegetable garden. Some of the vegetables are used to supplement food given to learners at school, whereas the unemployed parents who are involved in the garden project are able to take some vegetables for their home consumption. Children who are needy continue to benefit from the garden project. Batch 21: Child Headed Families and their need for support from school other authorities and communities Our learners are living in impoverish conditions, living on their own as orphans, child headed families (CHH) and improper shelter. This is caused by parents dying while kids are still small, parents who neglect their children and their responsibilities, parents migrant thus abdicating responsibilities, parents working far away from children and suffering from HIV/AIDS. The project started in 2014 and the focus was on child headed households at Barnard Molokoane in Parys and Boiphihlelo Secondary Schools in Vredeford. The two schools identified and profiled about 80 learners who came from CHH. The focus of this project was to address the issue of parents that are neglecting their children by leaving them alone at home without adult supervision when they migrate to urban areas for work and some orphans or vulnerable learners were left to grow up in child headed households. The negative attitude of teachers and their approach towards vulnerable children at school made it difficult for these learners to obtain quality learning. It resulted in absenteeism from school which led to drug abuse, sexual ac- 134 tivities, teenage pregnancies, and poor performance. Parental involvement is important for quality learning and teaching in our schools in order to improve the performance. The project worked therefore on involvement of parents and legal guardians. Access to different departments that are relevant to improving the lives of the learners such as Social Development and Home Affairs was also worked on. Lack of participation by learners is a concern and for the learners to perform better they have to be on board in the project activities. Results Educators, learners, parents as well as the entire schools communities including the local stakeholders and business community have started to treat these learners with respect and give them more support. Educators have committed themselves to voluntarily supporting learners by staying with them at their homes, providing the needy learners with food, school uniform and giving them parental support. Parents in the two schools have adopted some of the learners whereas others are supporting them by providing them with food and ensuring that they attend school. Other learners support their class mates by ensuring that they always get information of what was done at school in case they were absent. Business people, NGO’s and sister departments support the learners by providing them with food, uniform, aftercare, placement of learners and pastoral care. The project started in two schools only, but to date the neighbouring schools have started implementing the programme in their schools by identifying, profiling and taking necessary steps to support the CHH and vulnerable learners in their schools. The team is responsible for monitoring and giving support to the SBST of neighbouring schools to ensure that the project is sustainable in Vredeford and Parys. There is improved participation of stake holders by supporting the learners by providing them with basic needs, documents for the learners to access education, health and social services as well as counselling. Parents and learner’s participation in CRC activities has improved Participation of learners and parents has improved and there is better understanding of CRC content - Protection, Provision and Participation. Learners are involved in solving fellow learner’s problems through different structures such as RADS and Soul Buddies and RCL. Schools have established Adopt a Cop campaign so as to ensure that learners are protected. Learners who were staying alone have alternative placement and some educators have adopted the learners. Communication between learners and teachers is no more one way traffic and this has resulted in improved performance. Reflections on successes and challenges The project benefited Free State Province because there is diversity of different cultures and races in the sense that all stakeholders see the importance of CRC and are working towards child friendly schools for the best interest of the child. Educators of schools 135 where the project has been advocated and implemented are seen as change agents because they are now expanding their knowledge to other schools. Values in Education Directorate has trained district coordinators from all the circuits with the aim of assisting officials with cascading, training and workshoping other educators on Child Rights. Learner’s behaviour and performance in general has improved as the use of drugs by learners and teenage pregnancy in schools has decreased which resulted in schools turning into right based organisations. Parents and teachers are acting in the best interest of the child and the 3Ps are realised whereby orphans and vulnerable learners are supported by providing them with basic needs such as social grants, documents, alternative placement etc. The performance of learners in schools has improved due to parental involvement and cooperation because all stakeholders are working toward a common goal of changing schools into child friendly and rights based schools. Values in Education section recently held a dialogue on Child Rights under the theme: Knowing your rights, Racism not in my name to address the issue of racism in schools and in the communities. Challenges of unemployment, poverty and ill health are addressed by giving parents stipend for volunteering to feed learners through NSNP, strengthening partnerships with sister departments whereby Social Development provide learners with social grants, Home Affairs provide identity documents and birth certificates, South African Police Services providing safety and security and Health Department visiting schools for immunisation and health talks for learners. Challenges The level of networking and commitment are low due to lack of funds for travelling, vastness of the province and work related commitments. Networking is not easy as it is not always possible for the change agents to attend the network meetings both locally and internationally. Poor planning: Network meetings are not infused in the departmental year plan and this makes it difficult for officials to support and monitor CRC programs thus compromising the sustainability of the projects. Way forward Sustainability • Introduce the programme to the supervisors within the province in order to get their buy in. • Train the trainers to ensure that many educators and principals are trained on CRC. • Change agents will hold regular meetings and feedback meetings every term. • Use participating schools as resource schools and develop monitoring tool for control purpose. 136 • Hold conference annually to ensure that the programme is expanded to more schools. • Infuse CRC in the curriculum and paste the rights of the children in their text books. • Empower existing structures such as Representative Council of Learners (RCL) and Radically Different Species (RADS), Girl Empowerment Movement, Boys Education Movement, School Based Support Teams, District Based Support Teams, QLTC, Teacher Unions as well as SGBs. • Strengthen partnership with Non-Government Organisations, municipalities, business people and sister departments. • Insert CRC programme in the provincial programmes such as Provincial Strategy on Learner Attainment (PSLA), Principal’s Council, RCL Council, School Based Support Team Council (SGB) and Provincial Based Support Team (PBST). • Hold regular meetings with supervisors to give progress report on the CR programmes. • Encourage schools to have Bulletin Boards, collage for learners on CRC in schools, circuits, district and province. • Hold annual Child Rights festival, learner parliament and youth dialogues. • Have a passage on CRC on local free newspaper. • Strengthen the relationship with local radio stations for talk shows etc. • Have a report data base of all schools that has been trained and that are still to be trained as well as cases that has been addressed Networking • Expanding the programme within the circuits, districts and province and establish accountable structures for proper reporting. • Strengthen partnership with other departments and fraternal structures. • Looking at the number of change agents trained on Child Rights from Sweden, there is a need for more locally trained change agents to expand the number of change agents in the country. • Use of social media and ways of communication through WhatsApp, Facebook page, Twitter and emails etc. • Establish a Child Right Network Information (CRNI) wherein the information on the observation, implementation, cases, and lesson learned regarding CRC nationally, provincially and internationally are presented and analysed. • Trying to get a full time coordinator who will deal with administrative matters of CRC. 137 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka had its first team in batch 1 (2003) and in total have 11 teams and 30 change agents in batches 1-21 participated. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where Sri Lanka has 3 teams and 9 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents Change Projects in Batch Comments in Batch 1-21 1-21 National 12 2 Region/Province/District 7 1 Local 11 8 Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. Geographically there has been a focus on Colombo area and Kandy (up country) area. The two projects on national level are carried out at National Institute of Education, one in the Master of Education programme and the other as to the curriculum in Civics. The remaining projects have focused on creating a learner friendly environment for the children in general and participation in particular. Area: Population: 65,610 km2 21,416,445 (est. 2014) Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte (leg) Colombo Independence: February 4, 1948 (from the United Kingdom) Official Languages: Sinhala Tamil (English) Network Coordinator: Gamini Rathnatissa, [email protected] Capital 138 Sri Lanka Post Conference Report A.J.Basnagoda, H.M.N.D. Kumari, M.Z.U.Hidaya Mohamed Zain, P.G.Saman Piyasiri, W.M.W.S.Pushpika Gunarathne, H.U.K.Anoma, Indra Withanachchi, S.W.Sidath Wipularathne, and W.M.Shamali P. Jayarathne. Introduction The need for protection of Child Rights is a growing concern in many parts of the world, as still a lack of sound understanding of Child Rights among people is apparent and as a result children have become rather vulnerable. At this juncture the efforts taken to protect Child Rights in Sri Lanka by CRC Network deserves a special mention. The contribution regarding this by the Change Agents representing Divisional Zonal Provincial and National levels have shown a remarkable progress in ensuring Child Rights in Sri Lanka. The training given by SIDA at international level at three phases has given a deeper insight into protection of Child Rights at present and the efforts taken to practice and promote CRC in Sri Lanka enhancing protection, participation and provision of child can be mentioned with a commendable note. Current Status and focus of the change work As Goran Hyden in his key note address at the Impact Seminar in Phnom Penh in 2016, emphasized the fact that ‘one step does not make a path’, Change Agents of Sri Lanka having marched a few steps forward have been able to make a clear path to strengthen CRC and its practices in Sri Lanka. As far as the current status and focus of the change work are concerned, it could briefly be mentioned that Batch One focusing on the development of small schools which are facing the threat of closing down, has embarked on a mission to implement CRC aiming at improving attendance of primary students by creating a school a pleasant place for the children. Moving on similar lines Batch Three also has attempted to 139 create a child friendly classroom to see the child from the CRC point of view. Batch Four has concentrated on developing good relationships between teacher and student in grade One and Two classes in primary schools. They have understood the importance of maintaining healthy interpersonal relationship which is promoted through pre service teacher training programmes. Batch Five also deals with a similar practical notion to create a child friendly environment and developing teaching learning process using CRC. A remarkable feature of their endeavor is to provide access to education in order to ameliorate the quality of secondary education improving learning outcomes and developing higher order transferable skills. Batch Six has placed emphasis on Right Based Approach on Education and Management through which they have tried to use Right Based strategies to create a child friendly environment with a view to promoting Child Rights. Batch Seven is keen on using the Competence Based teaching learning process under the new Reforms introduced in 2001 in order to protect children’s freedom and create a healthy learning environment for the junior secondary students; that is grade 6 to 10 students. Batch Eight through a different dimension attempts to protect Child Rights. They have tried to introduce and practice CRC in schools through In Service Teacher Education programmes conducted by National Institute of Education. Initiation of school councils with the help of parents and teachers to protect Child Rights is a distinct feature of this effort. Batch Nine, understanding the importance of relevance between Civic Education and Child Rights, has stressed on Students’ Parliament, Wall News paper on CRC, Thought For the Day, through which they think raising awareness of CRC could effectively be done. Here, simultaneously parents, teachers and principals are also expected to get a better understanding of CRC through their involvement and supervisory roles. Batch Ten has started working on integrating CRC with co curricular and curricular activities in Teacher Education. The main objective of this exercise is to protect Child Rights through child right promoting activities. Batch Thirteen examines how effectively CRC could be integrated with ICT in the process of teaching and learning. Child Rights Clubs, child right promotion activities by means of ICT are a few instances as to how this group tries to achieve their objectives. Batch Sixteen has focused on how exam orientedness has deprived the Grade Five students of their Child Rights, and has promoted Child Centred and Activity Based Approaches through pre service teacher training programmes to ensure child’s participation in all activities enabling the teachers to treat children as children. Batch Nineteen, going on similar lines with batch thirteen, checks how effectively Computer Assisted Learning Approach could be employed to protect Child Rights. Here, motivating learners and empowering students with CRC principles, the group expects a better understanding of CRC among teachers, principals and parents as well. Batch Twenty, the last batch of this long journey has attempted to show a remarkable progress of their endeavour by creating a child friendly environment through Activity Based teaching learning Approach. One of the significant features of their approach is that the students are given full liberty to work inside and outside the classroom ensuring maximum participation and interaction. 140 In this way, thirteen batches from Sri Lanka are now involved in carrying out the mission to strengthen and promote CRC at different levels mainly through schools, pre service and in service teacher training institutes and programmes Reflections and successes and challenges The support given by SIDA and the input given by Lund University has immensely helped the Change Agents to march forward along the path of CRC achieving the expected objectives to a great extent. For example, exam orientedness in particular has created an emotional, Intellectual and social imbalance in many students in Sri Lanka and it was found that many children are deprived of their enjoyable childhood. It was one critical issue which drew the attention of CRC Networks and started focusing on creating conducive learning environment for the children. Grade Five Scholarship examination has created an immense pressure on the child and both teachers and parents do everything possible to send their children to a leading school because the results of this exam have become a criterion to exhibit the position of the school and also the achievement level of each district and province at the expense of exploiting the child’s freedom and childhood. Another drawback of this examination is it emphasizes mainly on mother tongue and mathematics and all the other subject areas are secondary. As a result of this the child becomes helpless and at the secondary level they have to learn six compulsory subjects including English. Hence the opportunity of receiving a balanced education has become a dream resulting in loss of quality in education, isolations, demotivation, emotional, mental and physical imbalance and thus these factors have turned out to be byproducts of this examination culture. Therefore, the close observations, consideration of children as children, educating others to be more conscious of Child Rights, selecting applicable, practicable and most suitable teaching learning methodologies etc were seen as key areas to be dealt with in order to bring about a change in relation to CRC. What is notable here is almost all the batches mainly concentrated on three Ps; that is Provision, Protection and Participation and ensuring Child rights in classrooms creating a learner friendly environment. Elaborating further the three CRC batches no 16, 19 and 20 carried out their research work in order to achieve the following objectives. 1. Raising awareness among the interns as to how maximum participation of grade 5 Students could be guaranteed by Child Right Convention. 2. Enhancing a Child Friendly Learning teaching Process thorough computer assisted and activity based approach. 3. Creating Child Friendly School and enhancing Child Centered English language Classroom. 141 Main activities • Raising awareness among teacher trainees, teachers, school principals, parents, authorities at divisional zonal and provincial levels. • Inclusion of CRC concept in the school curriculum and teacher education curricular. • Practice the concept of teacher education Institution National College Of Education (NCOEs) • Encourage School principals, Heads of Teacher Education Institutes to promote and practice the concept at Institutional level. • Principals of the monitor the Program continuously inorder to ensure effectiveness and success of the attempts • Continues provision of training and consultation for better impact and results. • Provision of technical support when necessary. • The project aimed at creating a child friendly environment and enhancing Child centered teaching Learning process using an effective and innovative activity based approach. To realize these following steps were taken. Initially the principals of the target schools were briefed and the input was given as to how teachers employ the teaching learning methods to ensure child friendly environment in respective schools. Similarly the teacher trainees of NCOEs were given the awareness of CRC and the importance of preparing teaching learning materials such as lesson plans task sheets worksheets etc to enhance maximum participation of students marinating a higher degree of motivation. Besides the authorities representing Divisional Zonal and provincial level were invited to awareness raising programmers when conducting programmes for teacher trainees, teachers and principals of the schools As the last stage of awareness programme the parents were informed of CRC and how it is practiced at schools by teachers creating a stress free environment and how it should be ensured at home to protecting Child rights. As informed and guided the teachers were trained to employ Child Centered approach in their classrooms and also advised to use activity based approach giving each and every child an opportunity for maximum participation. This was observed by the Principals at schools and trainees at NCOEs and internship students. For instance traditional classroom work was transformed into activity based learning through which the learners showed maximum participation interest and enthusiasm. Similarly computer assisted learning (even offline) role plays drams stimulations dialogues competitions through win-win approach were abundantly employed by the teachers to enhance the students’ participation and involvement. Another significant feature of this endeavor was the inculcation of correct attitudes of CRC in the minds of learners through activities like Art exhibitions and paintings 142 displayed on walls of schools through which they exhibited their ideas about the true meaning of Childhood, how children get abused etc. through their own drawings. These helped the principals, teachers and lecturers immensely to plan their work further to ensure Child Rights at school level. Involvement of students in decision making at school level was another important characteristic that was practiced throughout the study from which the student exhibited leadership qualities. This proved to be a great success as students showed maximum participation in all activities with a willing heart. For instance organizing the Annual Sport meet at a selected school. Besides, provision of teaching aids for subjects like mathematic for effective teaching and learning through activity based teaching also proved to be a great success. Due to the prevalence of exam orientedness especially the students of primary classes are at a disadvantage as most of their time is spent preparing them for the grade 5 scholarship examination which is a decisive factor for grade 5 student for their future orientation with government scholarships. To minimize these disadvantages the CRC change agents organized concerts and talent shows for primary children which motivated them towards learning and reduced the stress created by examination mentality. Here the maximum participation of students was made compulsory and the parents were also invited. This exercise proved to be a great success as students were allowed to enjoy and show their talents to the teachers and parents. Another activity implemented was to encourage students to involve in organic vegetable gardening at School which aimed at sustainable living using leisure time quite meaningfully, reducing, reusing and recycling waste materials, living collaboratively and developing leadership qualities. Establishing an activity room and kiddies library was another step which moved the children to an interesting and pleasant learning environment. Here the activity room meant to be an avenue for group work dramatizing, role plays, dialogues songs and rhymes etc. from which the children learnt with maximum Participation. Kiddies library too enhanced the habit of f reading among the students as they were provided with books containing beautiful illustrations and stories. The students willingly started reading the books and the students were encouraged to develop their own creativity and constant positive feedback was given by the teachers. Transformational Role of the Teachers Even though the child centered approach is emphasized due to the competitive nature that is prevailing in Sri Lankan education system most of the teachers tend to employ rather traditional approaches Due to this fact the need to create a conducive learning environment has been felt ever than before. For this a drastic change in teachers’ role is of prime importance. To achieve this objective training pre service teachers to use competency based teaching learning methodologies and giving a thorough awareness and knowledge on CRC were identified as main requirements. For this more emphasis was placed upon child centered approaches and techniques to be employed during pre service teacher training at National Colleges of Education (NCOEs) to realize this 143 objective. Preparation of lessons to increase and enhance students’ interest and motivating techniques such as explorations, field trips. Dramatization, stimulations, etc. were introduced for teacher trainees to use during their block teaching spells and internship. In this respect more attention and emphasis was laid upon planned play and leisure activities in the proposed primary education in Sri Lanka. From these activities children exhibited an enormous enthusiasm and motivation which facilitated both teaching and learning process. In this way students learnt and acquired the learning experiences given by teachers mush better than desk work. Successes The researches carried out at selected schools, National Colleges of Education and in service teacher education programmes in Sri Lanka show that there are changes in norms and attitudes of teachers’ principals and stake holders towards CRC. The outcomes of the projects are marked by the increased interest of students in learning in the school activities and teachers’ awareness of CRC concepts and their changing roles. The outcomes of the projects can briefly be cited as follows. 1. Raising awareness of CRC among directors Principals teachers and parents and changing their attitudes. 2. Shift from teacher centered teaching approach to Child centered approach. 3. Increase in awareness of CRC in classroom and appropriate application of it. 4. Incorporation of aesthetic activities to teaching and learning process increasing interest and motivation among learners. 5. Creating joyful learning environment keeping away from exam stressed mentality 6. There was no discrimination or negligence on the part of the teachers. 7. Realization of the hidden talents and potentials of students and how they could be utilized and improved through active participation through which both students and teachers can show a higher degree of satisfaction. 8. Introduction of Computer Assisted Learning through which maximum participation of students was seen and students’ motivation was found to be very high, hence both teachers and students worked enthusiastically towards achieving objectives. 9. Enhancing students’ interaction and relationship by providing opportunities for the students to learn together in an enjoyable manner. 10. Improved equal opportunities to all students to use resources for all activities done at school. 11. Reduction of mentors stress created at school and at home. 12. Students’ awareness of their Child Rights and safeguarding them. 13. Teaching learning process becomes a success as the school environment becomes a pleasant environment. 144 14. Children learning to work as members of one family irrespective of caste, class and religion. 15. Teaching learning process at the school level and the teacher education institution level have become more effective and successful. 16. Most of the stake holders of the school have understood the value of the Child Rights and to protect them. 17. Increase the participation of the teachers, parents and the society to treat the Children as Children. 18. Create network among change agents to promote CRC activities, 19. Introduce more effective student centred teaching learning strategies to the Colleges of Education and to the schools. 20. Tried to make school environment more attractive and welcoming to students, 21. Tried to develop child friendly environment at the school as well as at home with the support of the parents 22. Tried to introduce Child friendly strategies to the curriculum Another significant achievement on our path was The Cross Country Net work summit held in September 2015 in Kerala, in India. Marching beyond the territories, Change Agents of Sri Lanka were able to gain CRC experiences of Kerala and give Sri Lankan experiences to Change Agents of India. Some of the objectives of this genuine attempt were • To Introduce CRC based classrooms through cross country Net work forum and meeting. • To introduce a mechanism to empower CRC based classrooms in an effective way. • To share the international experience based on CRC in the system of education between cross country net works. • To share cultural, social, economic and environmental awareness, understanding and experience among the cross countries. • To train human resources to implement CRC based activities using International Experience. • To establish an International Net work and share and update all the activities implemented in different countries related to CRC. Challenges 1. 2. Negative attitudes of some principals, teachers officials at higher levels towards the positive changes introduced by CRC. Difficulties in obtaining physical and financial facilities to implement CRC activities. 145 3. 4. 5. 6. Difficulties in getting political support and the support of relevant higher authorities. The absence of proper mechanism to update and refresh knowledge of CRC among teachers after their training. The mentality of parents, teachers, and stake holders towards the competitive exam orientedness. The prevalence of heavy syllabus at school. The priorities given to covering syllabus. Therefore difficulties arise when implementing CRC concept Way forward 1. • • • • • • 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Implementation of CRC concept in all schools requires support from other sectors such as zonal and provincial authorities ministry of Education .From these authorities it is expected to Adequate deployment of teachers for the schools with teacher shortage. Provide infrastructure facilities to disadvantaged schools. Provide facilities for Computer Assistant Learning process and assistance to maintain them. Organize and conduct workshops seminars for principals, teachers to enhance the implementation of CRC concepts (by changing norms). Train teachers to implement CRC at schools and how to convert normal classrooms into child friendly ones. Inclusion of Child Rights into school curriculum and printing Child Rights inside the book cover of each text book as done in Kerala Obtaining financial assistance materials aids donations etc. from the government and the non- governmental organizations to implement activities to strengthen CRC concepts Reading CRC network island wide to strengthen and promote CRC concept and activities related to it. Printing Child Rights in point form side the back cover of each book Exchanging and sharing Sri Lankan CRC experiences with other countries through CRC cross country network programmes. Implement a series of novel activities promoting CRC in Kandy in collaboration with Provincial Education Ministry, Mahaweli National College of Education and Mahamaya and Madeena National schools and spreading them to other provinces. 146 147 Tanzania Tanzania had its first team in batch 1 (2003) and in total have 15 teams and 45 change agents in batches 1-21 participated. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where Tanzania has 4 teams and 12 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Change Projects in Batch Comments Batch 1-21 1-21 National 21 1 Region/Province/District 13 1 Local 11 11 Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. Geographically the recruitment has mainly been from Costal Region, however as time goes by people have been transferred to various places in the country. The first projects were emphasizing protection (corporal punishment) and the right to education. Later on creating a learner friendly environment and participation were areas more covered. Area: Population: 945,203 km2 51,822,621 (est. 2014) Capital: Dar es Salaam/ Dodoma(leg.) Independence: 26 April 1964 (from UK-administered UN trusteeship) Official languages: Swahili, English Network Coordinator: Elia Kibga, [email protected] 148 Tanzania Post Conference Report Basiliana Caroli Mrimi, Benedict M. Missani, Eugenia Kafanabo, Fundikira Justine Ekerege, Jerome Machange, Juliana Laurent Chacha, Mboni M. Mgaza, Edith John Mokiwa, Neema K. Ngussa, Nicholaus Moshi, Philipo Raphael Sungu, and Rweyemamu Augustine Kamayugi. Introduction The following is a post – conference paper that summarizes all the projects that were planned, prepared, implemented by change agents in Tanzania from batch 1-21, through the year 2009-2015) making a total of 15 projects. The projects were planned, implemented according to the expertise of the change agents and were implemented across the different education levels that is primary and Secondary schools, teacher training colleges and Agency for the Development of Educational Management (ADEM). Background Tanzania ratified to the United Nations Convention in the year 1991 and then the African Charter and the Rights and Welfare of the Child in the year 2003. All these were national and international policies of which very few people at grass root level understood the meaning and even different government agencies did not know how to effectively implement these policies at local level. Hence, with the training that was conducted by Lund University through the Child Rights, Classroom and School Management Programme from 2009 – 2015, several government officials, educators, education stakeholders participated in the programme. They learnt different skills, concepts and were groomed to be Change Agents for the country. Hence, 45 change agents were trained in 15 different Batches and implemented 15 different projects. 