rights, as one of the subjects to be taught in primary and secondary schools.
He said this will help young people to understand and appreciate issues of human rights.
President Rupiah Banda also said government will soon table a bill in parliament that seeks to address the problem of gender based violence.
Mr. Banda has urged stakeholders to support the proposed piece of legislation that will help curb violence against women in the country.
The President announced this in Lusaka on Sunday when he officiated at celebrations, marking this year’s International Women’s Day.
Earlier, Gender Minister, Sara Sayifwanda, said government welcomed suggestions from all stake holders in safeguarding the rights of women.
International Women’s day was celebrated world wide on March 8.
In Zambia, activities were held in various parts of the country to mark the day.
[ZNBC]
I think Zambia needs more of physics, mathematics, Chemistry, biology, IT than Human rights. Social studies at primary school and civics at junior secondary school level can suffice
Zambia doesn’t lack in sciences,perhapsin IT yes, but its just that service delivery by our teachers is poor coz they are poorly paid, moreover, schools are overcrowded thereby making the job harder for teachers. i agree that HR shud just be incorporated in social studies or civics instead of a subject on its own
Well said, but how is human rights going to benefit the children…i am curious.
stripper,
its about knowledge. knowledge can be a lifesaver u know!
A few schools have already started teaching IT. I think this will be extended to all schools in the country with time.
Yes, include corruption as well.
But why this time? Anyway hope this is a good sign!! Lets wait and see.
This means a lot of critics to some policies in the government!!
Because of MDGs, NEPAD, and other donor benchmarks which measure “aid worthiness” based on aggregate scores of multiple factors, among which are arbitrary measurements of “gender equality” based on attainment of high office in government (only 22 of 150 MPs are female, and every single female MMD MP is a Minister). A “subject to be taught in schools” could mean anything from a five minute lecture to a lifelong core curriculum subject allocated an hour every day for a decade. Math is a subject taught in schools, as is how to raise one’s hand before speaking. Big difference. The declaration of intent is a good step, let us hope that substance outweighs political window-dressing in this…
No leave him, he has to show that he is working but the minister of education could have done it, or some director of curriculum development. I thought he should be supervising the ministers on issues such as reviewing the fifth national development plan, are we on target in as far as performance indicators are concerned if not where should we make adjustments.
Are there any radical projects and ofcourse here its a question of taking risks, have we given groups of Zambians loans and incentives to invest in large scale farming? Here include acqua culture, live stock, etc. That ZA thing was too ambitious, its like trying to go to space before we can feed ourselves.
I think having these so called bills on gender ans women rights etc are confusing to our settings in the sense that they are one sided. If you leave out man in you plans and promote a woman alone these policies will continue to fail. We should also stop copying some of these western made policies to implement them in our country. By the way why do we need human rights? what value will they add to development of our country? Are we going to be better off if we promoted “gender” where gender means a woman???? Please Mr President address real issues issues affecting our country such as, How can we improve our agriculture sector in the face of falling copper prices??? among others..!!!!
Why not practise Human Rights instead of lecturing them? Africans are fed up of theory. Research shows that our race is more practical and action-oriented compared to the rest of the world.
Good point.
Yes, but governments can only be compelled to practice human rights by an educated and informed citizenry. What good are legal enforcement mechanisms or any constitutionally enshrined rights to a largely ignorant and distant rural population? In such a case, they simply remain ‘window dressing’ rhetoric designed to impress and convince the international community that the African continent is making strides in this area. At least with greater knowledge, people will fight for rights they know they are entitled to, and will not be as easily taken advantage of. I’ll see how this pans out, but I don’t see anything wrong with the government’s decision.
As long as you can also implement them RB
“President Banda said government will soon introduce human rights, as one of the subjects to be taught in primary and secondary schools.”
Good news. Please include corruption, like #2 put it already above, and cleanliness/hygiene too in that curriculum. Zambia needs to stop or reduce the nichekeleko attitude that has been growing since the Mr FTJ Chiluba’s Administration.
Surely, with EDUCATION, you CAN NOT go wrong 17 year old MMD GRZ. However, a government change in 2011 after the elections in necessary. Such will help our politics to improve as people will appreaciate what others also can offer for the Zambian population.
I think that Zambia should be thinking of subjects which will help to develop the country. What is Human Rights going to help mother Zambia. I will propose if subjects like agriculture given to all schools it can help. I strongly disagree with our president that Human Rights will make a difference. I learned about the human rights in Civics, i feel that it is enough like that. The other subject i will propose for our president who is looking for more subjects is Philosophy. I feel philosophy will help to change the mind of pupils. They will start thinking critically, not Human Rights ba President wesu. However, help us to develop the mother Zambia with you search.
WHY DIN’T U BORIN ASSHOLES COME BACK HOME AND TEACH A SUBJECT THEN. INSTEAD OF BEING CRITICS ALL THE TIME. JESUS SO TYPICAL OF ZAMBIANS TO ALWAYS CRITIQUE. OH MY GOD
Ba Chanda Chisanga mulisahni cilemoka kwati namulya fire bad. Tell them.
Critiquing will not take us anywhere.
It’s just the nature of things Chanda…. the government can do NOTHING right, simply by virtue of being government. Headline: RB increases student allowances. Response: that’s just to pretend you are working. What are you doing about the economy? Headline: Government introduces human rights classes. Response: That is useless. Stop pretending you are working. Headline: Regina Chiluba is arrested. Response: Why are we bothering about these things? Why isn’t RB meeting Brown and Obama to fix our economy? It never ends.
…. and so on
Your frustration is palpable. I haven’t the space to argue fully why having a global presence is valuable in a globalizing world, but I think my phrasing makes my position clear. I am most definitely boring, which is why I am commenting on a news site. The short answer to why there is and will continue to be at least some public opposition to every action the government takes is because the party in power calls itself the “Movement for Multiparty Democracy”, which means having multiple parties, each with a public voice, the truth of which is to be measured by each voter individually. If “Democracy Breeds Mediocrity” then its defenders must make average “here” better than elite…
To: Lusaka Times Editors,
Why bother with the character count if it is not accurate? It only provokes frustration.
povert eradication ba RB mwalaba shani?
Are we going to eat human rights?
That’s a really naiive, but very loaded statement. If little girls in the village for example do not know of their rights to equal treatment, how will they strive to enforce them? How they will know that they have just as much a right to go to school as boys, and thus not be bullied from pursuing an education which will ultimately put food on their plates? This “how can we eat x” argument doesn’t address anything. You can’t eat school, and yet you acknowledge its benefit to your life. You can’t eat a house, yet you still need shelter over your head. You can’t eat a bus, car, or other mode of transport, yet that doesn’t make it any less useful to you.
Introduce ETHICS instead as part of civics and/or social studies.
Ethics will then cover human rights, anti-social behaviour , virtues & vices with emphasis on Zambia’s widespread vice – corruption.
Rupiah is right.
In as much as Human Rights will be a subject, Mr. President, i submit to the office of the Education Minister my wish for Computer Science to be a compulsory subject in the whole country. Now it has become mandatory to be computer literate in all fields. We will not all need R.E and Zambian Language in our careers. But we all need technical subjects as well as logical subjects if we are to excel in this technological world.
I hope this will be a serious consideration. Just like Accountants can build from Book keeping and Office Practice, in our IT fields we can build from Computer Science basics in High School