International Human Rights law, from its inception, has affirmed that education shall be directed to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. As the discourse on Human Rights evolved, it has consistently reiterated this through various instruments and articulated its meaning with increasing precision and detail.
But... it has not produced the intended results in practice.
Why? Because these aims of education were simply superimposed on existing mainstreamed practices of education - without really questioning whether those practices themselves respected Human Rights.
The system of education that is now the "standard" everywhere in the world is derived from a system of Compulsory Education that emerged in the 18th century, in an era where Children were seen as chattel. Although curricula, pedagogies and technology have evolved since then, from a Human Rights' perspective, nothing much has changed in education, not even with Children being recognized as the subjects of their own rights in 1989 (by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child).
While there is much that has been said on the need to shift from Teacher-Centric / Exam-Centric education to Child-Centric / Learner-Centric education, that has been based on a pedagogical shift (teaching methods) and is largely more rhetoric than results. Nevertheless, the name "Rights-Centric Education" was chosen to take advantage of this terminology being known, to convey that Education should be centered on Rights, the Human Rights of all participants. Within this, the present thrust of the RCE Network is in advocating for Child Rights, but there is no barrier to programs advancing, say, Educator's Human Rights or Climate Rights.
We have seen that this idea has resonated with many people who are passionate about education around the world. That is why over 150 individuals and organizations have consented to their name being listed as a Founding Member.
What's next:
Finalize the Declaration of Child-Rights Centric Education and open it for signatures from these stakeholder groups.
We see the declaration not only as an assertion to defend Human Rights in Education, but also as an accessible means for people to support it's realization - signing the Declaration is much less of a commitment than joining the RCE Network as a Member. We would like to publicly launch it on November 20th, on the 35th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. For example, people sharing them signing the declaration on social media, and sending a press-release to mainstream media (will need to be sent in advance if it is to be published on Nov 20th)
Finalize the Articles of Association that confirms the objectives, membership, decision making, communication etc of the RCE Network.
We would like to open applications for people to join as Members of the RCE Network by November 20th, and a precondition for that is to finalize the Articles, so it is clear for people what they are consenting to when they join as a Member.
Develop the RCE Framework, the civil society led implementation of the proposal approved by the UN General Assembly as part of the First Phase of the World Programme on Human Rights Education for a Rights-Based Quality Assurance System for Education. (This is also referenced in the Declaration)
We would like to launch this in early 2025.
We hope you will support us.