149 Current status and focus of the change work Focus of the change work The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) change work for Change Agents from Tanzania focused on quality issues of education including awareness creation on Child Rights, child participation and protection, CRC content integration in the National Curriculum from primary, secondary and teacher education, creating conducive environment for learning by introducing clubs and gardening, improving teaching and learning through participatory approaches by using three P’s –Protection, Provision and Participation as well as enhancing girls’ participation in learning Science subjects. The change works (projects) that were implemented in Tanzania were: • Batch 1 - Increasing the Completion rate in Primary Schools in Tanzania. • Batch 2 - Initiatives to Eliminate Corporal Punishment in Primary Schools in Kibaha District. • Batch 3 – Creation on Awareness on Child Rights and Responsibilities to Trainer of Trainers in Teacher Education. • Batch 4 – Participation of a Child in Developing School Environment in Secondary Schools through Gardening. • Batch 5 – Alternative Corporal Punishment at Barbro Johansson Model Girls Secondary School. • Batch 7 – Creating Awareness on CRC for Teachers and Students in Secondary Schools. • Batch 8 – Incorporation of CRC in Educational Leadership and Management Trainings at ADEM- Bagamoyo. • Batch 10 – Tuelimishane (Let us Educate Each Other) in Primary Schools. • Batch 11 – Participation of Girls in Learning Natural Science Subjects in Secondary Schools in Tanzania. • Batch 12 – Reducing Child to Child Bullying in Primary Schools in Tanzania. • Batch 14 – Improvement of Performance in Primary School Mathematics in Tanzania. • Batch 15 –Establishment of Student Councils in Primary Schools in Tanzania; • Batch 17 – Integrating Child Rights Content (3Ps) in the Teacher Education Curriculum particularly Professional Subjects; • Batch 19- Promoting the Rights of Child Participation in Primary Schools to Enhance Quality Education; and • Batch 21- Child Rights Clubs; a means for CRC Practices in Butimba Teachers’ College in Mwanza Tanzania. 150 The current status of the change work After the implementation of the change agent projects, awareness was raised through training of various education stakeholders including students, teachers, parents, school board and committees, teacher educators, quality assurers and community members. The outcome of the training was development of a Training Manual and a Guide, a total of 217 teachers, 31 college tutors (teacher educators) and 46 school inspectors were trained. A total of 116 councils and 129 CRC student clubs were established and teachers and students now use these as a forum for sharing ideas and experiences in and out of classroom environment. In the classroom the teaching and learning process has changed from more of teacher centred to participatory teaching and learning methods. Learners have now become the main actors in the teaching and learning process by accomplishing the intended learning outcomes/competences. In addition, among the achievement contributed by junior councils of out of schools include the inclusion of CRC in the Proposed National Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, Article 53. Also, these projects have contributed to the realization and implementation of 3Ps in education setting. In this process, change agents had an opportunity to participate in the curriculum review processes, which enabled the CRC content integration in the National Curriculum. The integration of CRC in the Curriculum of Primary Education; Secondary Education; Teacher Education; and In-service programs to guide all stakeholders who work with and for the children. Likewise, efforts have been made by CRC Alumni of Tanzania to establish the National CRC Network in order to synergize these achievements, sustain them and together identify a contextual way forward. Reflections on successes and challenges After reflecting on all the 15 projects that were implemented by 45 Change Agents in Tanzania we noted that there were several successes including those which had impact at local and at national level. • Awareness creation: The initial success which could be explained as an impact that was very effective was awareness creation at different levels of the education sector (primary, secondary, teacher training colleges and agencies of education, between ministries including the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, and the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development and other stakeholders within communities. • Introduction of 3P’s pillars of CRC in teaching and learning: The three pillars of the CRC were also introduced to schools (primary and secondary); the schools and college management including teachers, tutors, students and student teachers and members of school and college boards. They were informed on the Participation process by integrating CRC components into the management system as it was initiated through the establishment of Child Rights clubs (where they performed games, 151 role plays, prepared poems and songs), involvement of students and student teachers in decision making in different college committees and creation of learner friendly environment. Moreover, students and student teachers participated in cleaning of their environment, planting trees, flowers and establishment of vegetable gardens. Furthermore, issues of time management and discipline (anti bullying, raising voices against violence or maltreatment at all levels even at their homes) were also emphasized in day-to-day activities. There has been ripple effect for the trainings that have been done so far to all groups hence they have started developing posters to remind students and student teachers on the rules and norms of the school and change of teaching pedagogy from teacher centered to child friendly teaching which has improved relations between students, teachers, tutors and parents. Provision: Students and student teachers were trained on CRC concept, three Ps and Child Rights materials as a tool to enhance knowledge and skills of working with and for children. Further, training manuals were developed to enhance integration of CRC to professional subject syllabuses in teacher training colleges, in primary and secondary school syllabus, fliers and brochures, and even circulars and policies in government ministries and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of Tanzania. Moreover, cross cutting issues were integrated in the syllabuses that provided knowledge and skills to students and student teachers on Albinism, Child Rights, alternative to corporal punishment, climate change and the environment, educational leadership and management. Finally, the training manual has been adopted by teachers and students, tutors and student teachers in the respective schools and colleges, and syllabuses have integrated CRC concepts. Protection: Student and student trainees in the sampled schools and colleges were all exposed to different protection articles of the CRC specifically for marginalized groups of children such as people with albinism, orphans, people who have undergone gender based violence, people with HIV AIDS and other vulnerable groups of children. There was an establishment of student councils in schools and democratic election of council leaders in respective schools. They were also provided with guidelines and booklets on the Law of the Child Act No. 21 of 2009 for reference. There have been remarkable achievements, which have been noticed since the establishment of the student councils. Students are able to participate, identify and report on issues of their concern to the school management. For instance, some issues pertaining to hygiene and sanitation that were reported by students to the school management have been resolved including repair of infrastructures i.e. latrines and water pipes. So the students are protected from communicable diseases e.g. cholera, dysentery and typhoid. Child Protection Guidelines for schools that could be used to guide teachers, school committees and all stakeholders who work with and for children have to adhere to CRC protocols. The students are emphasized to use Child Help line no. 116 for reporting any form of violence against children. 152 Challenges Despite the above mentioned achievements there have been some challenges which have been noticed during the implementation of the projects. Resistance Despite the fact that awareness raising was done to different stakeholders in all schools and colleges at different levels CRC concept has been received and understood differently by various groups including teachers, tutors, parents, students, student teachers, and communities. For instance, in some schools there has been poor participation of parents in school management processes that was called to discuss CRC and related issues. In some schools the school committees and the teachers had fear to adopt CRC concept and content in the school curriculum. Therefore teachers are reluctant to abandon corporal punishment. They argue that alternative measures to corporal punishment waste a lot of student’s valuable time, which would have been used for classroom work and private study. The involvement of students in school committees was also a challenge, which impeded students’ participation in decision-making. Changing of teaching and learning strategies to be more of learner centred then teacher centred and also implement CRC and the three pillars, was a challenge as teachers and tutors felt threatened, were not secured and thought this will deprive their authoritative powers which they have and would like to continue having. A lot need to be done so that they are supportive of the students and student teachers in whatever they do in their teaching and learning process. Time In most cases time was the biggest constraint to all change agents, as the projects were conducted after working hours or sometimes by getting permission from respective offices, which did not favour all the change agents. Hence, the pace for training the teachers, inspectors, tutors and students did not go hand in hand with the expected time allocated for the projects. This was also challenged by the geographical location and the number of schools and colleges to be covered. Thus it slowed down the achievement of CRC milestones and even the scaling up of the activities to more schools and colleges was not done. Financial and technical resource Financial resources for the establishment of the projects, conducting training, developing training materials and monitoring of the projects was a big challenge to the change agents, project implementers (teachers, tutors, students, students teachers and board members) in the implementing schools and colleges. Further, the CRC concept is still 153 in its infancy stage hence it still requires intensive awareness and training of specific resource persons at different levels. Poor Implementation of inclusiveness During the implementation of the project the issue of inclusiveness was also taken on board (for students with disabilities). However, many schools do not have experts on this aspect especially the students with hearing impairment. The government of Tanzania has on one way introduced inclusive policy so as to cater for children with special needs, but however, the preparation of experts was not done hand in hand with the implementation process. By this it has gone against the CRC strategy and making it very difficult to be supported effectively in schools like any other child. Its implementation has remained a challenge. Inadequate communication The government of Tanzania has ratified to several strategies internationally and regionally also has developed policies and strategies to enable its implementers to have a clear guide during the implementation process. However, these are conceived at the management top level and it has not trickled down to implementers. For example, the teachers, tutors, students, student teachers, members of the board and school and college committee had inadequate information on CRC from the national level to the council authorities. Moreover, some directives do not reach the implementers at all hence delaying the decisions to be made on some crucial matters, which would have an impact on the implementation of children’s rights. Moreover, communication between and within education institutions is very important e.g. the Ministry of Education, Tanzania Institute of Education, National Examination Council of Tanzania, the School Inspectorate Department and other developing partners including UNICEF, UNESCO, UN-WOMEN should work hand in hand to implement important policies and strategies that have been ratified by the Government of Tanzania. This can be done by increasing communication between themselves, and share knowledge and skills. Inadequate Teaching and Learning Resources and Overcrowding in Classrooms The issue of provision of teaching and learning materials to children both out door and indoor remains a challenge. There has been inadequate supply of materials compared to the number of students enrolled. We advised parents to make sure they develop some of the materials which can be accessed locally. The problem of overcrowded classes has been referred to the Presidents’ Office through the Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Government. 154 Way forward Through knowledge sharing from Batches 1 – 21 it was realised that, the initial implementation of CRC in schools, colleges and other related educational institutions has had positive and promising change in behaviours and attitudes for pupils, teachers, tutors, student teachers and the community at large. The aim of the projects was to improve the quality of education in Tanzania through child participation, protection and provision. To sustain this, the following activities are now proposed to be implemented for future scaling up of the projects in different schools, colleges and educational institutions: 1. Strengthen networking among national and local change agents and human rights actors on how to enhance CRC in schools and communities including parents through different forms of media e.g. Fliers, Radio, TV, rallies and meetings. 2. Develop a Monitoring and Evaluation tool that will help provide findings for improvement where possible. 3. Scale up CRC training to more schools, colleges and government institutions within the country. 4. Networking with the government institutions, international organisations and other stakeholders who work with and for the Children including Education Quality Assurers, community development officers, Social Welfare Officer, the Police and the Commission for Human Rights and Good governance. 5. Integrate Child Rights content in the colleges and higher learning institutions curricula in all training fields. 6. Involve other government development partners e.g. UNICEF, UNESCO, UNWomen, JICA, USAID to learn more on what is happening in different countries so that Tanzania can learn from. 7. Registration of CRC Association in Tanzania so that it is easy to work with the Association of Heads of Secondary Schools (TAHOSA) at District and Regional levels. 8. Strengthen and enhance CRC clubs and junior councils by training more and more people as peer educators, and also train parents and community members to understand the role of a child in a community. 9. Prepare educative guidelines, books and brochures that will be used to advertise and advocate on CRC in schools, colleges and other education institutions. 155 Uganda Uganda had its first team in batch 4. In total 13 teams and 39 change agents in batches 1-21 have participated. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where Uganda has 4 teams and 11 change agents. Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 National 10 0 Region/Province/District 19 1 Local 10 10 Comments Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. Geographically most of the change agents are coming from the area around Kampala. The projects are rather widely spread as to areas focused. Many projects are working with participation in a very concrete way, where the children are participating also in creating learning materials in different ways. This has also been introduced in the teacher education. These projects have been very successful as the result can be experienced so clearly. Area: 236,040 km2 Population: 37,782,971 (est. 2014) Capital: Kampala Independence: 9 October 1962 (from the United Kingdom) Official languages: English, Swahili Network Coordinator: Stephen Mukasa, [email protected] 156 Uganda Post Conference Report Twine Said, Betty Ezati, Jeremy Majimbi, Grace Baguma, Nansubuga Mercy Shallon, Edward Mugeere, Vincent Elungat, Caroline Nakidde Kavuma, Henry Semakula, Marion Bujjasi Nanyondo, and Phyllis Chelangat Nabende. Current status and focus of the change work Uganda ratified the Convention on the rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990.There was a commitment to ensure that each child receives appropriate nurturing and protection within the frame of the minimum standards set up by the convention. The CRC is based on four principles: non-discrimination; best interest of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect of the view of the child (Wickenberg et al, 2005). Articles 12 and 15 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) give children the right to actively participate in all matters that affect their lives and to express their opinions freely, have their views heard and be given due attention (Verhellen, 2012). The government, together with her development partners has committed resources and support into the promotion of child rights issues in education through the development of a number of regulations. The laws and strategies that have been put in place include: Children’s Act 2008; the African Charter on rights and Welfare of the Child (1990); child neglect policy 191 (2008); the Education Act 2008; Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) policies; the 1995 constitution; the Early Childhood Development policy 2008; Orphans and vulnerable children policy (2007); the ban on corporal punishments (2010); and the Special Needs Education (SNE) Policy. All these Acts and Policies are aimed at protecting and upholding the best interest of the child and to make the world a better place for them. However, there are still gaps in regard to listening to children’s voices and developing justice systems for child involvement within home and school structures, (ANPCAN, 2012). The formal and informal structures are not yet well integrated. Functionality gaps also exist in terms 157 of limited capacity within the system (technical skill and resources). Hence child abuse and neglect are still a threat in Uganda (Kabogozza, 2012). Previously activities on the wellbeing of the child concentrated on two Ps, that is, provision and protection but had paid less attention to the right of participation. Unicef, (1997) affirms that without the participation rights being negotiated, it is difficult to develop life skills. Uganda has benefited from International Training Programme (ITP) in Child Rights, Classroom and School Management since 2004. A total of thirteen batches have since then participated and thirteen different but related projects have been carried out in a bid to make schools more child-friendly. The current status of the above project implementation indicates a paradigm shift from concentration on protection and provision to emphasis on participation of children. Reflections on successes and challenges A critical scrutiny of the projects of the Ugandan change agents of the 13 batches that have participated in the International Training Programme distinctly communicate a progression from deliberate focus on provision, to protection and finally participation. While all the batches had interplay of the 2 Ps, each project tended to put emphasis on one of the Ps. Indeed, the three Ps have interlocking interdependence. The illustration below summarises the focus of the batches in terms of the 3Ps. Improvement in academic performance in the project schools was realized as a result of providing necessary learning and developmental needs of the children. For example, development of instructional materials enabled children to have access to some form 158 of literature that could be accessed and utilized by children. As children accessed books they improved their literacy and numeracy levels. This has made the project schools perform better in their primary leaving exams. Improvement in academic performance in the project schools was realized as a result of providing necessary learning and developmental needs of the children. For example, development of instructional materials enabled children to have access to some form of literature that could be accessed and utilized by children. As children accessed books they improved their literacy and numeracy levels. This has made the project schools perform better in their primary leaving exams. Willingness of stakeholders to embrace child rights was promising as the changes agents grew the social capital to win the support of parents and teachers. It was observed in project schools that the school communities became conscious of their responsibilities in providing for the children. This effect was also spread to the communities surrounding the schools, to the extent that parents were working together with the schools to provide for the children. The support and effort to provide quality education has enabled improvement in learner achievements. To win social capital, batches engaged in advocacy activities like sensitization using cross country bands, music dance and drama and literacy. There has also been purposive effort to create learner friendly environment, through improvement in school infrastructure i.e. planting grass, construction of school latrines and others. Rural schools have been encouraged to create a live fence to increase security and provide shades for rest as children enjoy a cool breeze. Each of the later batches will acknowledge the warm and supportive environment given by the network. The network supported the new batches to conceptualise the assignments and set out the projects. Members were always handy to give a hand. In the photo above, some of the members were attending a presentation intended to sensitize the Kyambogo University community on child rights, the existence of the child rights network and some of the activities done by the children in schools. There is regular attendance and increased enrolment in the project schools. This has been realized through monthly attendance returns forms submitted to District education offices and departments. There has also been significant improvement of learner enrollment due to for example provision of lunch. Accordingly, school re-attracted a reasonable number of children who had left Universal Primary (UPE) schools, due to a positive change in school environment and friendliness of the teachers. We learnt that when school climate improves, children obtain psychological security and trust in their teachers increases. So, training must nurture values like love and care among teachers if children are to enjoy their rights at school. Developing local literacy materials by children made children provides of their own learning needs instead of being receivers. Through participation in material production, children learnt how to learn. Introducing a new culture in teacher-training pedagogy and institutionalizing use of learner centered Approaches were key milestones in taking change projects to sustainable levels. 159 Changing the attitudes of the school leadership towards children’s rights enabled managers to focus their choices in the best interest of the child. Establish other salient issues that the SMCs needed to focus on to improve the situation of the children in the schools. These included aspects of corporal punishment, provision of meals, and linking with the parents to provide the necessary scholastic materials for the children. Teachers were able to adopt appropriate use of child centered approaches during peer demonstration lessons which encouraged learners to generate and use their own or peer generated literacy materials. Alternatives to corporal punishment measures were identified and are being used. Before the change projects, the practice in schools was the use of harsh measures to curb indiscipline. This approach had scared children away from school and if they remained they did not enjoy school. Their participation was low as a result of being timid. As a mitigating measure, change agents designed projects on minimizing corporal punishments and providing alternative measures to managing indiscipline. Gradually, use of corporal punishments has significantly reduced in schools implementing child rights project. With the reduction of corporal punishments and use of softer skills of managing disciplines, the teachers drew the children closer to them. The gap between teachers head teachers and learners had reduced reasonably. Children could now open up and voice out their needs to a listening ear. Change agents from Uganda are proud to have made a humble contribution by transforming teachers in project schools from violators to promoters of child rights. Some projects improved the physical school environment to further make the school safer for children. The projects embarked on beatification, leveling; fencing and skilling children in environmentally friendly practices to manage waste. This amounted to 160 proper sanitation, hygiene, neatness and order for healthy minds in healthy bodies in healthy schools. Some projects dealt with addressing leadership gaps of the head teacher and School Management Committees (SMCs). Before the projects, the SMCs and Parent Teachers’ Associations were not well versed with roles and responsibilities. With the interventions of the change projects, they were made more aware and became more committed to performing their supportive role. This resulted in a helpful policy environment, where child rights were considered in decision-making. SMCs Protection of Learners With a providing and protective environment, children now began to express themselves better and confidently. They felt safe and more loved, hence psychologically stable. Becoming more dignified humans increased their visibility and participation in classroom and school activities. 161 Analysis of the projects outcomes shows that child participation took on a number of dimensions. Some projects emphasised developing instructional learning aids from locally available materials to support different learning areas like literacy. In some instances children were skilled in material production, making them take a lead in solving classroom needs. A number of projects focused on child participation in classroom and out of classroom activities. These gave children opportunities to develop leadership and life skills. It is now common in project schools to see child managed assemblies and clubs. Currently, child leadership in aspects that affect them is spontaneous and valued. The projects reached to and involved a cross-section of stakeholders including parents, teachers, teacher educators, children and school managers at different levels. Below are the statistics indicating the numbers of stakeholders that were involved by the different batches and Institutional Analysis shows that the Ugandan change agents have reached to four categories of institutions: pre-primary (1); primary schools (35); Primary Teacher Colleges (2); Universities (2). Involving training institutions was a strategy for sustainability. Table 1: Involved stakeholders and institutions Category Numbers Children 1500+ Teachers 45 + Parents 276 SMCs, 60 Principals and Head of Dept. 40 Community local leaders 200 Pre-service teachers 400 Teacher Educators 20+ Institutions 40 The table above indicates the average number of stakeholders and institutions involved in the thirteen change projects. The photos below project in-service teacher training in some of the project schools to equip teachers with skills of increasing participation using friendly tactics. Analyses of the change works Empowering stakeholders to provide for the child facilitates achievement quality education. Provision therefore in the case of Uganda has clearly come out as a key channel for effective participation and protection of the child. 162 In some projects, there was emphasis on creation of child friendly environment and therefore, improved learning achievements. The Projects provided enlightenment to stakeholder on the importance of child rights. This recognition will help stakeholders in playing their role towards achieving quality education through relevant policy documents. Encouraging collaboration between the communities and the schools. Change projects built capacity of the stakeholders in recognizing the 3 Ps and making them part of their daily practice while handling matters concerning children. As a result of the recognition of child rights, the current curriculum reform has incorporated content on child right issues in Uganda. The change projects have concretised the earlier initiatives on child rights for example child friendly schools, Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) child-to-child, school family initiative and Library in a Box (mobile libraries by Minds-across Africa). Teachers were encouraged to make low cost materials and to train children in the same to make child participation a reality. Increased awareness on different ways in which caregivers abuse the rights of the child and on how to project child rights at schools, home and in the community. Challenges • Systemic practices, for example, examination orientated approach to teaching affects implementation of the change projects. Teachers tended to revert to their usual practices in some instances due to the timetabled school programmes. • The sample size was a major limitation in many projects, that is, operating in two to three schools left a great challenge for the network to mobilize resources to reach to as many schools as possible with time. • Concentration of the projects in only one region of the country (Uganda), creating a skewed outcome from the various projects. • Teachers and parents who have been brought up in restrictive cultural norms have found a problem to adapt to non-corporal punishment disciplinary measures. Way forward • Scaling up CRC impact to the rest of the country is still an uphill task envisaged by the • Making the network more vibrant e.g. making the Lund University Alumni-Uganda (LUALU) a member of regional and international bodies and attending confrences • Because of the need to scale up the best practices of the 13 years, it is may be beneficial to co-opting more members (Associate members) who may be interested trustees to support or directly work with LUALU Network to 163 • Establishing a child rights website for the Ugandan network would authenticate our existence beyond country boundaries. • Lobby the Ministry of Education and Sports Uganda (MoESU) to adopt Child Rights approaches. to this effect, LUALU should also develop and present a concept paper on the significance of integrating child rights in to line ministries e.g. Education and Gender • Through members of CRC network Uganda, the teams will dialogue with the local leaders to encourage them to take up CRC campaign to the community so that what the children learn at school can also be practiced at home. • Creating income generating projects to sustain the LUALU Network activities and for professional development • Write project proposals to solicit for funds from external donors • Actualize the LUALU implementation plan 164 References EFA Global monitoring report (2006) UNESCO www.unesco.org Government White Paper on Education (1992). Policy review commission report: Education for National integration and Development. Republic of Uganda. Kabogozza, .M.E (2003). Child Protection in Crisis Uganda: March 2012 Learning Retreat. A policy analysis of the Uganda’s commitment to Universal Primary Education. Kampala: Senior Edge-Spring Qtr Montegoneyry, H., Bur R., and Woodland M. (2007) (Eds). Changing childhoods; Local and Global. Milton Keynes: Open University. MGLSD (2006). National child labour policy. MGLSD: Kampala MGLSD (2006). Policy on vulnerable children. MGLD: MGLSD (2004). National orphanage and other vulnerable children policy: MGLSD: Kampala MoES (2007). ECD policy. MoES: Kampala MoES (n.d.). Creating safer schools. GoU: Kampala MoES (n.d.). Child protection national training curriculum. GoU: Kampala. Moyles J.R. (1992). Organising for learning in the primary classroom. Buckingham:OPU Kampala Yukl G. (2013). Leadership in organisatons (8th edn). Boston: Person. United Nations Child Fund, (2007). Implementation handbook for the convention on the rights of the child. Geneva: UNICEF. UNICEF (1997). Life skills for young Ugandans: Primary teachers training manual. Kampala: GoU 165 Viet Nam Viet Nam has its first team in batch 2 (2004) and in total 13 teams and 38 change agents in batches 1-21. The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing batches 15-21, where Viet Nam has 5 teams and 14 change agents (March 2016). Level Position of Change Agents in Batch 1-21 Change Projects in Batch 1-21 National 3 0 Region/Province/District 17 0 Local 18 13 Comments Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The Child Rights Programme is focusing the two big cities Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The implementation of CRC in education, learning and teaching has been dominated by participants – or change agents – from local schools (principals and teachers) and teacher trainers at the district level. The change projects are often directed against participation in decision making processes by students in primary and secondary schools. Area: Population: 331,210 km2 90,728,900 (est. 2014) Capital: Independence: Hanoi 2 July 1976 (Reunification of North and South Vietnam) Official language: Vietnamese Network Coordinators: Trang Thi Kim Huynh, [email protected] Le Thi Thu Hang, [email protected] 166 Viet Nam Post Conference Report Huynh Thi Kim Trang, Bach Linh Trang, and Mau Thi Lan. Current status and focus of the change work In the last few years, even though bearing many challenges, Viet Nam has made progress in eco-social development and political security maintenance. Particularly, Viet Namese regulations have changed positively in the light of establishing legal boundaries so as to ensure as much effectiveness as possible for the implementation of international commitments on human rights. Viet Nam, the first Asian country and the second in the world, has signed and adopted Convention on the Rights of the Child which came into force in the early 1990s. Viet Nam has adopted Law on taking care, educating and protecting children; Law on gender equality, Law on providing primary education for all children. In addition, Prime Minister approved in a decision dated 31st May 1999, a Planning Act on the protection of the children and those children in especially difficult circumstances. The implementation of the Rights of the Child is a process of coordinating multiple activities of intervention and support, and everyone including children has the responsibility to assist the State to apply and monitor the implementation process of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Viet Nam has put forth a number of decrees, decisions, a n d organized many programs and projects to realize the children’s rights with the aim for the best interests of children such as Government Decree No. 36/2005/ND - CP dated 17 March 2005 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Protection, Care and Education of Children. While the government of Viet Nam is very committed to delivering universal basic education for all children of primary age, there remain great challenges to ensure that all children receive a good quality education. Currently, Viet Nam Ministry of Education and Training is promoting Innovations in Viet Nam Education which better reflect child rights principles, especially in enhancing students’ participation in the learning process. 