Mr Jallow made this remarks at the opening of a sensitisation workshop for college teacher trainees and lecturers last Thursday at the Brikama College. The workshop was organised by the Natcom office for Unecso-Isesco, and was based on the rights education and development of training kits for teachers on human rights education.
Mr Jallow said the training will equip teachers with the basic knowledge of human rights education which could serve as a tool to avoid infringing the rights of others. “You can never know how important rights are unless you are deprived of your own right,” he added
Maimuna Sidibeh, senior program officer Natcom, said the training was held at the college because it is the institution where teachers are trained to become professionals to impact knowledge, values and skills.
She highlighted that college students and lecturers teaching social and environmental studies and English language were selected “because they have to disseminate the information to a wider population because the knowledge imparted to them will be disseminated through the right channel.”
She went on: “This is not the first time that Natcom/Unesco is involved in such trainings on human rights and peace education, because it is one of our mandates to make sure such trainings are frequent.”
She urged all trainees to make better use of the training by also organising a ‘step-down training’ for others who were not part of the training.
Mr Yahya Al-Matarr Jobe, outgoing secretary general, Natcom, said Unesco-Isesco stands for “building peace in the minds of men and women so that we can co-exist”. He added that the issue of human rights is deeply rooted in religion and Isesco is the religious arm under Unesco which exists to bring the creative intelligence to life; “for it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace and the conditions for sustainable development should be built.
“If you want to change a person for good, sensitise and convince and don’t impose because if you do, you end up missing the right target of achieving your goal,” Jobe said, noting that all religions preach and teach peace and good co-existence. “Rights go with responsibilities and must be put into action for prosperous development.”
He further stated that abusing people’s right spawns conflict. “A school is a subject and teaches positive mental attitude which gives a good approach. Teachers are the poorest but the noblest people because they inculcate knowledge in all,” he said
By Sise Sawaneh
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