Child rights

"Fundamental Right to Education"
"Education and Child Labourers"

Articles

Reports

Books

Websites


 
 

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Articles:
 

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, was adopted-unanimously-by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November, 1989. This event has been hailed as a landmark in interna-tional efforts to strengthen justice, peace and freedom in the world through the promotion of human rights. The convention is the most com-plete statement of children's rights ever made and is the first to give these rights the force of international law.

- A Landmark For Rights of the Child, Dr. U.K. Anand, Legal News & Views, 01/09/2000, [J.ELDOC.N00.01sep00LNV.pdf]

 

For ensuring the rights of the child, the 'Convention on the Rights of the Child -1989'  is the most important step to date. How-ever, ...the imple-mentation mechanism of CRC has some inherent weaknesses.

 

Other problematic areas in CRC, which have implications for implementing and advancing rights of child also merits at-tention.


The discussion that follows will deal with these issues, (i) Article 28 of the CRC, which deals with the right to education, emphasises that states should make primary education compulsory and available for all. However in most cases states are to implement this right step-by-step depending on pro-gressively available resources. Hence the right to education does not become a binding duty of state, as it depends on the availability of the resources [Hans Van Loon 1996:214]. Another problem within the convention is that it does not make any reference to the particular importance of education for girls in its education-specific provisions [G Van uren and Deirdre Fottrell 1999:133]. Indeed the implementation of girls right to education could also be achieved locally, with the involvement of family and community at local level. A mention should be made, in this regard, to the experience in Afghanistan. Despite social and political turmoil, women especially young women took the initiative in edu-cating young girls, who in turn educated others.

 

...(v) Perception of child also needs to change. The age-old view that children should 'be seen but not heard' [ibid:25], and, the materialistic view of the last century that the child is 'future investment' (which sees child as the result producing machine without his or her choice, thus, undermines his/her participatory right) should be dispensed with. Thus children should be given the opportunity to be heard, in general, and in any judicial and admin-istrative proceeding affecting to them, in particular [ibid: 10]. The role of the teach-ers, parents, states, and NGOs, as a com-bine, coordinating and collective efforts, is important in this regard...

 

- UN Convention on Rights of the Child, ABHINAYA RAMESH, Economic & Political Weekly, 02/06/2001, [J.ELDOC.N00.02jun01EPW1.pdf ]
 

 

  ... Another important right of the child is education, dealt with in Article 28. It states that the state parties should make pri-mary education compulsory and available free to all and take all such measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and reduction of drop-out rates. Article 28 emphasises that higher education should be accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means. Besides these, the state parties are required to ensure that there is minimum age, wage and hours for employment to the child; the child is protected from sexual exploitation; the child is not subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment...


The Government of India adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on 11 December 1992. The Government of India had enacted various laws, and rules and regulations concerning the rights of the child. One of the Directive Principles of State Policy deals with the welfare of the child. It is only directory in nature and cannot be enforced by way of funda-mental right.

 

...As far as health and education of the child is concerned, it is different in various states. Some states have implemented free education for children upto a certain class. But there is no uniform system or pattern of education for chil-dren. Regarding health care of child, even though there is Ministry of health and Family Welfare, much is left to be desired as it is insufficiently woeful to meet the health care requirements of a child. The Government of India has estab-lished number of institutions for handicapped children and has made reservation policy applicable for handicapped children.


- Rights of the Child Under UN Convention: Problems and Prospects of its Implementation in India, Lyakat Ali, Legal News & Views, 01/09/1996, [J.ELDOC.N00.01sep96LNV1.pdf ]
 

For relater article key in the the following combinationa of words into our search systems
"ED1 Child Rights" also search cross classification L22, L22a

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Reports:

*1. General Comment 13- The Right to Education (Article 13 of the Covenant – 21st Session 1999), Economic and Social Council, R.N20 13
 pg 4 (scan)

Media Education
2. Outlooks on Children and Media - Child Rights, Media Trends, Media Research, Media Literacy, Child Participation, Declarations, Feilitzen, Cecilia von & Bucht, Catharina, UNESCO, 01/01/2001, R.P00.7

Commercialisation of Education
3. Right to Education Teaching Shops Privatisation Sale of Education, Trade, Profession, Occupation or Business, H., Suresh, India Centre for Human Rights,Mumbai, 01/01/2004, R.N00.29

4. Poverty and Exclusion Among Urban Children, United Nations Children's Fund Innocenti Research Centre, 01/11/2002, R.L22.65

5. Rights and Opportunities: The Situation of Children and Women in India, UNICEF, 01/03/1998, R.L22.59

6. Convention on the Rights of the Child, Government of India, 11/12/1992, R.L22.8

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Books:

1. International Children's Rights Bureau: Resources Guide, International Children's Right, 01/03/1996, B.L22e.2

2. Street Children A Challenge to the Social Work Profession, Rane, Asha J, TISS, 01/01/1994, B.L22c.R1

3. Rights of the Child: Report of a Seminar, Nat. Law School of India Univ., 01/01/1991, B.L22.N5

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Websites:

http://wcd.nic.in/
http://www.childfriendlycities.org/networking/india.html