167 Viet Nam has been participating in the International Training Program on Child Rights (CR), Classroom and School Management since 2004. In Viet Nam, there are now 38 Change Agents - 16 in Ha Noi, 20 in Ho Chi Minh City, and 3 in Buon Ma Thuot, representing local, regional and national levels. Since then, 13 change projects have been conducted throughout the country, focusing on different aspects of CRC, including: Batch 2 – CRC training and application for staff, teachers and caregivers of Le Ngoc Han primary school, HCMC. Batch 3 - Creating a child-friendly environment in community and classroom in Cong Chinh commune, Nong Cong District, Thanh Hoa province. Batch 6 – Promoting students’ active participation in school activities, The Ha Noi National University of Education, Ha Noi. Batch 7 - Implementing Citizenship and Democracy Education Regarding CRC in the Campaign: To Say No to Cheat in Exams and the Craze for Over- achievements in Education in The Foreign Language Specializing School (FLSS), The Ha Noi National University of Education, Ha Noi. Batch 9 - Forming and activating class students ‘councils of grade 6 in Le Quy Don School Batch 10 - Gradually bridging education gap to give underprivileged children chances of quality education. Batch 12 – Giving wings to children’s dreams in Chuong Duong primary school, HCMC. Batch 13 – Say no to truancy, Hoang Dieu junior high school, Dak Nong province. Batch 15 - Build up child-friendly learning environment by improving teachers and students’ communication based on the Rights to Participation and Protection in CRC, Chinh Nghia primary school, HCMC. Batch 17 - Implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child inViet Nam: Dinh Tien Hoang primary School – a Pilot Work on CRC Batch 19 - Support the Students with Special Needs to Enjoy the Activities in School, Nguyen Binh Khiem & To Vinh Dien primary school, HCMC. Batch 20 - Helping teachers to encourage their students to set up the classroom rules in primary school to increase participation in school activities, Nguyen Van Troi & Luong The Vinh primary school, HCMC. Batch 21 - Improving student – teacher communication and feedback through promoting students´ and teachers’ participation in classroom and school activities, Nguyen Tat Thanh lower and upper secondary school, Ha Noi. 168 Reflections on successes and challenges Successes After CR (Child Rights) training in Sweden, all project schools have organized workshops and activities for teachers, school managers, staff, caregivers, students and parents to implement CR in school and family context. Teachers, parents and students taking part in the CR workshop expressed their interest and understood more about the CR. Through these workshops and activities, participants have improved their awareness and understanding on CR and how to apply them in teaching and learning. Most of projects have successfully involved stakeholders at all levels of the education system in implementing practical activities throughout the country. First, school managers had opportunities to expand their space of action in identifying their own problems and finding solutions. They are also the key people to empower their teachers and students to play more proactive roles through teachers’ meeting and Student Council. Principals have made use of the method of sharing and entrusting responsibility to the Vice Principals, the Secretary of Youth Union, the Chair-person of Labour Union, etc. so that they - together with change agents - cooperated to take actions to reach the final goals. Given this cooperation, the concepts of CR with the 3Ps have been reflected not only on teachers and staff’s mind but also in their action, as well as students’ and parents’. Moreover, principals helped translate the guidelines and direction from education administrators at regional and national levels into feasible action plans at their schools. For example, primary school principals in HCMC facilitated various training sessions on CR for teachers, caregivers, staff, students and parents with the support of education administrators at district and provincial levels. They have proactively convinced the Head of Bureau of Education and Training (BOET) at district level to involve in the process of integrating CR into education system throughout the district. Furthermore, they played an overarching role in planning, following up, monitoring, coaching and evaluating CR activities in their schools. Another example is the principal of Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school in Ha Noi, who has become a CR change agent herself. This shows their strong commitment to ensure the success of CR projects. Second, teachers have significantly changed their behavior from teacher-centered towards child-centered approach. Teachers are no longer the only source of knowledge and the most powerful one in the classroom. In fact, they have shifted from controlling all learning activities to facilitating the learning process whereby students explore new knowledge and master new skills by themselves through group work, pair work, project work, life skill clubs, real life situations, self-service activities, etc. Through the activities in school, teachers and students have a closer relationship, which makes the learning environment more effective and friendly. The teaching has improved because students are more active during their learning process. The communication between teachers and students has become more interactive and open whereby the teachers make use 169 of possible ways to encourage students to express their opinions directly or indirectly. They are happier and friendlier in communicating and know how to listen and respect students’ preferences and personalities. Moreover, they are more interested in students’ opinions and co-operate with them to solve problems in life. The results showed that not only CR projects have changed the teachers but also the students in terms of attitude and action. The children are better aware of CR and know how to protect others and to be protected by participation. As a matter of fact, students taking part in CR training expressed their interest and willingness to inform their classmates about CR. They understand their rights, their needs, and their responsibilities. For instance, the fourth and fifth graders of Chinh Nghia Primary school made their voice loud and clear when performing CR drama; which, as a result, made first, second and third graders join in, too. Also, absence rate decreased considerably, proving that students are closely connected with their classes and school. And it seems they really feel that ‘Every day to school is a happy day’ when they are open to talk to teachers directly or through the mailbox indirectly about almost anything. Besides, complaints about bad language use of teachers and parents remarkably reduced. Furthermore, thanks to teachers’ use of friendly language, the children learn how to communicate well with their classmates and shape a habit of using gentle words against school bullying. As the key figure of the project, students, especially the representatives of the Youth Union and the Young Pioneer Squad have initiated many meaningful activities, including charity ones (i.e. sharing with children in difficulties) and environment protection ones (i.e. school garden taken care by the children). Another remarkable activity is the establishment of the Green Library to create a reading community and reading culture in which every student contributed and introduced one of their favorite books to others. Additionally, many clubs have been developed and operated by the students such as English club, Science club, Music club, Environment club, Reporter club, Art club, etc. These clubs enable students to initiate and implement new ideas by themselves, share their interests and hobbies, build up team work skills, realize and express their talents, etc. The results shows the big change of the students’ role from less active participants whose actions were guided by adults to strong change agents standing at the top of the ladder of participation. The relationship between teachers and children has improved a lot since they had a chance to participate in various events together when the teachers instructed the students how to develop their abilities in different fields and at the same time respected their opinions. In addition, the teachers knew more about children’s problems to help in need. Undoubtedly, these projects did support the movement “Friendly schools, active students” by MOET. Students can learn in a friendly environment. Their products have been displayed on the board so they feel very happy. In addition, students are praised by teachers and respected by their friends in class therefore they are able to recognize their values and abilities, which makes them more confident to develop their creativity. Likewise, parents also experienced the big change in their points of view of how to educate their children through getting educational information from school meeting. 170 The majority of parents attending the meeting showed their care, interest and support in the project. Understanding the importance of CRC implementation at school, many of them have actively participated in school activities together with their children. Without their approval and determination in putting the project into action alongside with the implementation at school, CRC targets can hardly be reached. Take the project of batch 15 at Chinh Nghia primary school as an example, the interview with 3 parents (2 Chinese Viet Namese and 1Viet Namese) showed their strong agreement on ’Saying no to negative language’ in which one of them suggested to consider the children as friends and confirmed that they would be more aware of CRC at home as well as inform others about this. Another example is the project of batch 17 at Dinh Tien Hoang primary school in which the children felt comfortable to write letters to express their own feeling to their parents. Challenges Resistance to change: Some teachers hesitate to empower students to practice their rights, especially participation, when students are given too much power and rights without being fully aware of their responsibilities. Others find it hard to accept the students’ points of view related to their own teaching methodology. Some school managers observed that their students overuse their rights in operating Student Council’s activities, sometimes they lose control over using languages and behavior against their peers. Lack of recognition from education administrators at central level on CR projects: 39 change agents all over the country have implemented various successful projects on integrating CR into the education system. However, there have been no advocacy attempts conducted to introduce the fruitful results to the Ministry of Education and Training. This also pose challenges over the dissemination of project outcomes in localities and nationwide. Ineffective national networking: CR national network has yet a clear organization and structure with assigned roles and responsibilities of each change agent. Additionally, there have been no specific working agenda developed for CR network, spreading from the North to the South. As a matter of fact, geographical proximity remains an obstacle for organizing national network meeting. Way forward Sustainability A national conference on CR capitalizing all experiences and successes from 13 change projects hosted by MOET needs to be held as a follow-up activity of Impact seminar 3. This conference should attract participation from MOET, DOETs, BOETs, CSO, NGOs, etc. The objective of the conference is to demonstrate the status and outcomes 171 of 13 change projects, arousing the involvement and commitment of MOET for future implementation of CR across the country. We learned that in order to put the project into action to achieve the goal, it is not the work of any individual but the whole community “School-Family-Society”. This requires collaboration and commitment of not only individual change agents but also social organizations such as international and domestic NGOs, MOET, DOETs, BOETs, etc. Another point is how to train teachers and education managers of all levels to ensure continuous application of CR from primary to secondary schools throughout the country. In order to make it happen, there is a real need to develop a training manual on CR capitalizing all successful models of CR projects to be used at national training program for all teachers. At teacher training colleges, a handbook on CR application should be designed to serve as a guideline for the future teachers. An important factor for sustainability is the involvement and commitment of the MOET in creating a systematic mechanism for applying CR in Viet Namese schools. In other words, CR need to be directed by MOET and specialized in the school missions. Networking A CR center should be established with clear structure, working agenda, assigned roles and responsibilities so as to plan, implement, follow up, monitor, and evaluate CR practices nationwide. This CR center will be responsible for operating online and offline networking activities on CR. CR membership must be expanded beyond CR change agents to involve people from various agencies and organizations. 172 173 Zambia Zambia had its first team in batch 1 (2003) and in total 13 teams and 40 change agents in batches 1-21 The follow-up seminar 2016 is focusing on batches 15-2, where Zambia has 4 teams and 12 change agents. Level Position of Change Change Projects in Agents in Batch 1-21 Batch 1-21 National 6 Region/Province/District 18 1 Local 16 12 Comments One project on both district and local level Table 1. Change Agents´ professional position and the team´s Change Projects on three socio-administrative levels: National level, Region/Province/District level, and Local level. The Child Rights Programme has focused 4 of the 10 Provinces namely Lusaka (2 teams), Central (1 team), Mushinga (2 teams) and Copperbelt (3 teams). The focus of all the projects has been on promoting children’s participation by establishing, development and evaluations of class and school councils in primary and secondary schools. Area: Population: 752,618 km2 15,721,343 (est. October 2014) Capital: Independence: Lusaka 24 October 1964 (from the United Kingdom) Official Language: English Network Coordinators: Ingutu Kalumiana, [email protected] Valentine Yumba, [email protected] 174 Zambia Post Conference Report Ing’utu Akushanga, Christina Kafulo, Gistered Muleya, Kaoma Y. M. Zimba, Harriet Mutale, Levy Nataala Matongo, Misozi Mwenya, Terry Changwe, Fredrick Nkutika, Shelly Hankope Mwamba, Elizabeth Mwila Ngonga, and Derrick Lukonde Chileshe. Background Zambia is a signatory to the United Nations Charter on Human Rights. The Human Rights which have to be realised by each individual, are promoted and protected by State Parties. It is in this mind that Zambia has a responsibility of ensuring that her citizens fully enjoy their rights. As such several interventions have been put in place with a view to actualise the provisions of the Charter. In the area of the Child Rights Convention (CRC) which is part of the Charter, much progress has been achieved. The achievements have been realised through efforts of the Government under several Ministries and prominent among them is the Ministry of General Education. The Ministry of General Education is responsible for education provision to children aged 3 to 18 years. This implies that a great time of the early years of a person is spent in school. As such, the education system through the schools is responsible for shaping the future of the country. It is for this reason that the country boasts of several mechanisms through which the Child Rights Convention is implemented. One key intervention which has helped to realise the provisions and benefits of the convention has been through bilateral and multi-lateral support from her development partners. A case in mind is that of the unwavering support that the country received from the Kingdom of Sweden. The country offered a capacity building programme to the country’s education human resources at central, provincial, district and institutional levels. The Kingdom of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and working with Lund University supported the country with an International Training Programme (ITP): “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management. The programme which started in 2003 and ended in 2016 produced 39 trained change agents from 13 batches under which training was offered. Each of the 13 batches under-took a project which focused on the three pillars of the CRC framework which are Provision, 175 Protection and Participation. A scan of these projects has shown positive achievements in the area of the three pillars of the CRC. Arising from such support, the country has recorded success in a number of issues. Through the work of change agents, much progress has been achieved. Outcomes include establishment and roll-out of school councils, existence of a gallant CRC network, existence of model province, sustainability of CRC on the Copperbelt, creation of CRC school committees, production of radio programme, raised CRC awareness and the holding of annual provincial conferences. The effort by change agents revolved around mitigating challenges the country was facing in terms of quality, equity, relevance and access to, education. Furthermore, there were prevailing gaps in learners’ democratic decision making in matters which concerned them with regards to their education and health. To this effect, the project activities were aligned towards providing interventions which would remedy such challenges. Thus, the change projects focussed on improving school governance by strengthening school councils; increased advocacy and sensitisation of stakeholders in issues of the Child Rights Convention. Other national efforts in recognition of CRC is evident include legislation. The country’s supreme law; the national constitution of 2016 promotes the realisation of CRC across sectors. Other legislative pieces which support and uphold CRC include the national Education Act of 2011, the Gender and Child Policies. Government through line ministries in collaboration with civil society organisations (CSOs) has established programmes with a view to improve children’s wellbeing. The programmes are supported with policy provisions and guidelines in order to create smooth implementation. Some of the programmes include; free primary education, School Health and Nutrition programme, Re-Entry Policy for girls who fall pregnant, the Child Health Week and Road Safety Clubs, among others. Other achievements include the integration of CRC in the national school curriculum which provides for teaching of civic education aspects in primary and secondary schools. The establishment of the office of the commissioner for children at the Human Rights Commission also provides a conducive landscape for CRC implementation. This has transformed the status of the child from being object than subject for discussion. The country is applauded for the mind-set change in perception among key players. In pursuit of realising CRC, Government encourages various ministries to operationalise and enforce legal provisions according to sectoral contexts in line with CRC. Key ministries include those which deal with education, health, community development and social services, youth and sports, home affairs and justice. These in one way or another do promote and implement child rights activities. Notwithstanding, Government effort, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are complementing government efforts in ensuring that child rights are realised and respected. For instance, Save the Children promotes, support and sensitises communities on child rights; Forum for African Women Educationalist in Zambia (FAWEZA) promotes and supports girls’ education, Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA) advocates for good governance by sensitising communities on their rights, United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) supports different programmes which aim at improving 176 the lives of children., the Human Rights Commission (HRC) , is a Government institution which promotes and protects violation of Human Rights and Cheshire Homes Foundation look into children with disability. Current status and focus of the change work The change projects were started in 2004 and a review of the change projects indicate that the projects were done within the framework of CRC. Members from each batch comprised officers drawn from the education delivery points. In some batches, members from the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) formed part of the team. Zambia applauds the team spirit, resilience and gains made by the thirty-nine people which culminated into thirteen projects. A total of thirty-Nine (39) change agents were trained during the period from 2003 to 2016. This report discusses the focus of the change work done over the years. Several provinces have benefitted from the Advanced Training Programme in many ways. The journey started with batch 1 which came from Lusaka Province whose focus was on the implementation of Article 12 with a focus on schools. The project aimed at making children to be actively involved in decision making through the formation of classroom and school councils. An output of the process was the development of a “Tool Kit on the establishment of School Councils.” This Tool Kit is still in use. Under batch 2, we saw another province being given the opportunity to implement a change project. Muchinga Province came on board and the team looked at the implementation of Child Rights in Schools with emphasis on children’s participation through classroom and school councils. This was a continuation of the project started by batch 1. Projects under batches 3 and 5 were drawn from Lusaka Province and focussed on the promotion of child rights in education and worked towards the formation of clubs in three pilot schools. This developed leadership qualities among leaners and assisted teachers in the management of the schools. For batch 5, the idea was to test the practicability of proposed guidelines for the establishment of school councils in Zambian Schools. The guidelines were therefore tested and found suitable for use and school councils were formed. The next project process took place on the Copperbelt and this was batch 7 who looked at the empowerment of leaners with child rights in three pilot schools. Class and School Councils were established in the three pilot schools. Batch 9 was done in the Central part of Zambia and looked at the school curriculum and Child Rights which was a pilot to ascertain whether Civic Education was to be studied to increase Learners’ space of action through Civic Education. The results showed that child rights were appropriate in the school curriculum for transmitting the provisions of the UN Convention on the rights of the child appropriate in creating awareness about CRC. Batch 10 drew participation from the Copperbelt and dwelled on evaluating the impact of child rights in three (3) pilot schools which had established school councils. Results showed increased participation of learners in school management. Under batch 12, the activities were done in the Northern Province of the country and the idea was to raise 177 awareness among pupils, teachers and parents on child rights through school and class councils. The project was successful as school councils were formed in two secondary schools as well School Council supportive structures established. From the Northern Province, the next three projects were conducted on the Coppebelt and these were batches 14 and 16 and 18. In batch 14, there was an inclusion of Colleges of Education on issues of child rights. The thrust of the change work was to further works on learners’ council and in this case a College of Education was included. The focus was to provide knowledge and skills that would enable school and College of Education students participate in decision making activities. Batches 16 and 18 worked towards streamlining operations of bodies of leadership in schools. For instance, batch 16 members explored the relationships, power and assignments for the leadership bodies in selected secondary schools on the Copperbelt. The project assisted three bodies which included the school administration, the prefecture and students’ councils to work together resulting from having clearly defined roles of the bodies. Batch 18 envisaged to build on the activities undertaken by previous change agents. The project focussed on the creation of a platform for increasing participation for the perfection of the prefect and school council in line with the CRC norms. The conflict between the two bodies was minimised. Batches 20 and 21 concentrated in Lusaka Province. In 20, the team desired to strengthen school councils with specific reference to participation. The team observed that there were schools where change works were done previously by earlier batches but the gains of such efforts dwindled and there was need to revitalise such efforts. Batch 21 concluded by realising the key roles of head teachers and teachers in raising the implementation of CRC. The project concentrated in Lusaka District and brought teachers together as key implementers of CRC. Head teachers and Teachers were empowered with knowledge and skill and became trainer of trainers amongst fellow teachers. The project realised gains in terms of creation of District Child Rights Committees and rolling out of CRC to other district, among others. Reflecting on the various change works, the country has manged to take CRC to all the provinces except for Luapula and Western Provinces. Southern, Eastern and North-Western Provinces have gained as a result of continued change works by those trained. The leadership available has facilitated the adoption of CRC activities in those provinces where there had been a lack of trained change agents. School Councils The establishment and strengthening of school councils involved empowering learners with knowledge and skills as a way of giving learners possibilities to participate in formal and informal decision making. In Zambia the pupils administrative structure in both secondary and primary schools consisted of prefects and classroom monitors, however, class and school councils have been introduced in all secondary and in some primary schools particularly on the Copperbelt since 2009. This benefitted learners in identifying plausible solutions for the schools where there were challenges. Therefore, 178 empowering learners helped resolve and define the roles and relationships, power and assignments of school council members and prefects in schools on the Copperbelt. As it may be appreciated, change is associated with resistance and conflicts due to varying ideas and interests. The introduction of school councils had created misunderstanding between the prefects and council members. Arising from such conflicts, change agents took upon themselves to facilitate harmony between the prefecture and school council bodies through a project which delved into streamlining the prefecture body and student councils in terms of roles and relationships with a view to create conducive learning environment. The project’s outcome was the creation of guidelines which outlined roles and assignments for the two bodies. In Zambia, through the change projects, change agents have established themselves as a visible team with shared vision of creating child friendly schools. The network collaborates amongst themselves in terms of projects and change works through planning and review meetings. Furthermore, the network is responsible for cascading CRC into other provinces and districts through trainings and exchange visits. Model Province Change agents having undertaken training at Lund University, they were capacity build with knowledge and skill to carry out change projects. In Zambia, the Copperbelt Province is acknowledged to be a model in the sense that the province has brought out several outcomes on CRC. The spirit of team work among change agents could be seen through co - existence in the work that was done. Besides, the team comprised of education leaders at provincial, district and institutional levels, this provided leadership at those levels. The province established school councils in colleges and schools which have been strengthened through empowerment of knowledge and skill in CRC. Other notable practices include the establishment of district student councils; bridging gaps between the prefecture and student council bodies; the engagement of head teachers association; inclusion and budgeting of CRC activities in schools. The province has managed to cascade CRC activities to other provinces which did not have change projects. Locally Trained Change Agents In order to ensure continuity of good practices and real CRC promotion as well as implementation, change agents trained provincial resource centre co-ordinators, district resource centre coordinator, zonal in-service coordinators, head teachers, teachers and school in-service coordinators who have now been termed as ‘Locally Trained Change Agents.” The training was done through a developed model which streamlined the training and reporting structure. The trained change agents have been brought on board to replicate and take centre stage regarding CRC. So far three (3) district child rights committees have been established in Lusaka, Kafue and Rufunsa districts. The locally trained change agents totalling to sixty-seven (67) have the task to expand the network of teachers and CRC culture to other zones and districts. Activities carried