"Treat Children Fairly and Safely"... Distribution of Human Rights Education Materials for Seoul Kindergartens

Developed in 4 Types for Infants, Teachers, Guardians, and General Workers
Focused on Essential Issues from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] "Children have the right to be protected from discrimination and violence. Children should be treated fairly and safely."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is developing and distributing human rights education materials for kindergarten children.

On the 23rd, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it has developed and shared four types of 'Human Rights Education Materials for Kindergarten' for children, teachers, guardians, and general workers to foster a culture of respect for children's human rights.

Children have been excluded from the protection of student human rights and, despite the increasing need for human rights education, there were no appropriate textbooks or materials. Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education developed human rights education materials for kindergarten to understand the role of duty bearers in protecting children's rights and to create a child-friendly educational environment.

The human rights education materials consist of rights holders, card news, activity materials, checklists, and reading materials, including explanatory materials. The materials for children include explanations on 'respect for oneself and others' and 'the right to be protected from violence.' Based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the rights issues to be conveyed to children are organized into four sessions.

The content includes that children have rights and are precious lives, that adults should care for children, and that children can ask for help anytime if their rights are not respected. It provides essential rights information and presents specific situations to encourage problem-solving through discussion activity examples.

The materials for teachers include 'understanding according to the developmental characteristics of young children,' while those for guardians cover 'understanding and training in child-rearing.' Materials for general workers address 'understanding young children and their developmental characteristics' and 'understanding the role as duty bearers.'

The human rights education materials for kindergarten will be posted as PDF files on the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education website. Kindergartens can modify them in various forms suitable for young children's levels and use them autonomously by teachers. The materials will also be shared with other metropolitan and provincial offices of education outside Seoul to guide their use in kindergartens.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, expressed hope that the human rights education materials for kindergarten will be actively used in the field and that the newly developed materials will serve as a starting point for the development of many more materials and educational programs in the future. He added, "I hope that sensitivity to children's human rights will increase so that heartbreaking incidents involving young children will not recur anywhere in the Republic of Korea."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.