Sudan's War: Embeding Human Rights Pedagogy in Education Dr. Mujtaba S. Arman

12:18 PM December, 11 2023

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Sudan's War: Embeding Human Rights Pedagogy in Education

Dr. Mujtaba S. Arman
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Rationale:

The modern history of Sudan has witnessed different types of wars that left profound scars and tragedies on its people, the economy, damaged the national fabric, and the environment. Different wars were fought against the foreign invaders, such as the war against the Turkish Rule of Sudan led by the Mahdist Revolution, and the national struggle against the British Rule. Noticeably, post-independence governments fought a long protracted war to resolve an internal conflict.The state violence in Sudan began with the confinement of the farmers who demanded their rights and refused to give the cotton to the government before being given their financial dues. The farmers were confined in a pesticides store house until 250 farmers suffocated and perished which is known as 'Anbar Jouda' event. Those courageous farmers were being immortalized by the great poet Salah Ahmed Ibrahim in his poem As if they were a watercress package. The precept of this article is to illustrate that unless the universal human rights values are infused in the educational system there will be no sustainable democratic transformation. The change in the political power won't be complete if isn't accompanied by building an educated social base. A fully - fledged democratic transformation won't be possible without a quality education that seeks to graduate a generation of human rights advocates. A new generation of educated Sudanese who tolerate other's different opinion or difference in opinion, and celebrates diversity.

Because of this unglorified history which is laden with gross human rights violations that led to the slaughtering of the human dignity of Sudanese people, policy makers, educationationists, civil society organizations, ought to think of ways to embed the cosmic human rights values and principles in the school curricula. Without indulging into technical jargon or buster on how integrate the basic universal human rights values, this article explores the importance of infusing these values into our new educational thought. Undoubtedly, our teaching and learning methods, at the basic level in particular, can firmly be described as traditional. The 'chalk and talk' way of delivering lessons is prevalent despite the drastic changes that technology has made. Technology has altered and reshaped the way we teach and learn enormously. If my memory serves me well, some years ago, I saw a child at the basic schooling on a video crying bitterly of many subjects that taught to him!

According to the Cambridge dictionary online, "Pedagogy relates to the methods and theory of teaching. Consequently, our new curriculua must be outcome - based i. e. What type of objectives do we want attain at the end of the day. The new educational thought affirms that the teacher is not the only sage on the stage i. e. learners should be in the heart of the learning process. Active involvement or engagement of the students is the blue print of the new educational thought. The pedagogy of the human rights pursues to integrate the universal human rights values into the textbooks without ignoring the peculiarities of the Sudanese context. The new textbooks realize the behavioral, situational, developmental, and social dimensions of the learners.

It goes without saying that any political transition of power won't be complete and sustainable if not being accompanied by the spread of the universal human rights values via the school curricula. If we talk about the Sudanese enlightenment age or democratization of the society, we must think of the unbeaten tracks that lead to a comprehensive rise of the society. Educationally speaking, schools are considered to be the most important agents of socialization. Hence, the existening curricula must be developed and redesigned so as to infuse the basic human rights values in its universality and comprehensiveness. Textbooks ought to encourage dialouge and respect of different opinions through outcome-based curricula. The right to be different must be encouraged and celebrated. Infusion or integration of the human rights culture via educational practices. The acceptance of criticism is of paramount importance in the new textbooks. The traditional way of teaching and learning that is grounded upon memorization should be amended in order to cope with the new change in the curricula.

Crucially, ethos of the basic human rights should adhesive to the basic values and principles stated in the Universal Human Rights Charter. Those basic principles and values are to be integrated in the basic education in particular simply because young learners ' ideas and characters are formed and reshaped at an early age of education. The human rights culture must be incorporated into the young learners' attitudes and behaviors. Those values and principles ought to be infused meaningfully and explicitly in the school curricula. Young learners must understand the importance of respecting of human dignity. Because of the long protracted war in Sudan, the young learners must understand the and promote the culture of peace and non-violence means of conflict resolution in terms of school, familial, and societal conflicts so as to create a homogeneous society. These goals of integrating these values won't be possible unless we move away from textbook-centered education towards outcome-based education, the latter emphasizes whether students are actually learning or not. The outcome - based education equips the learners with the ability to to apply the knowledge of human rights values and apply it in real life situations instead of memorizing it.

It is of paramount importance to integrate the values of violence renounciation, minority rights, rights of vulnerable groups, citizenship consciousness, and the right to life. The late just Khalifa of Islam, Omar Ibn AL-Khatab, once said, "When have you enslaved people, and they were born free". Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights Charter stipulates that All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. The primary goal of the new curriculua is to build a just peaceful and democratic society in which no one is mistreated or being subjed to acts that degrade the human dignity. The new educational curricula should stipulate the existening values of diversity among individuals and the society at large. It also encourages the spirit of initiative and communication skills among different groups and people at different walks of life. These values must be anchored to the universal values of human rights and critical thinking practices. Our country has experienced a long history of suppression and oppression, and the new generation of Sudanese must be taught how to analyze things critically and with a piercing eye instead of just memorizing information to pass an exam or be given marks.

All in all, this article isn't aiming at specifying or articulating the concise way of how these basic values of human rights are to be integrated into the new curriculua whether at the basic level of education or at the tertiary one. The issue of integration would be left to those who are specialized in the field of education, such as policy markers, educationists, and curriculum specializists.The new curriculua must be tailored in a way where specific goals and outcomes are defined. At the end of the day, it would be easy to detect if those specific goals and outcomes are attained or not. A deeply - seated permanent democracy won't be possible without being hinged to a quality education whose primary objective is to disseminate the universal human rights values.

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