out by local 179 change agents will be monitored by CRC committee which have been put in place at the district level. Radio Programme Change agents have produced a radio programme, an initiative which targets at disseminating child rights information at all levels of education delivery. The radio was chosen as a media for promoting CRC for its advantage of easy accessibility to the hard to reach places. It suffices to mention that ten (10) radio learning lessons have been developed in line with the United Nations Convention for Rights of the Children (UNCRC) Implementation Handbook. The initiative was made possible with support from the Human Rights Commission. In the initial stage, the programme is done in the English Language and the team envisages translating the programme into seven local languages. This can be made possible with support from other key stakeholders noting that the right to education is a priority for the country. National Conference The National Conference is an initiative that was created by change agents as a platform to share with one another and learn of others’ experiences. This also is an opportunity for change agents to update each other on the activities of CRC as well as to plan future undertakings. All change agents in the country are invited to attend the conference. It is during such fora that change project schools and a few others also attend to share their good practices along with the head teachers and other key stakeholders. Reflections on successes and challenges The team would like to report that collective change processes that were undertaken by change agents in the respective batches have brought about positive outcomes: The status of CRC in Zambia has been raised through continued interface with key stakeholders among them, the politicians, who showed commitment and support in matters of CRC. Similarly, teachers, education administrators, parents and learners were empowered with knowledge, skills and key competences to enable them articulate and foster democratic principles. The established formidable network of change agents formed governance structures with clear roles as evidenced through existing working committees. The team worked collaboratively in pursuit of the shared vision of making child rights a reality. The team further observed that locally trained change agents were added to the network as a result of stake holders and capacity building meetings. The other learning experience about child rights implementation in the country is that the projects which have been done since 2003 to date, have been selected and chosen on the basis of scaffolding on the three (3) Ps thus provision, protection and 180 participation. Reports and social intercourse has provided feedback to the effect that there has been positive behavioural change by the learners with regards to their roles and responsibilities within the school. With the improved behaviour and responsibility of the learner there was enhanced attendance, creativity, innovation and performance. This has also encouraged the girl child to continue with her education. Similarly, the team observed that there was a mutual understanding between the prefectural body and school councils demonstrated through observable improved existing relationship between the two bodies. It was also revealed that involvement of learners in the decision making process had reduced tension and improved relationships between teachers and pupils. Thereby making the atmosphere at school more favourable for both parties to learn and share their experiences. The other achievements include the creation of a CRC website which would give up - to - date information on trainings, conferences and seminars on CRC related activities as well the production of child rights radio programmes that have been developed in collaboration with the Zambia’s Human Rights Commission meant to provide information and educate children in regular system and those out of school as well as stakeholders about the importance of education. In pursuit of creating an informed community, the team has been working with Human Rights Commission in training of link teachers and sensitization of the communities. Due to raised awareness among pupils, teachers and education administrators, schools have become conducive sites for learning life skills in line with CRC norms other than just curricula activities. The team has also noted that CRC activities have contributed in enhancing inclusiveness for Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) are involved in CRC activities. During the projects period, leadership training was offered to the teachers under the continuous professional development (CPD) programmes in relation to child rights and school councils. Other successes include the introduction of children’s parliament session which was held on the Copperbelt and Lusaka provinces with the theme, ‘budgeting for the wellbeing of the child’ and “helping young people identify their strength” In this way efforts aimed at building leadership capacities in the child were realised. It is worth citing that there has been good will from the government to implement the provision of the various CRC articles. This created leverage points for sustainability of CRC activities in the country. Sensitisation activities which were done in most of the schools created dialogue and openness among learners, teachers and the administrators. This facilitated identification of school priority areas which needed urgent attention. Other notable development was support from the Parent -Teacher and head teachers’ Associations which rendered support to the CRC agenda in schools. Furthermore, there has also been an appreciation to look at issues of the CRC from a child rights perspective in that children were able to council their friends in issues of truancy, use of abusive language, theft and indiscipline in general. Orphans and vulnerable children were included in issues of CRC. In this regard street children, for instance, were targeted at through strategic interventions. Other 181 CRC practices included setting-up of suggestion boxes, reduction on time spent on assemblies, for example, two days to one. It is worth noting also that guidance on integration and implementation of child rights was provided. In this regard, a tool kit on how to establish school councils as well as guidelines on the roles and responsibilities of student leaders were developed, distributed and disseminated. The tool kit was developed by batch 1 and it is still used. One of the achievements includes feedback to and from the Ministry of General Education leadership. The office of the Permanent Secretary, being the head of the Ministry was engaged and informed about the projects. The Ministry was well informed from the beginning and teams in each batch were supported in many ways such as authority to proceed with activities; the Ministry leadership was available during meetings and guidance and encouragement was provided for the teams. As a result of such national level supportive environment, the thirteen teams managed to implement CRC at all levels of education delivery; from school/institutional, district, provincial and national. However, the projects were not spared from challenges; the CRC gains could go much faster due to a lack of a clear national strategy and a budget line. The major challenges are discussed in the section which follows. Challenges Despite the many successes the country has scored in line with implementation of child rights activities, it has encountered a number of challenges. Change agents who are not full time employees find it difficult to find time for CRC activities. Time is usually shared between their work and change activities. Students sometimes concentrate more on school council activities than academic work. This has happened because child rights activities are not timetabled and therefore take place during learning hours. Much as the change agents would like to roll out CRC to all schools in the provinces, they are hampered by inadequate resources. Although CRC activities are supported by various stakeholders at different levels, there is need for more support in terms of secretariat and transport. The superior position of prefectural body in some schools in relation to school council has perpetuated the non- involvement of learners in decision making in school governance. School authorities feel more comfortable working with prefects who would not question them than school council members. Prefects pay their allegiance to the authorities who appointed them. There is high attrition rate of sensitized staff and through death, retirement and transfers have negatively impacted on the performance of CRC implementation. There is also high attrition rate among learners as they graduate from school at grade 12. Resistance to change by some stakeholders is another challenge faced. In spite of the tireless effort put in by change agents and other stakeholders; there are a number of individuals who are unwilling to depart from their traditions and norms. This has made it difficult to roll out CRC activities to areas not sensitized. 182 Another challenge encountered in the implementation of CRC is mainstreaming of CRC in every teacher’s work. Currently, the implementation of CRC remains undefined. While CRC has been integrated in Civic Education at secondary school, professional and educational studies at primary college of education level, there are no specific guidelines to compel every teacher to implement it. In the end, there is no ownership at implementation except for the change agents and a few committed stakeholders. Way forward Having implemented child rights projects over a period of thirteen years, the team would like to suggest the following recommendations: Continued sensitization There is need for continued sensitisation on issues of CRC for the country to reach the envisaged vision of creating real child rights implementation. To overcome resistance and reaching out to areas where there are low levels of CRC, sensitisation is one such viable strategy. The target group to be sensitised include education leaders, learners, parents, traditional leaders and other stakeholders in the country. Advocacy In spite of the wealth of information available on CRC, much more effort and commitment is still required to bring various stakeholders on board. In this regard, the Ministry of General Education will leverage opportunities of advocacy. There is still need to work with CSOs and other government departments and development partners to promote CRC. Radio programmes on CRC will be scaled up from the pilot districts to other regions and translated from English Language to the seven local languages. It is further suggested that brochures, magazines, newsletters could be utilised for purposes of information provision to the public in general and to the education practitioners specifically. Advocacy through Information Education Communication materials is identified as a strategy for informing the general populace about CRC. The various IEC materials when developed and produced educate the nation about the importance and benefits of CRC. The team in Zambia plans to work with organisations such as UNICE, Save the Children to produce such materials. Strengthening CRC Network For many years (13), the country has benefitted greatly from the change agents activities. In order to continue with networking and collaborating, it is the desire of the team that strong partnerships are built among Civil Society Organizations, Cooperating 183 Partners, political leaders and Ministry of General Education officials in promoting issues of CRC. This is possible through meetings, conferences, symposia. CRC monitoring tool Formative and summative monitoring system shall be strengthened, focusing on the improvement of relevant data collection dissemination and the utilization of monitoring results in policy-making and resource allocation. The country has different monitoring tools on various programmes as well as CRC. To this end, it is recommended that a standard monitoring tool for CRC be developed. This will call for the change agents’ network in the country to work together and produce the document. This way CRC programme and activities will be improved and sustained. Roll out of District CRC Committees With the model structure and reporting system fused into the education system of the country, it is recommended that practice be continued. This is a practical value which is helpful in rolling-out CRC across the country. The District Child Rights Committees are not by themselves creating a parallel structure but a strategy which compliments what the education system is already doing. The developed terms of reference are enough guidelines which harmonise roles and functions. Within the education system, support for the committees could be strengthened through regular interface with head teachers associations. Resource Mobilisation With regards to financial, human and technical resources, it is recommended that some sustainable funding mechanisms are established. It is suggested that the Ministry assigns issues of CRC to a specific directorate/department for easy coordination. This will improve the current challenge of lack of a budget line at the national level. In view of many players in issues of the child, the team further suggests for stakeholder’s meeting as one way of soliciting for resource support. Creation of CRC website For information access, a CRC website will be created in order to provide up to date information on activities and other related information. This platform will facilitate dissemination of up-coming events and will be a repository of on-going activities and past achievements as well as challenges. This strategy is one way of bringing together and informing the CRC network and other players on the status of CRC in the country. 184 Annual CRC conferences The team recommends that Annual Conferences be continued as a platform for enhancing knowledge and skill on CRC. It is a platform for the country to bring together those who in one way or the other who deal with and implement programmes pertaining to rights of the child. The principle which started with the Copperbelt Province should be seen as a reference point and be scaled up to a regional level so that the country taps from international experience as well. With such a practice it would be possible to network further and identify institutions/countries of interest for possible exchange visits aimed at promoting good practices of CRC in the learning institutions. Conclusion The country is committed to promoting aspirations on child rights as enshrined in various policy documents. The commitment is evidenced through policy provisions which are operationalised in programmes and activities across sectors. Work done by thirteen - nine change agents trained by Lund University has added to the literature on CRC in Zambia and is also a step up to Government’s roll out of its programmes and initiatives within the framework of CRC domestication. In this regard it is beneficial for the Ministry of General Education to support the change agents and encourage them to facilitate research work, share and transfer knowledge and skill on CRC. 185 186 4. Mentors’ reflections Bodil Rasmusson, Lena Andersson, Agneta W Flinck, Ulf Leo and Per Wickenberg. Introduction In this chapter we as mentors and teachers in the programme reflect on the participating countries’ change work. The starting point for the mentors´ reflections is based on personal experiences documented in our mentor reports, written over the years when visiting the different participating teams in their home countries. During these 13 years of work (2003-2016) in the Child Rights Convention(CRC) programme with 21 batches in training, the mentors have made 211 field visits and 21 progress workshops in as many countries; including school visits – that makes 250-300 field visits and a lot of experiences from change work in education from countries all over the world. 16 countries are active in the end of this programme (see appendix III for full list of participants). The reflections presented in this chapter have been conducted country by country based on the following aspects: Background – some facts in short about the countries, number of teams and change agents; how relevant and functioning country strategies were found and how recruitment of participants took place in accordance with identified strategies for each country. Change processes – initiated by the change agents and teams – change processes that contributed to the implementation and realization of CRC in practice. Changes in policies – new policy, regulations and approaches that ultimately lead to a change in policies and establishing and consolidating new norms connected to CRC. Sustainability – in the future CRC work in the country. (See appendix V “Chain of Results for ITP Child Rights, Classroom and School Management”) This is not always a complete picture of what has happened in relation to implementation of the CRC in the respective countries. The reflections sometimes covers the country as a whole and sometimes only a small part of a big country, depending on the size of the country and on how many teams have participated in the programme. 187 Reflections country by country Cambodia Background Cambodia has a population of 16 million, 90 % of them are of Khmer origin, speaking the Khmer language. The population is fairly homogeneous, other ethnic groups being Vietnamese (5%) and Chinese (1%). The demographics of the country are very much affected by the civil war and later genocide in the 70´s, 80´ s and 90´s. 50 % of the population is under 22 years old. The education system in present day Cambodia traces its roots back to the primary school system introduced under the French colonial rule. Children’s rights in Cambodia are legal rights endorsed by laws and in response to them the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS). They have made strong commitment to protect and promote the rights of children as: Education for All National Plan 2003-2015, Strategic Plan 2009-2013, Child Friendly Schools Master Plan 2007-2011 and Master Plan on Education for Children with Disabilities 2009. Cambodia had its first team in 2010 (batch 12) and in total 7 teams and 21 change agents have participated in the program. The first teams chose to focus their projects in the area of teacher training and geographically projects in this area has covered the teacher training centres in the provinces of Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and the Municipality of Phnom Penh. Next a number of batches chose to concentrate on preschool education. Change projects for preschools have been implemented in the provinces of Battambang, Takeo and at the Early Childhood Education Department. The last batch focused on the sector for Primary Education, but due to the closing of the programme, the projects have only reached the Municipality of Phnom Penh. From the beginning in 2010 the projects have been running both at national level and at regional level. Eight change agents have been selected from different departments in the MoEYS, two of them hold leading positons as directors for Early Childhood Education Department and Primary Education Department. They have contributed in a most valuable ways in making policy changes formally and legally. Eleven change agents are involved at the regional level at teacher training centres; two of them hold leading positions as deans of Teacher Training Centres in Stung Treng and Kampong Thom. Very few change agents come from a local level. Altogether the change projects have reached five provinces out of 24 plus the Municipality of Phnom Pehn and included four departments of MoEYS (Curriculum Develop Department, Early Childhood Education Department, Primary Education Department and Teacher Training Department). 188 Change processes The change processes have focused on increased participation for children and teacher trainees to act as proactive and present citizens in communities and at schools. A key issue has been to facilitate and develop democratic norms in classrooms. New examples of ownership within student councils can be seen at the teacher training centres where the trainees have managed to raise their living standard by building new kitchens, repairing dormitories, growing vegetable gardens and start to run the councils by themselves together with link teachers. At primary school level the students have introduced their own clubs based on their own interests. Increased self-esteem and better results for the students have led to positive and sustainable democratic processes. The Home-Based Programme is one of the successful Early Childhood Education services in Cambodia. It is run by the mothers in the villages. The change agents have managed to set up a new agenda including the fathers in leadership positions by stressing article 12 and 18 in the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The fathers welcome the training and it focused on learning how to listen to children, how to support them and involve them in learning activities. The new concept core parent stands for a father or a mother with knowledge of CRC. Another successful preschool project developed preschool teachers’ knowledge in practicing the new Preschool Curriculum, integrating the 3Ps in general and participation in particularly. The new curriculum encouraged children to participate in activities and to make decisions on their own. The change agents have also been closely involved when MoEYS conducted a Consultative Workshop on Preschool Curriculum Revision. The workshop invited all relevant stakeholders for a three day workshop in Phnom Penh. The Minister of Education opened it and key-note speaker was the Director for UNICEF. Changes in policies The change agents of Cambodia have succeeded in renewing policies and regulations related to CRC. At the Teacher Training Department a monitoring tool has been renewed and is used for monitoring the performance of teaching practice of teacher trainees in application schools. It assesses to what extent the trainees apply CRC in the classroom and it encourage trainees to focus on CRC. At the Curriculum Develop Department a draft of Curriculum Guideline for primary education has been written, piloted and adopted as the National Curriculum Guideline in 2015. The guideline stresses the core values, based on the CRC. At the Early Childhood Education Department a new manual called Parental Education Manual and a new guideline; Guideline for Home Based Programme have been developed and implemented all over Cambodia. As a result of the last preschool project a Preschool Resource Centre will be built in Battambang province. The target preschool will be a key school to other early childhood program in the province and will hold monthly meetings, trainings, and monitoring activities. The function of the centre is to implement teaching and learning activities and to support technical assistant to other Community Preschools, Home based Education/ Parental Education Program and other Preschools. 189 Sustainability The change agents are well known to the Ministries and to the Embassy of Sweden. During the Impact Dissemination Seminar 2016 in Phnom Penh the Swedish ambassador invited them to present their work in front of stakeholders and NGO´s such as: Child Fund, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, UNICEF, Unesco, Save the Children, Care Cambodia, KAPE, NEP, USAID and representatives from Lund University and Sida. The national network of the Cambodian change agents is stable and the change agents meet regularly, and use Whats App for easy communication online. They established their network in 2013 when five batches had undertaken the training programme. The leading positions of some of the change agents are a guarantee for new developments in the field of CRC within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Many of their change works are supported by UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank and Save the Children. China Background China has 38 participants – or change agents – in 13 batches and teams in this international training programme (ITP) on children´s rights in Education. 23 out of these change agents are female. In the first three batches and teams in China there was at least one participant in each team from central, national level in Beijing. After finishing batch 5 there was a strategic discussion with the director at the Education Department in Hohhot in Inner Mongolia (IM). He has since batch 1 been training primary school principals on CRC in Tongliao city and surrounding communes in Kulun Banner (county) in the eastern and agricultural parts of Inner Mongolia. Over the 13 years he is a real key change agent in Inner Mongolia. We talked about how and where to recruit the future teams and concluded that it was most suitable and sustainable for the future to focus on schools and education institutions only in Inner Mongolia. China as such was too big and difficult to handle with large education organisations as MOE, Ministry of Education, or UNICEF in Beijing. The forthcoming 33 change agents were then recruited from the education sector in Inner Mongolia. China is a very large country and today with 1,4 billion inhabitants – the world’s most populous state and the world’s second largest state by land area. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions. Inner Mongolia is one of these five autonomous regions, the capital city in Inner Mongolia is Hohhot and IM has ethnic minorities of great interest in children´s rights. 190 Change processes The next strategic change of Chinese participants was when the Teacher Training institutions in Inner Mongolia was involved in this ITP. It started in batch 11 when a professor at the English department Inner Mongolia Normal University (IMNU) in Hohhot was participating in the training programme as a change agent. From now on she was – together with the above mentioned director at Education Department in Hohhot – a strong support and a key change agent in finding new applicants for the training programme within the area of Teacher Training universities or colleges in Inner Mongolia. Most of the change agents are from the English departments which is needed due to the language of instruction in this training program, English. It is a fact that very few school principals or school teachers in Inner Mongolia speak English, however increasing with the young generations. That was in the beginning a hindrance but later that turned out to be the opening entrance. The CRC changes have started to be translated from English to Chinese – and then in Chinese introduced to other subjects and majors within the Teacher Training universities. These teams and change agents in 13 batches are in sum coming from Inner Mongolia Normal University, IMNU (11 CA) in Hohhot; Tongliao Vocational College in Tongliao city, TVC (8 CA); Chifeng University in Chifeng city, CFU (5 CA); and Hulunbuir College in Hailar city (2 CA). Now, 2016, there are 22 change agents out of 33 in Inner Mongolia active in the Teacher Training universities. The focus is on the teaching-learning conditions for the teacher trainers and teacher trainees (teacher training students) in English language education. They made changes in norms regarding the students via focusing participation in the teaching and learning processes in the classroom. 11 teams out of 13 was focusing participation in their change projects. The reflections clearly showed over time that this focus on change processes through English teacher training was a possible way to start implementing and supporting the CRC in educational practice at teacher training universities. Changes in policies We found during the Impact and Dissemination seminars 2016 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that 25 change agents remain very active in the Inner Mongolia CRC Teacher Training Network. A basic reflection is that the CRC TT Network has been an important key organisation when supporting, initiating and stimulating new change processes and using new CRC norms in the university teacher training practice. However long distances the TT Network on CRC in Education have regular meetings – at least once a year and using new ways to communicate: social media like e.g. QQ, WeChat, and Weibo. Supporting structures, knowledge and competences are built into the contexts on different levels. Enough of power, personal and economical resources in Hohhot is a good precondition for changes. They are making changes in policy and curricula at the four different TT Universities – but policy changes for schools is made by central the Chinese government at the MOE in Beijing. The most important educational issue – often debated openly in 191 China and in Chinese media – is the great national testing and examination system. That is a great hinder for many new educational ideas and most of education is focusing the forthcoming and yearly examinations. Sustainability Inner Mongolia Normal University, IMNU in Hohhot is the institution for sustainability and also the key organisation in Teacher Training institutions in Inner Mongolia. The university leaders at IMNU are very supportive to the CRC projects. A new centre connected to IMNU is the Inner Mongolia Education and Research Centre for Child Development and Protection that was decided in 2014. That is an important step in the implementation of CRC and also Child Development in Inner Mongolia. The Education and Research Centre is a partner to Child Rights Institute at Lund University and also other international education and research partners and CRC networks. Another complement to the activities mentioned above is the introduction and application in late 2013 of the Linnaeus-Palme Teacher Exchange project. In 2014 Swedish Council for Higher Education decided on a Planning funds for Teacher Exchange between IMNU and Lund University. IMNU & LU English teacher trainers 2014-2015 met in one working week in each other’s cities and universities during autumn 2014 and summer 2015. Now they have decided to scale up this in a 2-year application autumn 2016 and involve many more teachers in this exchange programme for 20172018. Mutual understanding is a good start of cooperation. This has been a rather long journey to find the possible, effective and useful methods in English Teacher Training in Inner Mongolia, and that is a good example. Building and maintaining networks are important and in Inner Mongolia and in IMNU there are now solid norm supporting actors and structures that most probably will keep this CRC network going and sustainable. Positive for the future is also that the change agents in Inner Mongolia are young professionals in good positions. Colombia Background The population in Colombia is about 48 million people. A major challenge that affects all levels in the society is that the country has been in civil war for more than fifty years, and as a result of the war, internal refugees leave the rural areas to try to find opportunities in the big cities. The internal displacement of refugees has generated serious problems of coexistence between different social groups, especially in the cities, and coexistence is a key ingredient in the work of all Colombian teams. Colombia had its first team in batch 4 (2006) and in total 14 teams. 35 change agents remain active and associated to the network in different ways. The first teams were selected from different areas such as Cali, Medellin and Bogotá, and it was dif192 ficult to find synergies and cooperation both within and between teams. From batch 10 change agents from Bogotá, with around 8 million inhabitants, were selected and there are now several links between the different teams. Most of the change agents are working; a) at local level as principals or leading teachers or as university teachers/teacher trainers in the public or private universities in Bogotá. A few of the participants in the programme have been working at the Ministry of Education but the turnover at this level is very high since most officials have short term contracts. Change processes As mentioned before, coexistence is a key ingredient in the work of all Colombian teams, and some examples of aims of the projects are; conflict resolution and antibullying strategies, to integrate critical thinking, student participation and leadership, school violence and its influence in child development. The projects have targeted: 1. the children, to give them stragegies for coexistance and participation, to strengthen their cultural identity 2. the teachers in the schools, with teacher development, materials development and trying new teaching methods 3. the student teachers at the universities, with understanding of CRC and methods based on CRC and student centred education. Changes in policies Colombia has a decentralized school system and very strong policies promoting children’s rights are already in place. It has been easy for the teams to connect to existing policies and programs from the Ministry of Education, (e.g. program on human rights and citizenship “Eduderechos”), or from policies, development plans and programs from the Secretary of Education in Bogotá. Sustainability The national CRC-network of change agents have decided to have a formal annual meeting to share experiences, and to arrange two fixed events hosted by the network: 1. The annual CRC-seminar; organized by change agents targeting student teachers and in-service teachers, and school principals and other guests. Five seminars have been held with change agents and teachers as presenters talking about their CRC projects. 