CBSE Human Rights and Gender Studies (Elective)

CBSE Human Rights and Gender Studies Code: 075

The salient features of the Elective Course are to:

• Strengthen the of respect for human rights, gender and fundamental freedoms
• Holistic development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity
• Promotion of understanding, tolerance, gender equality, and harmony amongst all
• Enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free, just and more humane society

Human Rights and Gender Studies 

Today economic integration and advancement in communications have brought all parts of the world closer together, human rights are increasingly recognized as a unifying moral force that transcends national boundaries and empowers ordinary people everywhere to demand that their governments be account able for the protection and promotion of their human rights. The mandate for human rights education is unequivocal: you have a human right to know your rights. According to NCF 2005, – The concept of human rights has a universal frame of reference. It is imperative that children are introduced to universal values in a manner appropriate for their age. Reference to day-to-day issues, e.g. the problem of getting water, can be discussed so that young students become aware of issues related to human dignity and rights. The Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) exhorts “every individual and every organ of society” to “strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms.” Article 30 of the UDHR declares that one goal of education should be “the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The education systems need to reflect commitment to human rights. The specific objective that are desired to be achieved are:

• to create awareness regarding law and the administration of justice
• to create basic awareness about the need for equality of opportunity in ability to use public services including education and health
• to learn about equality of opportunity in the access to justice according to different parameters such as gender, age, diversity of background etc.
• to create awareness regarding civic and social rights and responsibilities
• to create awareness regarding consumer rights (right to know, right to redress, right to information, right to public services free of corruption)
• to create awareness regarding violence
• to create awareness regarding identity (rights of a child, parent, right to language, culture and religion)

The teaching of gender issues encompasses a wide range of questions, which are related to the underlying concepts of gender as they are evolved in various academic disciplines, epistemological approaches and institutional setting of modern educational systems on all levels. The question of how gender works in the educational system will be the subject of the course. The aims of a possible perspective in teaching gender are that gender always contains a socio-political and an academic aspect. Teaching gender also involves the potentials and the problems of gender being a universal individual experience, personal or social in the institutional setting.

This course is intended to make students aware of the ways in which gender is “taken for granted” and how gender is learned, the implications of gender for our lives, and prospects for change insofar as men and women are able to combine and/or reject elements of traditional masculinity and femininity. The course will look at gender within the context of different social institutions (e.g. the family, the workplace, education, etc.) and look at ways in which gender roles are maintained by these institutions, and/or effectively learned through socialization.

Specific learning objectives are to:

• have an understanding of the history of gender and the division of labour by sex;
• attempt to consider which human behaviours are biologically motivated and which are a product of cultural differences;
• have a better understanding of oneself and the society in which one operates;
• understand the institutionalization of gender of politics, economics, language, family, and socialization;
• understand the concepts of gender stereotypes and sexism as a form of discrimination.
• generate and experiment with ideas by using technologies to express themselves as citizens, consumers and imaginative beings
• develop personal skills that are transferable to a range of work options and life paths including self-discipline, problem solving, project management and the ability to work individually and collaboratively to achieve goals

Minimum Qualification for Teachers

• Master’s Degree in Political Science/ Sociology / Social Work from a recognised university with specialisation (studied as a main course elective or paper)/diploma in Human Rights/ Gender Studies; or
• Master’s Degree in English from a recognised university with Post Graduate Diploma Human Rights/ Gender Studies/ Social Work; And
• Degree in Education or three years teaching experience of Senior Secondary or higher classes

CBSE Human Rights and Gender Studies Resources

CBSE has provided the following study material for Human Rights and Gender Studies

Section 1

• Chapter 1- Introduction to Human Rights

Section 2

• Chapter 1- What is Gender Studies? Understanding the basic concepts
• Chapter 2 – An Introduction to Gender-Related Issues

Click Here for Human Rights and Gender Studies Study Material

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