2. Students’ annual meeting; an event to engage and empower the junior change agents in the schools, located in one of the schools where the CRC have been implemented. 193 The CRC-network also participates in other existing networks in the field of education, coexistence, peace to advocate children’s rights, and a CRC research agenda is organized. Egypt Background Egypt, with a population of about 87 million people, has made significant progress over the past decade towards achieving the millennium development goals in areas such as; survival rates for children, school enrolment, vaccination programs, and access to clean drinking water. At the same time the political arena has changed a lot after the 25th of January revolution 2011. Children’s right to participation and to freedom of expression has become a critical issue in Egypt and therefore included in different ways in all Egyptian projects. Egypt had its first team in batch 3 (2005), and in total 8 teams. 22 change agents are still active and associated to the network in different ways. The teams are working with projects in Cairo, Mansoura and Port Said. The Egyptian Change Agents are working; a) at local level as principals or leading teachers, b) as University teachers/teacher trainers in Universities, c) at the ministry of education with school improvement and quality assessment, and d) in national and international NGO’s. Change processes One common point of departure in most Egyptian projects is that the child’s voice in Egypt is not heard or valued. It is stated that teachers and parents are used to giving orders and expect the children and students to obey without further discussion. There is also a lack of integration of children’s rights in the curriculum, and in the educational system at primary and secondary level. As a result, article 12 respect for the views of the child, in the CRC is used in the frame of reference in most of the Egyptian projects. In practise it means that they are focusing teacher’s awareness on children’s rights and the ability to teach in a participatory way. Changes in Policies In 2010-2011 one team at national level worked on improvement of the primary and kindergarten teachers’ performance in the light of the CRC. One of the team members was the chairperson of the curriculum committee for early childhood education. As a result children’s rights were included in the new curriculum that was named “The child’s right to play, learn and create”, and a massive training of Kindergarten teachers all over Egypt was rolled out the following years. 194 Sustainability One of the network’s achievements is forming and registering a Community Development Association (National NGO) for child development named Blossoms, or Bara3em in Arabic. Barae3m is offering training sessions and activities to children and involved stakeholders as teachers and parents. Through this growing entity, the network managed to unify different projects, and efforts in the field of the CRC, and arrange regular activities and programmes under its umbrella. The projects that targeted kindergartens in three different cities: Port Said, Mansoura and Cairo are preparing to target faculties of kindergarten in universities in order to have more sustainable results. The network also conducted an international conference: “Towards A Child Friendly School” that aimed at raising awareness of the CRC and introducing an implementation model of the CRC in education. The network had an opportunity to work together at the conference sharing and gaining experience: participating in organizing the conference, preparing and conducting workshops which was an opportunity to introduce the network, and to get requests for offering workshops for in-service teacher training. As a result the CRC-network was able to scale up and the first steps of establishing a nation-wide committee of interested people across Egypt who are working to support the child friendly school initiative in the Egyptian Education system was taken. And cooperation with the “child-friendly school network”, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and other institutions was initialised, where 700 schools are targeted in a national programme during one year. And finally, change agents in the network are working on re-viewing and modifying all materials and tools that were developed for Egypt CRC projects to be used for future training. Ethiopia Background The estimated population in Ethiopia is over 90 million, where more than 40% of the population is under 14 years of age. This is a challenge for the educational system. The full name of the country is the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which means that it is a federation of regions where each region is responsible for education up to university level. In each state there is a Regional Educational Bureau with a Head who is like the minister of education in that specific region. Curricula and educational policies are national. Ethiopia had its first team in batch 1 that is in 2003 and had in total 14 teams. Around 35 change agents are still active and associated to the networks in different ways. The first teams were selected mainly from the area around Addis Abeba, and the later teams from the area around Awassa, the capital of SNNPR a region in the southern part of Ethiopia. There are now two networks in Ethiopia working mostly separate, but there is also a regular contact between the networks. 195 Most of the change agents are working; a) at local level as principals or head teachers or b) as teachers/teacher trainers at Teacher Education Colleges specifically in Awassa area. Some of the participants have been working at the Regional Education Bureau and a few have been working at the National Ministry of Education. In Ethiopia there is a system of transfer of staff within the public service so many participants have shifted their positions. Change processes In the educational system in Ethiopia there has been a system of clubs as extra curricula activities for many years. Therefor it was natural for many teams to start CRC clubs mainly in primary schools and at Teacher Education Colleges. This was a structure of extra curricula activities well known by teachers, parents, and children as well as by the School management Boards and as such rather easy to develop. Through the CRC clubs the purposes were: • To raise awareness and knowledge for all involved target groups. • To reach a higher level of participation for all involved target groups. • To create a more child and learner friendly climate in the schools/colleges. • To introduce new experiences in all educational institutions at Regional level. Changes in Policies The CRC is already included in some subjects of the Ethiopian school curricula for primary as well as secondary education so the pure facts are in many aspects already known by the teachers and the students. However, for parents there is a need also for knowledge, as well as for School Management Board members. For Teacher Education Colleges the subject is there but nothing about how to implement the ideas of the convention into a classroom situation. How to implement is the new element introduced by the projects and is presented in Handbooks for various purposes, especially when it comes to the SNNPR. In Addis Abeba the leadership of schools has been more in focus with a training programme introduced also now at the REB. Sustainability The two regional CRC networks introduced by change agents have decided to have a formal annual meeting to share experiences, and to discuss future developments. The SNNPR network, based in Awassa has more regular meetings as the change agents are living and working closer together with Awassa Teacher Education College as a centre. The CRC club at the college has now more than 300 active participants and they are all involved in various activities and arranging meetings with schools in Awassa town. The SNNPR network has also trained all teachers at primary level as to the CRC 196 in Awassa town. The idea is to also train primary school teachers in the whole region following the cascade model. The CRC-networks also participate in other existing networks in the field of education, often together with NGOs and/or Human Rights Commission both at regional level but also at national level. India – Kerala state Background India had 33 participants – or change agents – in 11 batches in this ITP-program on Child Rights in Education. 13 participants are female. First participants in batch 3 (2004-2005) and all three change agents were shattered between national level in the capital New Delhi, and an NGO in the mid part of India, and one teacher trainer in the most south-western Indian state, Kerala, a teacher trainer for many years at DIET Wayanad. District teacher training organisations in Kerala is called DIET, District Institutes of Education and Training (Teacher Training Colleges). In batch 4 the next two participants came from the same two shattered areas but the third one was a change agent from the same area in Kerala as the change agent in batch 3. DIETs are working in every of the 14 districts and is very important for the implementation of the CRC with teachers as seen and analysed over 10 years. The DIETs are organizing teacher training regarding the CRC in all schools. The reflections show that these DIETs had contributed strongly to the realization of the CRC in practice in the education area in Kerala. India is a very large country with 1,3 billion inhabitants - the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country – and has 29 states. After discussions with the teams, a strategic decision was taken to focus on applications from Kerala. Kerala is a progressive and small state in India and has about 35 billion inhabitants and has focused a lot on education. More than 90 percent of the population was described as literate in the census of India (2011). After some years, the clear focus on the Kerala state showed to be a most important strategic decision for the initiation of CRC change processes in educational practice. Change processes In this CRC training programme there are change agents from almost all districts in Kerala state – in schools as principals, in DIETS as teacher trainers or principals, and some as researchers and policy officers in Kerala state government bodies like SSA, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (The Education for All Movement in India, the Indian Government program aimed at the practical universalization of elementary education) and SCERT, The State Council of Education and Training. All 25 CRC projects in Kerala have started the change processes with students, teachers and principals in schools in rather 197 poor and rural areas. They have been making changes in social norms via focusing participation (one of the 3 Ps in CRC) in starting and developing class and school councils – and even school parliaments in the districts – in Kerala. Later it was shown that this focus on change processes through schools and school councils was useful when implementing and supporting CRC in educational practice. Changes in policies Furthermore it showed that all these changes in practice on the micro level combined soon with the meso level – and also after some years reaching the state level, the macro level, where there was a strong Kerala state support. Later SCERT made the policy changes in the new school curricula in 2014 and 2015 built on CRC experiences done on the micro level. This transforming of the CRC into the curricula work including in-service training all over Kerala was done through the established and strong CRC network. The change agents in batch 16 & 18, working in SCERT Kerala in the state capital city Trivandrum, worked especially on completing the new curricula. SSA Kerala also showed to be a key organisation and agent for these state policy changes. One key person, a teacher trainer and principal of a DIET, came to the program in Batch 4 when he was working in SSA. First as a new change agent he was in a district, later he was Principal at DIET Wayanad, and now he is State Project Director in SSA Kerala, the first position in Kerala. The two change agents in batch 3 and 4 were the initiating and supporting key persons from the very beginning – and they are still important locomotives in CRC in Kerala. All 33 change agents are active in the Kerala CRC Network even after their retirement. The reflection is that the CRC Network in Kerala has been an important key organisation when supporting, initiating and stimulating new change processes and using and applying new CRC norms. The network wrote a Country Book in 2013 for the Impact seminar 2 in Bangkok, “Kerala´s Real Story in Ensuring Child Rights. The Kerala Network of CRC Change Agents” where the CRC changes were described and analysed in an open way by all the change agents. This CRC Network is a most driving force for the following organisational steps. Sustainability Association for the Protection & Promotion of Child Rights in INDIA, APProCh India was as a result of the ongoing and sustainable activities by the CRC network in Kerala state. APProCh India was registered under the Charitable Societies Act in January 2014 but the association begun functioning already in 2013. It is noted when summing up that representatives of APProCh India were invited and used by the Kerala state government when a discussion was conducted by SCERT at Trivandrum, Kerala´s capital city, to develop CRC policy in a Curriculum Framework. The network has also taken active part in material development workshops related to children’s rights conducted by The State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SCERT) in Kerala. In Nilambur Municipality they are working with UNICEF and DIET Malappuram and 198 SSA on Child Friendly City. “Boundless Sky” is a handbook on the CRC for students and also for teachers and produced in this CRC project. All 33 CRC change agents in Kerala are involved in APProCh India. There are many key persons today in Kerala: a former DIET Principal in 3 different districts in Kerala; a former SSA state officer and now a DIET Principal in Wayanad; and two state research officers working at SCERT in Trivandrum with constructing the new curricula for primary and secondary schools and many more. There are solid norm supporting actors and structures that will keep this CRC network going and sustainable. Reflecting on the CRC changes in practice and policy in Kerala it was found that this CRC network with the change agents active over more than 10 years was of the great importance for successes and possible sustainability regarding CRC in Education. 2016 the Kerala network are heading for taking their CRC change experiences in cooperation projects to the three neighbouring states and quoting their post-conference-paper: “The main task, we the Indian network of change agents have decided to expand it to the South Indian States namely Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.” That is indeed a great leap for the Kerala CRC network. Another good task is to train even more change agents in different parts and levels of Kerala to be able to manage this expansion to the three neighbouring Indian states. Indonesia Background Indonesia with its about 260 million inhabitants is the world’s third most populous democracy, the world’s largest archipelagic state, and the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia had its first team in batch 1 and all together 39 change agents in 14 teams have participated in the programme. A majority of them come from Central Java and from two different universities with teacher training: Universitas PGRI (UPGRIS) Semarang (where it started) and Muhammadiyah University (UMS), Surakarta. Most teams have been composed by two lecturers from university and one principal. Child friendly schools and child friendly teaching and learning have been the main themes for the change work aiming at strengthening children’s participation in schools and classrooms. Change work is characterized by close cooperation between teacher training and practice. Introduction of the CRC in the Islamic context has demanded special attention to Islamic perspective on children’s rights. Change processes Change work has started in a small scale at local level with a bottom up approach involving children, teachers and parents. New models and tools for practice of child friendly teaching methods have been developed and disseminated in the project schools 199 and in other schools in connected clusters and regions. It is evident that the atmosphere has changed in schools involved, children’s participation has been strengthened and relationships between teachers and students have become more interactive and democratic. The CRC has been implemented in teacher training in different ways at the two universities. Training on children’s rights is a part of the curriculum at UPGRIS and change agents there serve as resource persons in the Centre for Community and Woman Empowerment and Child Protection. UMS has created a Centre for Child Rights Studies initiated by change agents. It dedicates itself to supporting child-friendly education that includes promoting the rights of the child in education, safe and child-friendly environment, joyful learning processes and child-friendly city. Changes in policies UNICEF has played an important role in the implementation of children’s rights in Indonesia. UNICEF has introduced and disseminated Child Friendly Schools and Child Friendly Cities and worked on changes in laws and policies at different levels. It has resulted in strong support from the Indonesian government and child friendly cities are now used as the operational strategy on how the government ensures realization of the CRC. Change projects within the ITP connect very well to those initiatives as well to the new curriculum of 2013. Sustainability About 25 change agents are still active within the area of children’s rights. There are two well-functioning networks at Central Java connected to each of the two universities. It doesn’t prevent collaboration, change agents in the two networks sometimes come together in common activities and they know each other very well. Two different coordinators guarantee the continuity. Institutionalization of the CRC activities through the Centre for Child Right Studies at UMS is promising for sustainability as well as implementation of the CRC in curriculum at UPGRIS and involvement of change agents in Centre for Community and Woman Empowerment and Child Protection at UPGRIS. Cooperation with UNICEF and connections between the projects and activities conducted through the Child Friendly Cities initiative at local, regional and national level give much potential for sustainability. The network at UMS arranged in May 2016 The First International Conference on Child Friendly Education with about 350 participants not only from Central Java but also from other parts of Indonesia. Change agents from Namibia, Viet Nam and Sri Lanka joined the conference as well as part of the exchange between countries participating in the ITP. 200 Malawi Background Malawi, with a population of about 15 million people, had its first team in batch 3 in 2005, and in total 13 teams. 31 change agents are still active and associated to the network in different ways. The first batches focused on different impact areas in Salima, Zomba, Blantyre and Mchinji districts, and the last teams focused on schools in Njewa and Kalolo Education Zones in Lilongwe Rural West. Change processes The main objectives of the Malawian projects have been on different forms of student participation, e.g. involving students in decision making, and on reducing drop-out rate due to poverty, pregnancy and child labour. The Malawian teams have of course included issues of provision and protection in their projects, but the main topic in most projects have been to strengthen children’s opportunities to participate in matter that affect their daily lives. To increase participation of students/learners, the projects have targeted relevant duty bearers such as head teachers, deputy head teachers, School Management Committees, Parents-Teachers Associations, Mother Groups, Traditional and Religious leaders through trainings and review meetings on children’s rights in education. This approach has resulted in increased understanding of children’s rights in education, how to prevent drop-out, early marriages and corporal punishment. As a result the attendance rate has increased, and teachers in the targeted schools are able to give students/learners an opportunity to participate in decision making and school governance on issues that affect them. Students’ Councils have been established in various schools in Lilongwe and Zomba Districts, and the change agents have provided tailor made trainings to students/learners and teachers involved in the Students’ Councils. Changes in policies In Malawi national and international policies and initiatives have served as legal support in the projects at school level such as; re-admission policy for school drop outs and child friendly school initiatives. The free primary education policy and the 50-50 selection policy between boys and girls have also supported the development at school level. One of the main goals for the Malawian national CRC network is to scale up its advocacy efforts with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to ensure that the concept of Students’ Councils is understood at all levels within the ministry, in order for the initiative to be adopted at ministry level and rolled out to all primary and secondary schools in Malawi as part of the curriculum. 201 Sustainability There has been collaboration with a number of stakeholders such as Malawi Human Rights Commission, MHRC, (4 change agents in different teams) that provide financial support for children’s rights activities. One very good example of creating training for change and sustainability is the collaboration in a project between MHRC and the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE). The training has structures similar to the global Child Rights programme. Head teachers and their deputies at national level get CRCtraining and at the end of the training, they develop action plans which they implement in their respective schools. Head teachers and their deputies in the projects impact areas have been included in this new programme and now there is a national upscale. Another example is the Child Friendly Schools initiative in the Zomba area, in the south, that is supported by UNICEF to make it sustainable. One indicator of the awareness of the CRC among stakeholders is that people in the villages now are able to report cases of children’s rights violations to relevant authorities in order to go through the formal justice systems and the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) as a national human rights institution. This has contributed to enforcement of laws that are supposed to protect children. The Malawian National CRC network is in the final process of becoming a legal entity and this is an important step for future success and the sustainability and upscale of the initiatives in Malawi. Mozambique Background Mozambique has a population of 25 million. The official language is Portuguese which is spoken mostly as a second language by about the half of the population. After over four centuries of Portuguese rule, Mozambique gained independence in 1975 and shortly thereafter it became the People´s Republic of Mozambique. After two years of independence, the country descended into an intense and protracted civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992. After the civil war the quality of education has suffered. Today children´s rights in Mozambique are legal rights endorsed by laws and in response to them the Ministry of Education has made strong commitments to protect and promote the rights of the children. In 2004 a new curriculum was introduced and compulsory education from grade 1 to grade 7 was introduced. Mozambique had its first team in 2003 (batch 3) but in total only 5 teams and 14 change agents have participated in the program, since the country has been in and out of the list of counties invited to the programme by Sida. The first team came from Xia Xia, which is 200 km north of Maputo and they chose to focus their project in the area of protection and participation in a partner school of the Teacher Training Centre (TTC). The project has been ongoing since then and has developed the primary school 202 sector in Xia Xia in collaboration with the TTC. The next teams 15, 16, 18 and 20 have been located in Maputo and have targeted two primary schools and one upper secondary school. Change processes The change processes have mainly focused on building warm relations between teachers and students in order to increase the student´s participation in classrooms and raise their awareness of children´s rights. Changing the atmosphere at the school and involving the parents have brought about a fundamental change in the relationship between students and teachers. Today the teachers respect their students and encourage them to respect each other. They are open and friendly with their students, helping and supporting them whenever necessary and they have permanent open conversations and interaction with their students. This information reveals that teachers are aware of the importance of building warm relationships with their students, respecting their rights and encouraging them to participate actively in the classroom. These changes have turned upper secondary school Quisse Mavota into a role model school in Maputo. After working with better communications and building good relationships between the teachers and students they were ready to discuss and solve everyday problems. They started small repair workshops in the school yard that could repair chairs and tables. However, the students had to work on open space without proper safety conditions. In 2014, the principal who had witnessed the importance of the work being done contacted the Ministry of Education and after negotiations they decided to build a huge workshop at Quisse Mavota Secondary School, where the students will be able to work in a good, comfortable and safe environment. The principal has also started a network for principals together with the District of Education in order to spread the change project to other schools. The parents have started clubs to support the teachers. In 2015 a new subject “entrepreneurship” has been implemented and Quisse Mavota has developed different programmes such as: The Sewing programme and The Carpentry programme and the Cooking programme). At primary school level in Maputo these change projects have used dramas and roleplays organized and played by the students to highlight the importance of changing roles and relationship between parents, children and teachers. This methodology has played an important role in bringing parents and local chiefs to school. Parents come regularly to school and ask for additional information concerning the participation of their children in education and local chiefs understand the relevance of implement CRC in school, they participate and show interest in the CRC implementation in school. Changes in policies The change agents of Mozambique have succeeded in visualizing their work for the Ministry of Education. One change agent works at the national level in the Ministry of Education. 203 Sustainability The network operates independently. It is strong and stable, but small. There is a will to come together and share experiences. The coordinator is the driving force. They coordinate their work with the district level and the mayors and district managers. The coordinators of the network are well known to the Embassy of Sweden and they try to collaborate with other NGO´s working with children´s rights. They have registered their network Nawananga as a national network and invited stakeholders to the network and they regard the Swedish Embassy as a partner to discuss with. Namibia Background Namibia is a large and young country with a small population, altogether 2.5 million inhabitants. Namibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990 after years of liberation struggle and guerrilla warfare. The majority of the Namibian population is of Ovambo ethnicity, which forms about half of the population, residing mainly in the north of the country. Most of the teams that have participated in the programme come from provinces in this region (Kavango East and West, Ohangwena, Oshana, Oshikoto and Omusati). The other teams come from the Central provinces Khomas and Otjozondjupa and from Kharas province in the South. Namibia had its first team in batch 2 (2004) and has in total had 11 teams and 32 change agents in the programme. Change processes Children’s rights in Namibia are legal rights endorsed by laws and in response to the laws the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture have developed different policies to ensure provision, protection and participation (3 Ps) by children in educational activities as well as in other matters that concern them. The change projects developed by the teams have played an important role in putting these laws and policies into practice, to make them a real component of the education. The purpose of all the change projects have aimed at creating “Child Friendly Schools” by raising awareness among the stakeholders and implementing CRC in schools focusing on the 3 Ps. The projects also intend to educate, sensitize and train education stakeholders (learners, teachers, parents, Education Officers, and civic leaders). They have been implemented on local level, in schools with the possibility to spread to nearby schools. During the last years a parallel process of change has been initiated from the national network, including all batches in Namibia, (team 2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21). They have worked towards enforcing CRC nationally and regionally in Namibia as well as among change agents in Africa. The main purpose is to make use of the Namibian change agent’s knowledge and good practices from the ongoing projects to educate teachers, principals and school inspectors nationally. This issue has been 204 discussed over the last years and with a lot of efforts especially from the last batches, it was possible to arrange a national network meeting in the capital Windhoek on 5-6th of September 2015. The agenda was well prepared with guests from the Ministry of Education, Art and Culture, TV and Youth organisations. The Deputy Minister of Education was the key note speaker at the conference in Windhoek 2015 and she welcomed the initiative of bringing all the change agents together at national level. She declared that the Ministry of Education, Art and Culture was very interested in learning from the success stories of the change work that was going on in Namibia. She has invited the change agents to present their different change works/projects during another national conference that will take place in late September 2016. She has also started a tour to visit all the targeted schools in the programme. The change agents in Namibia are very well aware of the valuable experiences gained by the other teams, their change works and national networks experiences in the nearby countries. They therefore brought forward the idea that Namibia should be the host nation for a conference on CRC to the Deputy Minister of Education. The change agents insisted and showed with good examples from different change projects that the knowledge of CRC is a necessary component in the achievement of a successful implementation of the new sustainable millennium goals 2015-2030. There will be a call for an African conference in Windhoek 2017 inviting change agents from all over Africa to share and show good practices and change projects. Changes on policies The breakthrough in the negotiations with the Ministry of Education, Art and Culture is a great leap forward in putting the CRC on the national agenda. It will benefit the school children of Namibia at micro level and it will educate the teachers, the principals and the school inspectors at middle level and it will open up for the curriculum developers at the Ministry of Education at macro level. It will also create a regional network in Africa on CRC which can open many doors in the research field as well as in general education. The agreement between the Ministry of Education, Art and Culture and the network of change agents of Namibia is one of the most important step that the network ever has taken. Sustainability The national network of the Namibian change agents is stable and the change agents meet regularly in meetings, seminars and workshops and use What’s App for easy communication online. The new steering committee of the national network has started to plan for the national conferences in CRC in 2016 and the African conference on CRC 2017. At a network meeting in March 2016, the change agents formulated plans to replicate the training programme used in the Swedish International Training Program to a Namibian programme of Child Rights, Classroom and School Management. They have selected mentors and composed workshops and material to be implemented in those regions which have no change agents. They are working hand in hand with the 205 MoEAC. This progress can be seen as a result of the fact that the International Training Programme is closing down and the change agents of Namibia sense that it is their responsibility to go on. The factors that contributed to the success are very much personal factors. The last batches include persons with clear leadership skills and knowledge how to raise awareness of important issues. The matter that they belong to the last batches have given them a mandate to enforce the CRC in Namibia along with the strong will of change agents from batch 2 to 21 willing to go on working with implementing CRC in Namibia. South Africa – Free State Province Background The population in South Africa is about 53 million, of which 18.6 million are children under 18 years. South Africa is a young democracy that is created after three centuries of colonial occupation and domination, as well as four decades of systematic and officially sanctioned discrimination of black and coloured, the majority population, under Apartheid. After the end of Apartheid, in 1994, a new Constitution was formulated. It is said to be one of the most progressive constitutions in the world containing a section of its own on children’s rights. South Africa has the status of middle income country but there is a big gap between the poor and the rich. Many children don’t live together with their biological parents for different reasons. In 2013 18% of children had lost a mother, father or both parents; 22% of children did not live with either of their biological parents; and 0.5% of children lived in child-only households. (De Lannoy et al. 2015)1. South Africa has its first team in batch 3 (2005) and in total 10 teams and 30 change agents. The first team came from Gauteng Province and the second one from KwaZulu-Natal Province. The sustainability of those teams was weak and we searched for a fruitful recruitment strategy together with one of the participants from Ministry of Education. The third team came from Free State, the third largest of the nine provinces in the country with almost 3 million inhabitants. From there it became possible to get a new foundation for recruitment. All the eight teams have been composed by principals and officials (either provincial or district level) from the Directorate for Values in Education, Department of Education. The ambition, from the beginning, was to create model/focus schools in each of the five districts in the province, schools which could be used as models and inspiration for others. 1 De Lannoy, A.; Swartz, S.; Lake, L. & Charmaine Smith, C. 2015. The Child Gauge 2015. University of Cape Town. http://www.ci.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id =1154:south-african-child-gauge-2015&catid=40:child-gauge&Itemid=834. 206 Change processes There are many similarities between the eight projects in Free State. All of them have taken place at one or two schools with principals as change agents. All schools are situated in poor areas with heavy social problems. Many children and parents, targeted in the projects, live in shacks or informal settlements in areas with high unemployment rate, drug abuse and crime. Focuses of the projects are varying but all of them have ingredients of all the three P: s: Provision, Protection and Participation. The first project took place in Xhariep district in schools with deeply rooted problems with corporal punishment. It is common in South African schools even though it is prohibited by law. It was a big challenge for the principal to change attitudes among his staff and to change his own behaviour. But he managed to find his new role – from being the one who used to administrate corporal punishment to be more like a counsellor. The children, who became well aware of their rights, started to report corporal punishment themselves and it happened that teachers were expelled. The following teams continued to pay attention to problems that were well known but hidden and often neglected e.g. sexual abuse, teenage pregnancies and drugs. The projects met similar challenges. The change agents had to overcome resistance, doubt and negative attitudes among the teachers and parents. The change agents have been successful in resolving misconceptions, in breaking taboos and finding creative ways of involving children and parents. Children have been seen and heard in new ways and they witness themselves on the importance of having knowledge of their own rights. Participation has increased and important basic needs have been provided for. Corporal punishment has stopped. Another characteristic feature of all projects is the involvement of parents and cooperation with stakeholders in e.g. health care and social services as well as churches and NGO: s. Those efforts have contributed to better use of resources and shared responsibility for vulnerable children. New tools and methods have been developed to make reality of the CRC in practice. Changes in policies South African education is characterized by many good policies and programmes well anchored in the South African Constitution and the CRC. It means that the change work has been more focused on implementation of different already existing programmes instead of influencing policy making at different levels. Officials from Directorate for Values in Education have introduced and monitored programmes matching the projects e.g. on alternatives to corporal punishment and methodologies for children’s participation. Sustainability All the participants, with a few exceptions from Free State, are still active as change agents. The initial goal to create model/ focus schools as inspiration and models for others in each of the five districts in Free State has been reached. Results achieved at most 207 of the project schools seem to be well anchored and sustainable. Principals have played a key role as change agents and for guaranteeing further development and sustainability. Continuity has been assured through one of the change agents in batch 11 who has been a key person in recruitment of the participants and coordination of the network. Change agents are now working on strategies for dissemination of the good experiences in broader scale at district, provincial and national level. Networking has been growing with time and the network continues to develop and strengthen its position. Sri Lanka Background Sri Lanka, with a population of about 20 million people in an area of just 65, 610 square kilometres, has one of the highest literacy rates in Asia. Education has been a focussed area for a long time and has been included in the culture as well. However, after more than 20 years of civil war the situation as to the CRC in the country really needs to be in focus. The situation for many children became worse in many aspects included the area of education. Besides, there is another problem in the area of education and that is the National Examinations. The examinations take place several times during the education period and these examinations are extremely important for the children and the families of the children in various aspects. As early as in grade five there is a national examination, the children are at that stage around ten years of age. Based on the results in this examination the children (and/or the families) will have the opportunity to select a school for the continued education. If the results are high the best schools in the country can be selected. There will also follow scholarships to cover the expenses there is if the school is located far away from home. Many poor families rely totally on these scholarships and the possibility for their children to select the best schools, but all families are competing to get high results. One consequence of this is that during the fifth grade the focus is very much on the subjects included in the national examination and a lot of extra teaching classes are offered. The children feel such a heavy pressure to succeed on this only day that many get sick. Thus there are two negative aspects of these early national examinations, stressed children and neglect on subjects not involved in the examinations, such as English. Sri Lanka was represented already in the first batch and has all together been represented in 11 batches. Sri Lanka has many change agents from national level, almost the same number as from local level, 12 at national level and 11 at local level, the remaining 7 are from regional level and represent teacher education. In Sri Lanka there is a national network, split up in two regional networks, the Kandian network and the Colombo network. 208 Change Processes As a consequence of the issue of the early National Examinations many projects have directly or indirectly focused on that. Directly through the introduction of a more child friendly climate in the classrooms, specifically in the fifth grade. Participation has been focused to let the children have more real input on what is happening in the school. Also directly by focusing on subjects not included in the National Examination, specifically English. English is later on in the education a very important subject, but neglected in grade five the children will suffer later. Indirectly by introducing and using computers more in the educational process, not only as a nice break, but as an educational tool. Most of the projects have been targeting participation as to children’s involvement in all kind of school activities such as: • • • • Group work activities Practical activities such as decoration of the school environment Planning, development and implementation of educational material Focusing on important subjects not included in the national examinations Changes in policies Children’s rights have been included in various subjects and the curricula for certain subjects have been changed. There have been several participants from the National Institute of Education where the responsibility for curriculum development is based and also responsibility for development of school material. More child friendly approaches have been included in the teacher education, as a subject but also as to teacher behaviours and approaches in the classrooms. Sustainability The projects at national level carried out under the National Institute of Education (NIE) are well implemented and supported by the Ministry and by that seems to have good possibilities for sustainability. The NIE has also started a research project dealing with parents’ knowledge and use of children’s rights. That is also true for some of the school projects implemented by the Kandian network in schools where the principals and parents are active. The projects started at the teachers’ colleges are also sustainable as change agents are working there and have a continuous input. The networks in Sri Lanka and the network in Kerala, India, have started a cross country network and payed visits to each other and more activities are in the pipe line. They are also in the process to establish closer cooperation with other Asian networks. Change agents are also participating in conferences in the area of children’s rights in Asia. 209 The challenges as to sustainability are more obvious for some school projects where no change agents are working at the school and where the support from parents and principals is not sufficient. Tanzania Background Tanzania with a population of almost 50 million has been in the programme from batch number one. All together there have been 15 teams from Tanzania. Almost all change agents were originally from the Dar es Salaam area, but as a result of the transfer policy there are now change agents in more areas. Besides, the last team came from Mwanza area. Tanzania has a long tradition of Swedish support in the area of education, mainly from Sida, but also from NGOs and missionaries. Among the change agents have the majority been from national level, which is specific for Tanzania. Many of the teams have had members from ministries, in most cases from Ministry of Education, but also from the Ministry of Women’s and Children’s Affair and Community Development. Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) was also represented by team members from national level and also Human Rights Commission. Change processes The main focus of CRC projects can be presented within three main areas, which are corporal punishment, changing national policies towards a clearer CRC approach and participation mainly by introducing CRC clubs or students’ councils. As in many countries corporal punishment was an issue in schools at all levels in Tanzania. The reasons behind are many, but some of the main reasons are crowded classrooms and ignorance from teachers as well as parents. The projects aimed at getting the teachers to understand the negative aspects of corporal punishment for the learning process. When teachers understood that corporal punishment was a real hindrance for learning their attitudes changed and by the time also their behaviours. It was more difficult to get the parents to understand. In many cases they asked the teachers to use corporal punishment. However, when including all stakeholders, such as Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA’s), and School Management Boards the situation started to change. But this kind of processes takes time. As many of the participants in the Tanzanian teams represented central/national level also many projects were aiming at changing of policies. These projects and outcomes will be more explained below. Among the last teams, representing Tanzania, the focus of the projects was participation. After visiting the schools in Lund and discussing with the students about participation and taking an active part in the activities in schools through student councils 210 the teams wanted to introduce that also back home. In Tanzanian schools the British system of Prefects was in practice and has been for years. However, Prefects were appointed by the administration and functioning under their rules and responsible to them not to the students. In the student councils it is the opposite, the students in the council are selected and appointed by students and are responsible to students. Thus the tasks are different, but sometimes this new situation resulted in confusion. The student councils are on the right track, but it will take some time for them to be settled and functioning independently. Changes in policies While working with the projects team members realized the importance of having national policies in place to support their work. Some policies were in place, but others were missing or not clear enough. That is why many teams worked for changes in policies at national level, such as introducing the CRC in a clearer and more pedagogical way in the White Paper, in curricula and in national examinations. To change the classroom climate from a teacher centred to a learner centred climate, which was stated in the curricula, was the aim of some projects. That the examination system was a steering instrument for teachers and resulted in teacher centred classroom behaviour was understood by the teams. TIE has the responsibility of national examinations and when the teams included members from TIE the issue of national examinations was in focus. Sustainability One big advantage concerning sustainability in the case of Tanzania was the number of change agents from national levels such as ministries, Human Rights Commission, TIE and other institutes dealing with education. The framework needed to implement the CRC in classrooms and to change teachers’, parents’ and principals’ attitudes and behaviours is now more or less in place. TIE also has the responsibility to train teachers all over the country in all new developments within education and other organisations are training all managers in education so the developments are now spread to many parts of the country. With such a support from policy documents it will also be easier for other projects to be sustainable. In one of the projects focusing everybody’s right to education the focus was on girls’ right to enter education in natural sciences at secondary level, which was not supported by the educational system nor by teachers. During the follow up of this batch teachers from Spyken secondary school in Lund participated and cooperation between Tanzanian project and Spyken in Lund started and is still going on after six years. That project was from the Tanzanian side also supported by JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency). The Tanzanian National CRC network is now in the final process of becoming a legal entity and this is an important step for future success and the sustainability and upscale of the initiatives in place. 211 Uganda Background Uganda a densely populated country in the heart of Africa had its first team in batch 4. Since then Uganda has been represented in 13 batches. Most of the teams were selected from Kampala area, but with the policy of transfer the change agents are now spread to other areas as well. Most of the change agents are from local or regional level, very few from national level, which has affected the content of the projects. Uganda has a sad history of a civil war specifically in the Northern part of the country that affected children very much. Uganda has also during the last years receiving many refugees mostly from South Sudan and Somalia. This has been a hardship for the educational system. In 1997 Uganda introduced UPE (Universal Primary Education), which implied a free education for all children at Primary level. A positive decision, but it resulted in very big classes in schools and no extra resources to tackle the new situation. Teachers have been under heavy stress and there have been strikes but no action from government. In this situation the CRC has filled a gap and supported teachers. Change processes Most of the projects in Uganda have been at local level in schools, some also at Teacher Colleges. The focus of the projects has been participation and in some cases also on provision. How can the children be active and at the same time provide something for themselves? In this connection the ideas of the projects have been very creative. There has been a focus on creating materials for reading and also learning materials for other subjects, both at schools and in Teacher Colleges. It is rare for primary schools to have libraries where extra reading materials or extra learning aids could be kept; therefor it was important to create material for learning practice. Besides it was noticed that even when some odd schools had a library the students wanted to read the smaller books created by their friends. At Teacher Colleges these projects have been very successful as the teacher trainees realise the use they can have for this kind of extra material when they are out in the villages on their first positions. Teacher trainees in the two colleges included so far are also very much willing to know more about how to realise the CRC in the classrooms. Changes in policies As there has been very few participants from national level in Uganda there are also very few changes in policies. The national level represented is curriculum development, where some changes are introduced to make it more clear how to implement the CRC in the classrooms. Officers from the National Curriculum Development Centre in Kampala have also been sent to TIE in Dar es Salaam for training. 212 At the Teacher Colleges involved in the projects policies have been changed also in the direction of more methodology, that is to say more of how to implement the ideas of CRC in the classrooms not only focusing on the content of the articles in the convention. Sustainability The Ugandan change agents decided very early to establish an independent CRC organisation. That was one reason to make this network very sustainable. This CRC coalition has regular meetings, their own projects and also supports most of the projects implemented during this programme. Even projects from early on are still going on as the network actively participate. The network is a guarantee for sustainability as this network also cooperates with other organisations, mostly NGOs among them the Swedish Diakonia. The network has also during this time supported and guided five master students from Lund University department of sociology to carry out their field studies in Ugandan schools. One of the master students from the division of education department of sociology at Lund University is still working together with the CRC coalition in a project called STWP (Spread The Word Project). This is a project for primary Teacher Colleges to train teachers to be leaders and to implement a child friendly approach in the classrooms. The project started with three Teacher Colleges now a fourth teacher education is also included. There is a coordinator at each college and the master student is coming to Uganda a couple of times a year to mentor the programme. There is also a discussion to extend the project to Tanzania. There is lots of material prepared for this project so it is rather easy to expand. Viet Nam Background Viet Nam has for many years been involved in wars and been occupied by other countries; lately by France and USA and the country was then divided in two states. In 1975 there was finally a peace and in 1976 a reunification of North and South Viet Nam. Viet Nam has been rapidly rebuilt but still there are cultural differences between north and south of Viet Nam, between Ha Noi and Saigon. Viet Nam is the second country in the world – and the first state in Asia – which has ratified the UN CRC. The implementation of the CRC has been institutionalised by law in Viet Nam. The Law on Child Protection, Care and Education (LCPCE) has been ratified by the National Assembly in Viet Nam, August 1991. It is a small, narrow country in eastern Asia, and densely populated with about 92 billion inhabitants. Viet Nam has had its first team in batch 2 (2004) and in 2016 there are now in total 13 teams and 38 participants or change agents in batches 1-21. 24 out of 38 change 213 agents are female. That is in total: 16 change agents from the capital city, Ha Noi, the political capital situated in the north of Viet Nam; and 19 change agents from Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon in the southern part of Viet Nam. 3 change agents in the middle of Viet Nam. In the children´s rights network in Saigon the 12 principals in the primary schools play a key role regarding changes of norms. In Ha Noi there are 5 principals in primary and secondary schools and some researchers that are active. Change processes The implementation of CRC in education, learning and teaching, in Viet Nam – in Ha Noi and Saigon –has been dominated by change agents from local schools – principals and teachers – and also some teacher trainers in universities and education officers at the district level. All the 13 change projects are directed against participation in decision making processes by students in primary and secondary schools, but also involving teachers in understanding and realising the CRC-related and important participative processes in schools. In some of the projects parents and the local community are involved in the CR change processes as well. In Ha Noi there is since the very start one female change agent in batch 2 with long term contacts with and working at Save the Children International (former Save the Children Sweden). She has been the key person all years in Viet Nam and she also established the CRC contacts with educationalists and the Primary Education Department in Saigon. The leaders in the Education Department in Saigon are strongly supporting the changes by the principals and the schools. In the last batch – batch 21 – there is a key contact in Ha Noi with an influential position. That is established at the Ministry of Education and Training, MOET, via one of the change agents in this batch 21 and the team. During spring 2016 here has been established an Exchange Project between Spyken, the upper secondary school in Lund, and Nguyen Tat Thanh lower and upper secondary School in Ha Noi (affiliated to Ha Noi National University of Education). Five of the principals at Spyken visited Ha Noi and the Nguyen Tat Thanh School and all have the ambition to develop an Exchange collaboration Program and had applied at the Internationella Programkontoret for an ATLAS pilot project. Three change agents from Teacher Training University in Saigon were participating in the First International Conference on Child Friendly Education in May 2016 in Solo, Indonesia. This as a start of research development also noted in the third Impact and Dissemination seminar for this ITP on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management in 2016 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Changes in policies There has been local, district and regional changes in school policy and curricula regarding CRC in primary schools in Saigon and also in Ha Noi. In the last batch (see above) with three change agents in Ha Noi, and one agent with influential position in MOET, will open up new possibilities for policy changes in national school curricula. It also of214 fers possibilities for CRC network cooperation between Ha Noi and Saigon. That could be important seen in a more long-term perspective. Sustainability The great possibilities (by a mentor´s many reflection) is to unite the activities in the CRC networks in Saigon and in Ha Noi as suggested by the networks. Lots of current work on that is now going on in both cities. There are norm supporting actors and structures established in both cities, Saigon and Ha Noi. Some quotations from the Viet Nam final report in Cambodia are as follow: “38 change agents all over the country have implemented various successful projects on integrating CR into the education system… CR national network has not yet a clear organisation and structure with assigned roles and responsibilities of each change agent. Additionally, there have been no specific working agenda developed for CR network, spreading from the North to the South. As a matter of fact, geographical proximity remains an obstacle for organizing national network meeting.” It seems that these new steps of change and contacts can lead to a national sustainable future regarding the implementation and realization of CRC in Education in Viet Nam. Zambia Background Zambia has about 16 million inhabitants. The population is young with almost 50 % between 0 and 14 years. The country became independent in 1963 after about 60 years of colonisation by the British, a factor that had significant influence on structures of the public institutions not least in the school system. Zambia is a young democracy which actualizes the importance of fostering children to democratic future citizens, a situation that is reflected in the change work. Despite a lot of measures taken to guarantee education for all and quality education the number of drop outs from schools is high. There are a lot of reasons for children not coming to school e.g. teenage pregnancies, sexual abuse, early marriages, insufficient school places, overcrowding in schools, insufficient supply of trained teachers and inadequate supply of teaching/learning materials. Zambia has participated in the programme since 2003 with 39 change agents, 13 teams, representing national, provincial and local levels from different provinces: Central, Muchinga, Lusaka and Copperbelt. Change processes Work for change has primarily focused on establishment of school councils and development of democracy in schools through children’s participation in decision making. The projects have mainly taken place in schools at local level with teachers, students and 215 parents as the main target groups. The change work started in secondary schools where the conditions were bad in many respects. Riots were common among the students. The atmosphere was unruly with poor marks and filthy premises, graffiti, vandalism and aggressive behaviour that in some cases led to regular police visits. Corporal punishment was commonly used. Relationships between students and teachers were bad without mutual trust. The students had no say in issues concerning their own school environment. Besides some initial resistance among teachers the change work was welcomed in the project schools. Improvements in the school environment and atmosphere were soon experienced. School councils are now getting continuous support from link teachers and head teachers and their activities have contributed to totally changed atmosphere in schools. They have achieved a more conducive learning environment with better relations between students and the administration; and students and teachers. In 2016 all secondary schools and some primary schools in the Copperbelt Province (as well as in some of the other provinces) have democratically elected school councils. Changes in policies Work on children’s rights is well supported by laws and national policies e.g. the Zambian Education Act (2011) that states that all schools must have democratically elected student councils and the National Constitution of 2016. The first team developed a “Tool Kit on the establishment of School Councils” which is still in use in many schools in different parts of the country. It has been of great importance for implementation of structures and routines for the schools councils and for development of democratic processes in schools. Sustainability Most of the projects have been conducted in Copperbelt province, where results from the change work have become more and more sustainable with time. The CRC is well implemented at different levels in the province with strong support from the national, provincial and district management. Many change agents have leading positions in the school system with the power to initiate and follow up the change work. Head teachers association plays an important role as continuous supporters. Copperbelt is now viewed as the model province for other provinces in the country. Some districts in Lusaka province have developed a model for “training of trainers”, a model connecting very well to existing organisational structures and therefore easy to replicate. Sustainability of the network is guaranteed through annual meetings in the National Conference to which all change agents are invited together with head teachers, link teachers, students and stakeholders e.g. representatives for the civil society. Those meetings give opportunities for change agents to update each other on the activities of the CRC as well as to plan future undertakings. A good foundation has been created but there is still much to do to spread knowledge about the CRC, to continue to roll out school councils to all primary and secondary schools in Zambia and to create sustainable structures for implementation. 216 5. Looking back and looking forward Bodil Rasmusson, Lena Andersson, Agneta W Flinck, Ulf Leo and Per Wickenberg. Introduction In this chapter we as mentors continue with reflections on the development taken place through the ITP in connection with the global movement on children’s rights. Experiences from the International Training Programme (ITP) Child Rights, Classroom and School Management, make it possible to look back on 13 years of work for change at different levels in the education system in many different countries in the world. The programme has come to an end for now but it is not the end of ongoing change processes. Looking back About 650 participants or “change agents” have been trained to make changes in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (see appendix III for full list of participants). Out of the 29 countries in the programme 16 countries in three continents – Africa, Asia and Latin-America – have been the core. The programme has been very attractive with about 400 applications for each batch. Sida has decided which countries should be invited, which is why some countries have been dropped while others have been added to the list. Other reasons for countries not joining the programme, besides changes in Sida’s policy, could be lack of applicants from some countries, poor quality of applications, and lack of security and support from the government and insufficient knowledge of English. Short descriptions of the background in each of the participating countries (chapter 4) illustrate contextual factors of importance for implementation of the CRC. They show some of the challenges that characterize each of the participating countries. A country’s history, political and economic situation as well as e.g. policies, laws and religion influence interpretation of the CRC as well as change agents’ choice of focus and scope of the change work. It is well illustrated through e.g. the history of Apartheid in 217 South Africa, displacement of refugees in Colombia, influence from Islam in Indonesia, war in Uganda and examination oriented school system in Sri Lanka. A consequence of a country’s ratification of the CRC has in most countries resulted in important changes in laws and policies.1 But despite many relevant decisions at national level there is often a big gap between the good intentions expressed nationally and practice on the ground. Knowledge about laws and policies is lacking as well as strategies for implementation. On the other hand policies and laws provide important mandate for the change work. Some projects have worked on changes in policies and laws at national level but in most cases they have already been in place. Work on changes in curriculum for teacher training is another kind of change of policies of importance for implementation of the CRC in education in teacher training colleges and universities. The change work has also contributed to changes in local school policies in e.g. routines for election of school councils and relationships between prefects and school councils. Change processes in the participating countries have many similarities. They have mostly started in small scale in one or two schools sometimes just in some single classes. Good experiences have then served as examples for others and good practices have been spread to other schools and further on to districts and regions. The three P:s (Provision, Protection, Participation) have frequently been used as point of departure for planning and implementation of the projects and we have seen through all the thirteen years that most projects have focused on participation (article 12, 13, and 14). The country reports and mentor’s reflections in this book (chapter 3 and 4) show how it has been possible to mobilize e.g. officials, teachers, principals, parents and children to participate in change work in schools and in universities. It has been possible to reach a common understanding about the value of children’s rights, at local level but in many cases also at regional and national levels. The country reports show how behaviour, norms and attitudes could be changed e.g. on corporal punishment and views upon children. Interface between top down and bottom up approaches can contribute to bridge the gaps between ideals and reality in practice. We realize that without action the best aspirations codified in the CRC remain only words on paper. Global development When looking back we can also take our point of departure in the original decision 1989 by the United Nations on ratification of the CRC. It is evident that Sida is not 1 Sweden has for example recently (February 2016) launched a public inquiry on making CRC a Swedish law. It has the title “Barnkonventionen blir svensk lag” (SOU 2016:19). CR is taken into the Swedish Constitution (RF, Regeringsformen, 1 kap 2§ - “… barns rätt tas tillvara”: 2014). CR is also in the Swedish Act on Education (2010), Social Services Act (1998), Aliens Act (2005), Parental Code (1998)l. The report contains proposals for an act on incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and presents a number of measures that need to be taken upon incorporation, and a number of other legislative proposals. It is proposed that the legislation enter into force on 1 January 2018. In Norway CRC was made a separate law in 2003. 218 the only actor working for children’s rights globally. The ITP is one of many different initiatives taken to make reality of the CRC globally. Implementation of the CRC is monitored by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, a body with independent experts from different countries in the world. State parties are obliged to submit reports to the UN Committee every fifth year. This committee is also the foremost interpreter of the CRC’s content and message. Practical tools for implementation based on comments and recommendations from the Committee are found in the comprehensive Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child 2 published by UNICEF, an organisation that do a lot of research, investigations and monitoring on implementation of the CRC. This handbook has been used as an important source of knowledge in the ITP. Statistics on children’s wellbeing and living conditions is one of its important contributions to the knowledge about children globally. According to UNICEF3 the quantity and quality of data on children have increased tremendously. Before the mid-1990s, critical gaps in data hindered accurate and effective analysis of the situation of children. In 1995, UNICEF initiated the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) to facilitate monitoring of the 1990 World Summit for Children Goals and to support countries in their efforts to fill important data gaps. These surveys have had great impact on countries’ ability to document and understand the situation of children on a range of indicators in the areas of health, education, nutrition, water supply and sanitation, child protection etc. Other important global initiatives with impact on children’s rights to education are: UNESCO: Education for all, agreed upon at the World Education Forum at Dakar (2000); The UN Millenium Development Goals (2000); The UN Sustainable Development Goals (2015)4. Goal 4 of the SDGs will continue to build on its current achievements: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all.” However, increased knowledge about children’s rights doesn’t automatically mean that problems are solved. According to UNESCO 5 123 million children were out of school in 2013. It is estimated that 24 million children will never enter a classroom. Half of all out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa will never enrol. Girls are the most disadvantaged, particularly in South and West Asia, where 80% of out-of-school girls are unlikely to start school, compared to just 16% for boys. The global development of implementation of children’s rights is also followed and supported continuously through other comprehensive programmes. Global initiative 2 3 4 5 Hodgin, R. & Newell, P. 2007. Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York: UNICEF UNICEF. 2015. Reimagine the future. THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S Children. http:// sowc2015.unicef.org/www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sdgoverview/post-2015-development-agenda.html UNDP. 2016. Post 2015 Development Agendahttp://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ sdgoverview/post-2015-development-agenda.html UNESCO. 2016. Out of school data release 2015 http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/ oosc-data-release-2015.aspx 219 to end all corporal punishment of children 6 and Child Friendly Cities7 are two initiatives with great impact on legislation and policy formulation globally. The number of countries with prohibition of corporal punishment is increasing continuously but there is still a lot to do. There are still 150 states where children can be lawfully hit in the family home, and in 70 states, corporal punishment has not yet been fully prohibited in schools (Global Initiative 2016). A lot of NGO: s play significant role in implementation of the CRC globally. Save the Children International and Plan International are among the biggest organisations with outreach all over the world. Research on childhood and children’s rights Children’s rights and childhood have become significant fields of study among researchers from different disciplines during the last centuries8. Researchers in childhood studies contribute with theoretical perspectives useful for interpretation of the CRC and analysis of childhood in different contexts. Interpretation of the first article in the CRC is an example. Article 1 defines a child as anyone under the age of eighteen, which is also consistent with much national and international legislation. It is however an abstract definition, not saying anything about the characteristics of the child like gender or developmental stages in different ages. The CRC definition was motivated by the awareness of the fact that communities view durations of childhood differently. The answer on the question “who is the child?” has therefore to be sought in relation to conditions in the economic, social and cultural contexts in which the child is living9. There are considerable variations between cultures regarding the view of the child and there is no universal definition of childhood. There seem, on the other hand, to be processes going on towards equalization of this kind of differences. The implementation of the CRC worldwide has played an important role in this development10. Concepts of childhood are influenced by global processes, which in turn are expected to have an influence in local practices. Researchers talk about a paradigm shift, a move from looking upon children as objects to seeing and relating to them as subjects11 .Verhellen12 writes 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Global initiative. 2016. Global initiative to end all corporal punishment of children. http://www. endcorporalpunishment.org/ UNICEF. 2016. Child Friendly Cities (http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_71027.html). March 2016 Reynaert, D., Bouverne-de-Bie, M., & Vandevelde, S. 2009. A review of children’s rights literature Since the Adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Childhood (16), 518 – 534. Lansdown, G. 2005. The Evolving Capacities of the Child. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre Rajabi-Ardeshiri, Masoud. 2009. The Rights of the Child in the Islamic Context: The Challenges of the Local and Global. International Journal of Children’s Rights, vol. 17, 475-489. Kirby, P. & Woodhead, M. “Children’s Participation in Society” in Montgomery, Heather; Burr, Rachel & Woodhead, Martin, (eds.) 2003. Changing Childhoods, local and global. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Verhellen, E. 2000. Convention on the Rights of the Child: background, motivation, strategies, main themes. Leuven: Garant. 220 about children as “meaningmakers” and as “essential actors and not just reactors”(p 22). Children are first and foremost human beings; therefore our relationships with them have to be based on respect for them as such. New research questions, methodology and theories are, as a consequence of this view, formulated and practiced e.g. on child development, children’s participation in society and childhood conditions from a child perspective. It is nowadays widely accepted to involve children as independent informants in research, something that was very rare before introduction of the CRC. The CRC emphasizes each child’s individual rights, but this approach appears to be unfamiliar in many countries. In a number of cultures in Africa and Asia, the family as a collective unit is more important than the individual, and the individual’s rights are thus subordinated to the needs of family. Hierarchies related to gender and age has considerable significance. Children’s obedience is regarded very important and disrespecting the elders is seen very negative upon (Cheney 2007). African childhood is in certain respects reflected in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child of 1990, which was drawn up by a regional forum of African governments – the Organization of African Unity 13. The content of the charter is very much in accordance with the CRC but one of the significant disparities is stated in article 31, which reflects a view that family members are considered to be mutually dependent on one another – both children and adults have rights and responsibilities. The child should be responsible not only for his family and society but also “to preserve and strengthen African cultural values in his relations with other members of the society, in the spirit of tolerance, dialogue and consultation and to contribute to the moral well-being of society” (article 31). This way of talking about responsibility of the child differs from the CRC, where the word ‘responsibility’ is totally absent. Rajabi Ardeshiri14 describes a similar feature in the Islamic approach to children’s rights: “Within the Islamic literature, children’s responsibilities are as important as their rights and consequently Muslim children are required to respect their parents and obey them, respect their parents’ privacy and take care of their parents when they are in need (the Quran, 24: 58-9).” As a result from the abovementioned, research has been confirmed through many of the experiences gained in the ITP. They could also serve as theoretical tools for understanding some of the obstructions and tensions which challenge the change agents in their efforts to change norms, attitudes and behaviour.15 A systematic literature review on Child Rights Convention in Education and concerning the enforcement of children’s rights in the classroom context and school management contributes with knowledge about the state of the art within this area.16 42 13 14 15 16 Danwood, Mkenge Chirwa. 2002. The merits and demerits of the African Charter on the rights and welfare of the Child. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, vol.10, 157-177. Ibid. Rasmusson, B. (2016): Closing the gap between theory and practice. Implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. International Conference On Child-Friendly Education. Muhammadiya University, Surakarta, Indonesia. Child Rights, Classroom and School Management: A Systematic Literature Review (2016): Urinboyev, Wickenberg and Leo. International Journal of Children’s Rights. 2016:2. 221 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1990 and 2014 and they were selected and analysed. The paper presents both a descriptive analysis and a thematic analysis in order to provide the state-of-art of international literature on Child Rights in education. The descriptive analysis highlights the main characteristics of the articles included, such as type of study and methods used, classification of literature based on the geographical and thematic focus, article citation frequency, and chronological development of the subject in question. The thematic analysis synthesizes the main findings extracted from the literature and highlights the main trends and gaps in research. More specifically, the emphasis was placed on the following three themes: (a) children’s rights in the classroom context, (b) children’s participation in school management, (c) children’s rights education in schools. The analysis of the three themes (thematic analysis) shows that countries have made little progress in mainstreaming the children’s rights perspective (CRC principles) into classroom relations and school management, even though the CRC has been lauded as a revolutionary document because of its direct focus on the ‘best interests of the child’ and its unprecedented ratification. One issue commonly raised in most of the studies was that the schools and educational practices are largely influenced by the social norms and hierarchical power structures that view children as passive and immature actors who are not capable of making adequate decisions. Hence, everyday classroom interactions between pupils and teachers are guided by these hierarchical normative patterns, which can explain why innumerable initiatives to promote children’s rights in schools continue to remain ineffective. One important message from the thematic analysis is that there is a need to change the school culture, teachers’ perceptions and social norms if we are to enforce Child Rights in schools. This may not be surprising or unexpected; however one very important insight from the reviewed publications is that they all emphasize the importance of changing the school culture and social norms as a panacea for promoting children’s rights in the classroom context and school management. Active participation of the students in classrooms, schools and local community seems to be one of the key issues when making changes in norms and culture. 17 Comparing these findings with our own experiences in this international training programme, participation seems to be a common denominator. Looking forward We have learned that there are many different factors influencing the future for children’s rights and we have here chosen to focus on two different aspects of special importance for sustainability of results achieved in the ITP – networking and continued research and knowledge production. 17 Wickenberg, P. (2016): Children´s Rights and Education in a global perspective. International Conference on “Children´s Rights - origins, normativity, transformations, prospects”, Linköping University, June 2016. 222 Country reports and mentors’ reflections in this book, as well as in other books produced within the ITP, tell us a lot about progress of networking between change agents in the participating countries. Our experiences show how networking has increased the potential scope and momentum for change. The importance of networking within and between countries could not be stressed enough. It is our hope that the networks will be strong enough to keep the fire burning for the benefit of the development nationally, as well as globally. We have through the 13 years experienced a rapid development of interest for research and further studies among our participants. Many change agents have started and even finalized their doctor’s or master’s degrees, often within the area of human rights. A workshop in the Impact and Dissemination Seminar in Phnom Pehn about ideas and wishes for cooperation in research attracted many of the change agents, and fruitful discussions took place about different possibilities. As shown above, research is going on yet it needs to continue to give us deeper knowledge on e.g. change processes and different measures taken to implement children’s rights. The programme has resulted in many spin-off results (see chapter 1) which relate directly or indirectly to unforeseen results that have been achieved within the Swedish resource base (see appendix V). Continued curiosity and knowledge production is of significant importance for the status and position of children’s rights not only in the academic world. References to research on children’s rights, especially on endemic conditions, can also contribute to strengthen the position of change work in practice. Closing words CRC is taken seriously by many important actors and many initiatives have been taken, globally, nationally and locally, to strengthen and make reality of children’s rights. A report published by UNICEF18 in connection with the 25 year anniversary of the CRC gives many examples of impressive gains. At the same time millions of children in the world are deprived their rights. Anthony Lake, executive Director at UNICEF writes in the foreword: “We cannot claim that children’s rights are being upheld when 17,000 children under the age of 5 die every day.” He refers to wars going on in different parts of the world, where children endure years of violence, deprivation and displacement: “These children are the future leaders of their societies, the future doctors and innovators, dreamers and doers. How will they view the world? If their own rights are violated, how will they learn respect for others, which is the foundation of civil duty and citizenship?” 18 UNICEF. 2014. 25 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. http://www.unicef.org/ publications/index_76027.html, March 2016 223 There are reasons for being both optimistic and pessimistic for the future. A conclusion is anyhow: the work must continue at all levels with contributions from all people involved with children or issues concerning children’s welfare and rights in many years to come. 224 Epilogue A moment in our lives Reflections from the first programme manager Richard Stenelo (2003-2010) We all have moments in our lives where something happened that changed the course of our lives. Sometimes it’s a choice, and sometimes it just happens. It’s not often you can pin-point these single moments that is the start of something that will change your life and give you experiences you never thought you would have the fortune to experience, meet people that you will never forget and make friends that lasts a lifetime. But when one reflects on the past there are certain moments in our lives that stands out and you know that that specific moment was of great value to your future life. For me I can think of very few moments in my adult life that has changed my life significantly. One of these moments where around a kitchen table in an office at Lund University in the spring of 2003. Four people sat down and started to discuss a tender from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) to set up a training programme in Child Rights, Classroom and School Management. When Per Wickenberg, Agneta Wångdahl-Flinck, Bereket Yebio and myself gathered around the kitchen table we had never worked together as a team before and we had no idea what an impact this moment would have for us. Little did we know that the conversation around the kitchen table was the start of something that would change our and many others lives for many years to come. The conversation around the kitchen table resulted in a tender, a tender we won, and soon many other people in Lund and Malmö got involved; Ulf Leo as a headmaster of one of the schools in Lund, Bodil Rasmusson as a lecturer at Lund University and Lena Andersson at Malmö University and many others. I know that they can pin-point that special moment as well, the moment they heard about the Child Rights programme the first time. The programme has had a tremendous impact on all involved, our beliefs and above all our hope. Our hope that it is possible to contribute to change and it is possible to make a difference in this world. 13 years later over 800 people have participated in the programme that has been delivered in not only English but also in French and Spanish. 225 All over the world there are, thanks to this training programme, networks of change agents that everyday strive to make the lives of children better in their home countries and around the world. I believe that there are over 800 people who can pin-point a similar moment in their lives, the moment when they saw the information about a training programme at Lund University and decided to apply for it and become a change agent and advocate for children’s rights for the rest of their lives. We know that these change agents have contributed to thousands and thousands of moments for children all over the world, moments these children will never forget. There is one special moment all involved in this programme should cherish and be very grateful for – the moment when Hans Persson at Sida got the idea of setting up a training programme in Child Rights, Classroom and School Management. 226 Appendix 227 228 I. Convention on the Rights of the Child – in short Article 1 - Definition of a Child A child is recognized as a person under 18, unless national laws recognize the age of majority earlier. Article 2 - Non-Discrimination All rights apply to all children without exception. It is the State’s obligation to protect children from any form of discrimination and to take positive action to promote their rights. Article 3 - Best interests of the child All actions concerning the child shall take full account of his or her best interests. The State shall provide the child with adequate care when parents, or others charged with that responsibility, fail to do so. Article 4 - Implementation of rights The State must do all it can to implement the rights contained in the Convention. Article 5 - Parental guidance and the child’s evolving capacities The State must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents and the extended family to provide guidance for which is appropriate to his or her evolving capacities. Article 6 - Survival and development Every child has the inherent right to life, and the State has an obligation to ensure the child’s survival and development. Article 7 - Name and nationality The child has the right to a name at birth. The child also has the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, to know his or her parents and be cared for by them. Article 8 - Preservation of identity The State has an obligation to protect, and if necessary, re-establish basic aspects of the child’s identity. This includes name, nationality and family ties. Article 9 - Separation from parents The child has a right to live with his or her parents unless this is deemed to be incompatible with the child’s best interests. The child also has the right to maintain contact with both parents if separated from one or both. 229 Article 10 - Family reunification Children and their parents have the right to leave any country and to enter their own for purposes of reunion or the maintenance of the child-parent relationship. Article 11 - Illicit transfer and non-return The State has an obligation to prevent and remedy the kidnapping or retention of children abroad by a parent or third party. Article 12 - The child’s opinion The child has the right to express his or her opinion freely and to have that opinion taken into account in any matter or procedure affecting the child. Article 13 - Freedom of expression The child has the right to express his or her views, obtain information, make ideas or information known, regardless of frontiers. Article 14 - Freedom of thought, conscience and religion The State shall respect the child’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, subject to appropriate parental guidance. Article 15 - Freedom of association Children have a right to meet with others, and to join or form associations. Article 16 - Protection of privacy Children have the right to protection from interference with privacy, family, home and correspondence, and from libel or slander. Article 17 - Access to appropriate information The State shall ensure the accessibility to children of information and material from a diversity of sources, and it shall encourage the mass media to disseminate information which is of social and cultural benefit to the child, and take steps to protect him or her from harmful materials. Article 18 - Parental responsibilities Parents have joint primary responsibility for raising the child, and the State shall support them in this. The State shall provide appropriate assistance to parents in childraising. Article 19 - Protection from abuse and neglect The State shall protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or others responsible for the care of the child and establish appropriate programmes for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims. 230 Article 20 - Protection of a child without family The State is obliged to provide special protection for a child deprived of the family environment and to ensure that appropriate alternative family care or institutional placement is available in such cases. Efforts to meet this obligation shall pay due regard to the child’s cultural background. Article 21 - Adoption In countries where adoption is recognized and/or allowed, it shall only be carried out in the best interests of the child, and only with the authorization of competent authorities, and safeguards for the child. Article 22 - Refugee children Special protection shall be granted to a refugee child or to a child seeking refugee status. It is the State’s obligation to co-operate with competent organizations which provide such protection and assistance. Article 23 - Disabled children A disabled child has the right to special care, education and training to help him or her enjoy a full and decent life in dignity and achieve the greatest degree of self-reliance and social integration possible. Article 24 - Health and health services The child has a right to the highest standard of health and medical care attainable. States shall place special emphasis on the provision of primary and preventive health care, public health education and the reduction of infant mortality. They shall encourage international co-operation in this regard and strive to see that no child is deprived of access to effective health services. Article 25 - Periodic review of placement A child who is placed by the State for reasons of care, protection or treatment is entitled to have that placement evaluated regularly. Article 26 - Social security The child has the right to benefit from social security including social insurance. Article 27 - Standard of living Every child has the right to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. Parents have the primary responsibility to ensure that the child has adequate standard of living. The State’s duty is to ensure that this responsibility can be fulfilled, and is. State responsibility can include material assistance to parents and their children. 231 Article 28 - Education The child has a right to education, and the State’s duty is to ensure that primary education is free and compulsory, to encourage different forms of secondary education accessible to every child and to make higher education available to all on the basis of capacity. School discipline shall be consistent with the child’s right and dignity. The State shall engage in international co-operation to implement this right. Article 29 - Aims of education Education shall aim at developing the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to the fullest extent. Education shall prepare the child for an active adult life in a free society and foster respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, and for the cultural background and values of others. Article 30 - Children of minorities or indigenous populations Children of minority communities and indigenous populations have the right to enjoy their own culture and to practice their own religion and language. Article 31 - Leisure, recreation and cultural activities The child has the right to leisure, play and participation in cultural and artistic activities. Article 32 - Child labour The child has the right to be protected from work that threatens his or her health, education or development. The State shall set minimum ages for employment and regulate working conditions. Article 33 - Drug abuse Children have the right to protection from the use of narcotic and psychotropic drugs, and from being involved in their production or distribution. Article 34 - Sexual exploitation The State shall protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse, including prostitution and involvement in pornography. Article 35 - Sale, trafficking and abduction It is the State’s obligation to make every effort to prevent the sale, trafficking and abduction of children. Article 36 - Other forms of exploitation The child has the right to protection from all forms of exploitation to any aspects of the child’s welfare not covered in articles 32, 33, 34 and 35. 232 II. One Step Does Not Make a Path: The Challenges of a Change Agent (Summary of key note in Phnom Penh, Feb 7) Goran Hyden1 Change agents are a special group of people. They go the extra mile to do things for others. Above all, they are special because they make history. Wise men in the past have said that the only thing constant is change. This may be true, but change does not come by itself. Things don’t change. Humans change and humans make change. Change is complex and challenging. It takes time and effort. That is why it is important to recognize that it is a journey. As the title of this lecture suggests: one step does not make a path! Change does not roll on the wheels of inevitability. Nor is history made in one day. Change is often a struggle and certainly a test of patience. So, it is best to set one’s mind to the expectation that change comes one day at a time. This does not rule out the possibility of unexpected or sudden breakthroughs. They do happen but they are the exception rather than the rule. This lecture is about the journey that most change agents travel: the long and arduous one! It identifies the various stages that are necessary for making change happen. It draws on the American saying that “talk the talk” is not enough; you must “walk the walk” or as the British have decided to put it: “walk the talk”. This presentation combines these two ways of indicating that you are never credible unless you can back up your words with effective action. More specifically, it identifies points in the development of an effective and legitimate change agent. 1. Learning the Talk One never starts a journey without having packed the suitcase – and before that – figured out what is necessary to take along. Change takes place in a context so it is important to pack those things that are most suitable. Not a thick jacket for a hot climate; nor a pair of shorts for the winter! Being a change agent in the context of the Lund University project on “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management” is largely about changing norms. It is to make communities and society recognize that children are not objects but individuals in their own right and thus competent subjects. It is about creating an enabling school environment in which this recognition of the child and its rights can be achieved. It is about leadership with a view to strengthening the rights of individuals, especially the children. It is an ambitious agenda which requires a full 1 Goran Hyden is Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Florida. Since his retirement in 2008 he serves as an independent consultant, most recently for the UNDP. He is an alumni of Lund University where he received his Ph.D. in 1968. 1 233 comprehension of the Convention on Child Rights as well as the cultural norms that prevail among parents, teachers and government administrators with an influence over what happens in schools. Those of you in attendance at this Impact Seminar have already been able to acquire much of this knowledge and understanding through the initial seminar in Lund, the follow-up meetings you have attended, and through practical experience in your home country. You are no longer novices. Yet, you can never learn enough. Internalizing a sense of what you think the CRC is all about as well as grasping the norms of your communities is never likely to be complete. Exposing your minds to this set of issues once more at this meeting, therefore, is both a necessary and good thing. If nothing else, this lecture is meant to give you a way of checking how well prepared you are for the journey. Learning the talk is not only a matter of reading and interpreting the Convention or conducting interviews with the various stakeholders to know what their views are. Two more specific things are important. One is to get a sense of which issue may be particularly “burning”, i.e. what do people see as the most important problem? Finding out involves hearing the voices of children. What is their opinion about how classes are being taught? How they are being treated? And so on. The second is the importance of sharing your own ideas with others. A change agent cannot and should not prepare the task ahead all alone. It is important to discuss with others and get their input, especially about how to go about bringing changes in the classroom. In short, the better prepared you are in your own mind, the greater the prospect you will get your own talk right. Getting the first step right gets you off to a better start! 2. Talk the Talk This next step involves making sure you can articulate what it is that you want to do. You need to organize your ideas into a strategy whether it is for a particular project or more generally for action across individual schools or communities. Again, it is important that you take time to have others listen to you and provide inputs for how your work can be best executed. One way of getting their input is to test your own ability to persuade others by telling them what you intend to do, how you want to do it and why it is important. These three questions – what, how and why – always need to be addressed. You need to have a way of answering them in a convincing manner. That is part of talking the talk. This ability is especially important because changing norms is a sensitive and potentially controversial exercise. Your own country reports as well as comments made at this meeting indicate that you have two challenges that need to be addressed at this stage: one is to break through cultural barriers; the other to address power imbalances. The CRC is a document that argues for the application of universal rights to children. It makes no distinction between developed or developing countries, Christian, Muslim or Buddhist 2 234 religions. Yet, applying the Convention means doing so in cultural, including religious, contexts. You, the change agents live culture. You are part of what you want to change which makes it both harder and easier. Harder in the sense that you may not be able to see all opportunities that exist. Easier, because you know what the challenges are. For example, in many countries represented here, patriarchal relations prevail: men control women; state controls society, etc. To those with power, the CRC may be a threat. Some parents, as your reports indicate, may believe that introducing it in the school environment will make children even more difficult to bring up. For those who work on child rights in a human rights context, governments may have qualms about the potentially general impact on changing minds that advocating the Convention could have in society. Change agents, therefore, cannot avoid being sensitive to what it means to operate in a specific cultural or political setting. They must have a strategy for doing so and be confident in what they set out to do. The point is that you cannot change something unless you confront it. The change agent must have enough courage to stick one’s neck out. He or she must be aware that change often creates, if not enemies, nonetheless people who may be stiffened in their opposition to change. They should take consolation, however, in the fact that the winners are always those who take responsibility for their actions; the losers those who blame others. 3. Begin the Walk The last thing that a change agent wants to hear is that the words that are uttered are just “sweet talk”. It is important, therefore, that the preparation and testing of your skills have been successful enough to allow you to feel confident as well as competent to begin the walk. This is when your leadership skills are being tested. The walk involves working with others. There are always going to be people who are interested and friendly. They constitute your most immediate likely allies. They could be individual teachers, sympathetically inclined parents or students for whom an enabling school environment is both necessary and desirable. Having these allies is an important part of getting things done because you cannot expect to carry history on your own shoulders. Even if you are special, you are not super human beings. Working with others, therefore, is fundamental to success. Make sure these people feel comfortable being part of your network. You certainly need these friendly inclined people to help you in convincing those who are indifferent or suspicious. They may constitute the majority. Whatever their number, they are the target of your campaign to promote CRC, an enabling school environment, or any other goal that you have. These groups of potentially hostile people are important as a testing ground of how far you can push your message. It is important to take stock of reactions, whether you do that in an informal or more formal manner such as a survey. You do not want to alienate these people because they could easily mobilize against you. It would be sad if the CRC was politicized to the point that 3 235 groups of people or politicians begin to sabotage your work. Not only you, but even more importantly, children would be the losers. You certainly cannot afford to lose your commitment. If you truly believe in your mission, there is no limit in the power of perseverance. Even if you may be forced to take a step backward to accommodate objections to what you are doing, a change agent who believes in his or her mission always knows how to take two steps forward again. Change has its melancholic as well as happy moments. 4. Walk the Talk Now you are talking! People see that you can back up your words with action. They see that you practice what you preach. In short, you are a credible change agent earning respect and legitimacy among others. This enables you to raise the antes, i.e. to become more ambitious and bold in terms of what you do. First of all you broaden your base by recruiting among those who acknowledge your role and see that you mean business. You make arrangements to widen your network and overcome such obstacles as geographic location by using social media or other means that allow you to stay in touch (even if you do not physically come together that often). Second, you make stakeholders aware of your presence by writing in the local newspapers, appearing on national television or organizing meetings where interested people can come and listen to your messages. This is an intensification of effort that usually pays off in terms of credibility and legitimacy. People are taking you seriously and your political clout increases to the point where you feel comfortable lobbying politicians or government officials about changes needed in the school environment. You are now successfully empowering others and you begin to enjoy seeing the results of your work. But you are also drawing increasing public and political attention. You are now appearing to others as someone whose voice cannot be ignored. You now have your own power. The challenge is how to use it. It is easy to go wrong with power. Even those who are professional politicians often fall into traps of their own making. In the context of working on the CRC it is especially important that you appear to use power in a way that reflects the ideals inherent in the Convention. Its purpose is to empower children. You do not want to come across as someone who uses power in a disempowering manner. Such a contradictory stand would immediately undermine your legitimacy. You need to prove that power can be used, not to scare but to share. This is central not only in the school environment but also in society at large. Too many political leaders use power to rule over others. A true change agent must be working toward using power with others. Power is not an end in itself but a means to achieving noble ends, such as those associated with the Lund University project. 4 236 Empowering and sharing power with others is crucial but also difficult. It is easy to underestimate the challenges, especially if things go generally well. A change agent, however, must never become too self-confident. You will not always be successful. In these circumstances you must be ready to ask yourself: where does the problem lies – with “them” or with me? In other words, when you cannot change a situation, maybe it is time for you to change. There is no loss of status or legitimacy in doing so. Self-criticism is an important part of being a change agent. You must realize that you cannot change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust the sails of your vessel. 5. Secure the Path Now you are walking the walk. It is time to secure the path because you have taken enough steps to make it a path. This means institutionalizing what you are doing in ways that allow you to let others take over. After all, the ultimate measure of success of a change agent is his or her ability to become superfluous. This does not necessarily mean the end of the life of the change agent. Someone who burns for good causes will always find a new one to work on. Securing the path has its own challenges. One is organizational. It is important to create a coalition or a forum (or any other appropriate institutional format) that will serve to perform the functions of what the change agent and his or her peers have created. A second challenge is related to how the effort can be reproduced. In-service training in the form of short courses or seminars that are not too costly is one way of ensuring that the CRC advocates keep growing in numbers and deepen their knowledge and understanding. A third challenge is programmatic. What are the most important things to teach in these courses? One way of finding out is to carry out self-evaluations among change agents and those who are being trained. Such input is crucial to making sure that the training program stays relevant. Now is also the time to begin to thinking about what results are being achieved. There should be enough people with experience from the effort to provide feedback. This means going beyond simply enumerating the numbers of people who have been trained or schools in which work has been conducted (or any other such measurable result). As change agent you really want to know about the outcome of what you have done. Did it really change attitudes? Are the messages that headmasters (or headmistresses) and teachers provide in the school environment different now? And so on. Answers to these rely largely on qualitative information, i.e. responses to questions that offer a deeper understanding of what has been achieved. The longer term impact may still be too early to assess but the longer a change intervention has been going on the more likely some interesting things may be possible to discern. Anyway, the point is that more systematic feedback should be collected. Yet another challenge that most of you here at this Seminar have identified as a problem is access to resources. Lund University (through Sida) does not provide support in its training programs beyond the capacity-building component. Those who are being trained must find 5 237 finances locally for their projects. This is a challenge because most trainees have little if any experience of writing proposals for funding. Yet, this is a skill that needs to be developed. Skills include being able to write a proposal as well as knowing whom to contact for funding. Donor agencies may be available but their funding is on decline and is being concentrated in ways that make funding for smaller projects less likely. Private foundations and corporations are likely to be better bets these days. Many corporations wish to demonstrate their corporate responsibility by giving funds to local community projects. Promotion of CRC and an enabling school environment may well be exactly what they are looking for. Nothing works like success! The beauty of change is that it always opens the door for another. There is a good reason, therefore, to welcome and embrace change. 6. Conclusions In order to make my points I have had to structure the presentation in such way that the journey of the change agent is linear and made up of distinct steps, one after the other. I do not wish you to take it as literally as that. As you yourselves no doubt have already experienced, being a change agent sometimes feels like treading water – no visible result is evident. Such is the reality not just for you but for many others who try. It is important to embrace change but you need to be in charge. Thus, even if you are forced to take a step backwards or you feel like treading water, the goal must always be to try to get back in charge. You cannot change what you avoid or refuse to confront. 6 238 III. List of Participants in the ITP-programme 2003-2016 Country Afghanistan Afghanistan Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China China Colombia Colombia Batch First Name 7 7 21 21 21 19 19 19 17 17 17 16 16 16 15 15 15 14 14 14 12 12 12 21 21 21 20 20 20 19 19 19 18 18 17 17 17 16 16 16 14 14 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 5 5 2 1 18 14 20 20 Abdul Haq Sarah Heras Sophea Thavy Chanchhada Saomoline Bunthoeun Sokhom Kosal Sereydara Lakhena Yahan Sokchantra Saroeun Sophea Hay Soksaphat Chheang Vongsy Bopharam Nguon Sopheak Rommny Jie Wei Yu Chang Xiaorui Su Xiaohua Cao Feng Jingxin Xuelin Lei Xiaochun Zhiying Jian Qiang Aihua Haihong Narisu Shuqing Jingxia Lan Haiyan Kuiou Lixia Zhi Xin Li Li Yueming Baijun Ying Jiangang Armando Julián Ernesto Family Name Mr/Ms Rahmat Shah Said Sekandar Shah Chan Than Thong Hou Lim Sok Prak Roeung Um Chin Noun Pok Phan Pich Srey Chhon Seuy Vann Phally Seng Vann Li Ma Zhang Liu Sun Wuyungaowa Rina Wang Yiming Jiao Ma Guo Ren Wu He Wei Zhang Liu Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Mr Mr Jiang Li Lu Wu Chao Zhang Zhang Guangping Yinghui Wang Sun Qi Chen Calderón Rodriguez Castro 239 Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia Colombia DPR of Korea DPR of Korea DPR of Korea Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt 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Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Namibia Peru Rwanda Rwanda Rwanda Sierra Leone Sierra Leone South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa 7 21 21 21 20 20 20 19 19 19 18 18 18 17 17 17 14 14 14 11 11 11 9 9 9 6 6 6 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 13 13 21 21 19 19 19 18 18 18 17 17 17 15 15 15 14 14 14 13 13 13 Matias Albino Martha Modestus Simeon Shaanika Anesu Desmond Mirjam Diladileni Debbie Elizabeth Penehafo Monika Simon Samuel Regina Kingston Paulus Likius Olivia Roderick Graham Hendrik Johannes Pelagia Eveline Tuhafeni Florinus Mpareke Naftal Sakaria Elisabeth Nankali Markus Mbweti Jakobus Mukuve Marthinus Imelda Sinzere Filippine Pulcheria Emil Franciscus Venolia Fillemon Fenny Magdalena Mareé Magdalena Lourdes Aurora Edward Theodore Solange Fatima Davida Shabana Ophelia Morenikeh Ntsiepe Nefthaly Ramangwedi Fhatuwani Vangile Selekane Selebogo Abraham Mookho Clarice John Suzan Rankhoatha Ezekiel Dimakatso Merriam Lineo Christina Tefo Emmanuel Nthokgoane Amelia Gaelebale Lilly Sikhalo Sifiso Janet Matshediso Tebello Patrick Parruque Amutenya Evaristus Kavila Marongwe Mbango Valombola Haidula Hangula Jakob Edegware Hausiku Makoni Iiyambo Nakamwe Shinana April Coetzer Shilamba Kambonde Mpareke Ngalangi Likoro Mbundu Sikongo Hamutenya Kandjimi Munkanda Franz Mukwahepo Hamutenya Mungongi Shanjengange (Tobias) Smit Leyva Atencio Kabare Mboneza Munyakarama Mukayiranga Mbeteh Morrison Maine Mohlahleli Denga Msibi Vinger Dithebe Ntho Mohapi Leeuw Mphatsoanyane Senooe Kholumo Mofokeng Molingoana Mathibe Mofokeng Phokontsi Malinga Mtimkulu Thokwayo 244 Mr Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania 11 11 11 5 5 3 3 3 20 20 20 19 19 19 16 16 16 13 13 13 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 1 21 21 21 19 19 19 17 17 17 15 15 15 14 14 14 Rodney Maurney Engelbrecht Rapuleng Matsaneng Mamaipato Maria Seane Claire Dyer Nokuzola Nomuhle Masinga Selaelo Mercy Makatu Timothy Seporane Makofane Bapela Abram Moripe W.M.S.P Jayaratne S.W.S Wipularatne Indra Withanachchi Subhashini Gunarathne Udeni Hewayala Saman Pahala Gamage Amarajeewa Basnagoda Kumari Hitihami Mudiyanselage Hidaya Mohamed Zain Nayana Nandani Abeyratne Kothai Nagularaajah Thajudeen Zeinulabdeen Nadeeka Sunimali Gunatilake Banneka Mudiyanselage Hajar Jhan Jhan Mohamed Khan Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Premachandra Dissanayake Sunil Abeywickrama Abeywickrama Liyanage Jayantha Wickramanayaka Wedisinghe Mudiyanselage Dissanayake Mudiyanselage DayaDissanayake Nihal Wickramasinghe Thushari lasanthika Yasawardana Anula Kumarihamy Abeykoon Mudiyanselage Indrani Loku Nissanka Arachchilage Jayantha Rupasinghe Tittapajja Yaddehigedara Dilrukshi Lakmali Anandagoda Gamini Rathna Tissa Menik Pedige Wanniarachchi Kankanange Nandawathie Thiyageshwaran Dishanthini Kulathilake Nilamaka Arachchige Thrisanthika Priyadarshani Wijetunga Weerasingha Arachchige Balasooriya Appuhamilage Cham Balasooriya Nandani Ekanayaka Meegahawattage Malkanthi Dhammika Pandithage Siyambalangamuwe / MudiyanseAbeyratna Jagath Polgaspitiya Sumudu Weerawarna Nilaweera Arampola Mudiyanselage Pemalatha Karunaratne Rweyemamu Augustine Edith John Mokiwa Neema Ngussa Juliana Chacha Benedict Missani Nicholaus Moshi Fundikira Ekerege Basiliana Mrimi Philipo Sungu Eugenia Joseph Kafanabo Jerome Sila Machange Mboni Mwanahamisi Mgaza Aviti Eustard Kagaruki Catherine Peter Marimbo Frank Nicodem Tilya 245 Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Tanzania Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda 12 12 12 11 11 11 10 10 10 8 8 8 7 7 7 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 20 20 20 18 18 18 17 17 17 15 15 13 13 13 11 11 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 7 7 6 6 Demetria Melkior Robert Wamenyisa John Emanuel Elia Kalenzo Adelard Nhunde Tumbana Elifinya Sylvia Adrehemu Gervas Suzana Samwel Germana Leonard Lucas John Yustin Ignas Edward Michael Magdalena Evarist Halima Kamote Kaspar Kaspar Silas Daudi Anyigulile Jerome Paschal Alistidia Melchory Rehema Tunzo Honorina Francis Joseph Gervas Anjelina Mwasu Thomas Salum Amasi Astridah Chisanga Fidelis Severin Marion Nanyondo Phyllis Henry Vincent Caroline Edward Grace Jeremy Mercy Betty Akullu Said Anthony Mugagga Resty Nantaba Jane Patricia Namata Betty Peter Benon Beatrice Nkwenge Josephine Olivia Katamba Elijah Annie Sybil Noeline Victoria David Livingstone Aida Nyenje Charles Wakoko Peace John Wilson Merab Rwomushoro Hannington Ssennoga Hyera Kimambo Olemeiludie Kibga Saduka Shoo Chinguwile Kayombo Lotto Lushinge Mung'aho Mzelela Bangi Ismail Magina Barugahare Mmuya Samaluku Kajigili Manyahi Rugaitika Kassembe Mumba Mwangamila Conrad Odhiambo Njagwa Athumani Katalyeba Lumato Bujjasi Chelangat Nabende Ssemakula Elungat Kavuma Mugeere Baguma Magimbi Nansubuga Ezati Twine Muwagga Muziribi Nambalirwa Matovu Ssenkusu Ssentongo Byakutaga Kasande Ddungu Mbogo Kayungirizi Galiwango Nabasinga Ntanda Ssengendo Ddungu Lubwama Masaba Atamba Tereraho Kariisa Majwala 246 Ms Mr Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Uganda Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 21 21 21 20 20 19 19 19 17 17 17 15 15 15 13 13 13 12 12 12 10 9 9 9 7 7 7 6 6 6 3 3 2 21 21 21 20 18 16 16 16 14 14 14 12 12 12 10 10 10 9 9 George Steven Wilson Justine Winnie Beatrice Sanyu Alice Nsumba Robinson Jessica Bich Danh Hang Thi Thu Phuong Thi Lan Hai Thanh Ha Thuy Diep Thuy Binh Trang Lan Dung Trang Linh Phuong Kim Thy Si Yen Duc Oanh Thi Nhat Hanh Thi Phuong Minh Tuong Khanh Ngoc Tam Huu My Hanh Nguyen Van Tuyen Tao Quang Tinh Binh Dang Khanh Thi Ha Hai Xuan Lan Thanh Thi Kim Thi Hien Thi Kim Hanh Thuy Ingutu Levy Harriet Christina Shelly Lukonde Elizabeth Fredrick Susan Sitwala Catherine Valentine Kandingu Margaret Nachela Kalale Phillip Malango Ginno Stephen Mambe Kelly Harris Benjamin Esther Mukasa Mande Nabirye Turyasingura Nyehangane Kafuko Lyazi Sanyu Do Le Mau Ha Pham Le Le Luu Huynh Mai Pham Bach Dinh Tran Chu Ho Nguyen Hoang Le Nguyen Vu Thi Hiep Ngo Thi Nguyen Thi Dang Nguyen Tran Ho Thi Thanh Nguyen Nguyen Bui Nguyen Ta Akushanga Matongo Mutale Kafulo Mwamba Chileshe Ngonga Nkutika Katongo Simunyola Yumba Chella Katele Sichilima Chishiko Miyanda Mwale Kabwe Kazeze Gondwe 247 Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms Mr Mr Ms Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia 7 7 5 5 5 2 2 2 1 1 20 18 18 9 3 3 20 Mathias Florence Mwindula Devilious Sangulukani Esther Mukanda Maureen Muuchili Christopher Samuel Mwila Theresa Raidon Paul Getrude Kasuba Gistered Terry Misozi Christina Ronald Clotilda Mutinta Nyanga Kaoma Yvonne Banda Chikalekale Phiri Sachingongu Simunchembu Mfula Mutale Mutale Mumba Mwape Muleya Changwe Mwenya Malonga Misapa Syamuntondo Musenge‐Zimba 248 Mr Ms Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Mr Ms Mr Mr Ms Ms Mr Ms Ms IV. Chain of Results for ITP Child Rights, Classroom and School Management OUTPUT 1. Participants have knowledge of CRC and the child's right to, in and through education and the processes of change which aims to transform Child Rights in theory and practice. OUTCOME 2. Change processes intitated that will contribute to the realization of the intention of the Child Rights Convention in policy as well as in practice. IMPACT 3. Improved capacity in participating countries to offer and ensure everyone's right to relevant and quality education, an education that is safe and secure, inclusive, student-centred, democratic and problem-solving and that creates opportunities for all, regardless of background, to participate in community life as active citizens. a) Increased knowledge and understanding of the CRC. a) Participants are change agents in practise a) The organization is able to contribute to the processes covered by the CRC with respect to planning and development of Child Rights, to, in and through education. 249 b) Increased knowledge and understanding of the Education b) Changes in the form of new policies, new regulations for All (EFA) and MDGs targets, relevant international and methods, approaches, tools, etc. that ultimately leads concepts such as child-friendly schools, inclusive education to a change process. and education for democracy and human rights (EDHR) and other relevant international instruments. c) Increased knowledge and understanding of experiences, methods and tools for organizational change in general, and rights-based (participation, inclusive and transparent) and democratic methods and tools for change in particular. d) Knowledge and understanding of Swedish and other international methods for translating children's rights and democratic values into practice in schools and in the classroom. e) Expanded international and national networks to work with the CRC and other relevant international conventions and instruments. c) The organization is able to deliver concrete results in the light of identified change, ie. compliance with the new policy, new regulations and practices, work methods, tools, etc V. List of Spin-off Effects Master and bachelor theses: 1. Girdea, Andreea (2014). Knowledge transfer processes within “Child rights, classroom and school management”. Factors affecting the knowledge transfer processes on an individual- group- and organizational level: Lund University: Department of Sociology, Division of Education. Master thesis. 2. Grahn, Josefin and Sunesson, Anna (2013). Three Change Agents’ Space of Action: A Case Study at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Lund University: Department of Sociology, Division of Education. Bachelor thesis. Master and bachelor theses (Minor Field Studies, funded by Sida) 1. Ammitzböll, Sandra & Hall, Charlotta (2011). A Minor Field Study on Student Participation through Class and School Councils in Copperbelt Province, Zambia. Lund University: School of Social Work. Bachelor thesis. 2. Andersson, Felicia; Nordström, Emelie (2014). How the educational system in China is designed. Inner Mongolia Normal University. Malmö University: Faculty of Education and Society. Bachelor thesis. 3. Jaegers, Alexandra (2012). Ugandan Teachers’ Training College People’s Perceptions of Children Rights to Participation. An Interview Study. Lund University: Department of Sociology, Division of Education. Bachelor thesis. 4. Jaegers, Alexandra (2013). Children’s rights in context - Ugandan Head-teacher’s understandings of concept, implementation and prerequisites. Lund University: Department of Sociology, Division of Education. Master thesis. 5. Kristiansson, Andreas (2008). To Participate in School or not? Exploring the social norms determining Vietnamese secondary schools students´ participation in decisions concerning themselves. Lund University: Sociology of Law. Bachelor thesis. 6. Perla, Armando (2009) Implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child Through Human Rights Education. Lund University: Faculty of Law. Master thesis. 7. Petersson, Malin; & Bäckström Caroline (2014). How does a Government Lower Primary School in India work with mathematics? - A study on how the teachers’ mathematical beliefs affect the norms operating in the classroom. Governmental Lower Primary School Kerala. Malmö University: Faculty of Education and Society. Bachelor thesis. 8. Ulfhielm, Sofie (2014). The cultural aspect of knowledge transfer between Sweden and Uganda/Tanzania. Lund University: Department of Sociology, Division of Education. Bachelor thesis. 250 Cross country collaborations: 1. Linnaeus-Palme Exchange Programme between IMNU, Inner Mongolia, China, and Lund University, English Department and Teacher Training. Planning grants awarded by UHR, March 2014. Visit in Lund by IMNU autumn 2014, and visit by LU in Hohhot June 2015. Report to UHR submitted in October 2015. Decision about upscaling on a common application will be taken autumn 2016. 2. Linnaeus-Palme Exchange Programme between School of Education, Makerere University, Uganda and Faculty of Education and Society, Malmö University, Planning grants awarded by UHR, March 2016. Visit in Kampala by Malmö University August 2016, and visit by Makerere University in Malmö October 2016. Report to UHR submitted in November 2016. 3. 30 change agents participated in the Conference ”Learning Together for Change” April 2015, in Arusha, Tanzania. It gathered some 160 participants from 20 different countries. Among these, researchers and leaders from 15 Swedish and 24 African universities were represented. The Association of Swedish Higher Education (SUHF), with the support from The International Association of Universities (IAU), the Association of Swedish Higher Education (SUHF), and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), initiated the conference. 4. A grant from the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) with Indonesian counterparts. An International Conference on Child-Friendly Education was held at Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta Indonesia on May 11-12th, 2016, followed by an Indonesian delegation visit and workshop at Lund University in October 2016 to plan for future joint research. 5. The Lund high school Spyken has been involved in exchanges with Tanzanian schools with funds from Folke Bernadotte’s Memorial Fund. 6. Spyken is since 2016 also involved in exchanges with Nguyen Tat Thanh lower and upper secondary in Hanoi and a visit was made in February 2016 by five of the school leaders at Spyken. Spyken has already submitted an application to the Swedish Council for Higher Education (Universitets- och högskolerådet) for school exchange within the ATLAS programme. Furthermore, there are plans for an exchange programme between Spyken and four upper secondary schools in Namibia. Academic articles Published: 1. Leo, Ulf (2013). In the Best Interest of the Child: Change Agents’ Efforts to Reduce Drop-Out in Malawi. In Naseema, C & Jibin, V.K. Elementary Education and Child Rights. New Delhi: Shipra Publications. 251 2. Rasmusson, Bodil (2011). ”Barns mobilisering - En internationell utblick” i Denvall, V., Heule, C. & Kristiansen, A. Social mobilisering. En utmaning för socialt arbete. Malmö: Gleerups. 3. Urinboyev, Rustamjon, Wickenberg, Per, & Leo, Ulf, (2016). “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management: A Systematic Literature Review”. International Journal of Children’s Rights. 4. Wickenberg, Per & Leo, Ulf (2014). “Change Agents and Change of Norms: International Experience on Training in UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Schools”. CICE Hiroshima University Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 16 No.2. pp.105-120. 5. Wickenberg, Per (2013). Implementing CRC Norms in Schools: Supporting Actors and Structures Needed. I Naseema, C & Jibin, V.K. Elementary Education and Child Rights. New Delhi: Shipra Publications 6. Wickenberg, Per (2016). Children´s Rights and Education in a global perspective. International Conference on “Children´s Rights - origins, normativity, transformations, prospects”, Linköping University, June 2016. Proceeding: 1. Rasmusson, Bodil (2016). Bridging The Gap Between Theory and Practice. Implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. International Conference on Child-Friendly Education. Muhammadiyah University, Surakarta, Indonesia. Organisations and networks: 1. Lund University established the Child Rights Institute at the Faculty of Social Science in 2015 with the aim of supporting the Rights of the Child in different contexts, national and international, in research, in education or in other relevant practices. 2. Of the 16 countries participating in the second tender of the ITP, five of the national networks have registered as CSOs. Four of these countries have had more than 30 participants (India, Namibia, China and Uganda), while Cambodia has had over 20. 252 VI. Schedule, Impact and Dissemination Seminar 2016 253 VII. Contact Details For more information about the ITP on Child Rights, Classroom and School Management, please visit the website below http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/about/commissioned-education/capacity-buildingprogrammes/international-training-programmes-sida or contact Lund University Commissioned Education Phone: +46-462220707 Postal address: Box 117, 221 00 Lund, Sweden Lund University Commissioned Education is also on Facebook, linkedin, and twitter. Programme Managers Emma Alfredsson, and Andreas Bryngelson – Lund University Commissioned Education [email protected] Programme Mentors Bodil Rasmusson – School of Social Work, Lund University [email protected] Lena Andersson – Faculty of Education and Society, Malmö University [email protected] Ulf Leo – Sociology of Law, Lund University [email protected] Agneta W Flinck – Division of Education, Department of Sociology, Lund University [email protected] Per Wickenberg – Sociology of Law, Lund University [email protected] 254 255 256 257 Printed by Media-Tryck, Lund University 2016 Nordic Ecolabel 3041 0903 This book contains presentations and reflections based on the Impact and Dissemination Seminar held in February 2016 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with 170 participants from the Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme of batches 15-21. It is an Advanced International Training Programme funded by Sida (The Swedish International development and cooperation Agency) offered by Lund University between 2003-2016. Lund University Commissioned Education ISBN 978-91-982261-6-4 9 789198 226164 The editors of this publication are Bodil Rasmusson, Lena Andersson, Agneta W Flinck, Ulf Leo and Per Wickenberg.