Recent events and trends in the country (violent crime, widespread accusations and even a certain public acceptance of police brutality) demonstrate an urgent need for a human rights culture ? a move towards a society in which the rights of all individuals, no matter what their situation or status, are respected and protected. A society based on tolerance where people would be more able to solve conflicts without resorting to violence and where there would be no place for the abuse of power. At the moment we are trying to bring about change in this domain by working downwards from the top, that is by identifying offenders. This method has its obvious limitations. We also need to work from the bottom upwards, by which I mean giving a proper education (in the finest and most complete sense of the word) to our children.

I firmly believe that a comprehensive programme of human rights education or citizenship education would not only lead us closer to the ideal of a more just, equal and peaceful society, but would also be a source of ?épanouissement? for young Mauritians at all stages of their schooling. It is a subject (or should we rather call it an activity?), which is closely linked to everyday experience and is therefore a relief from book-learning. It is open-ended and can be integrated into most areas of schooling (reading, creative writing, science, artistic expression as well as relationships, classroom routine, discipline and rules). And, last but not least, as demonstrated by research into teaching methods, the mother-tongue or lingua-franca (in our case Creole) is the best medium for teaching behavioural themes such as citizenship. At the secondary and tertiary levels, it would encourage a taste for debate and critical thinking, crucial aspects of learning which are, sadly, quite neglected in many schools in favour of chasing good exam results!

According to my information, citizenship education has already been introduced with some success at pre-primary and primary levels. The danger now is that, if there is a return to intensive competition at CPE level, it will be squeezed out of the timetable (together with other very valuable activities such as sport, music, etc.) as teachers inevitably concentrate on the five or six examinable subjects. The result will be that children during the very formative years of Standards V and VI will not be exposed to citizenship education and any good work done in the earlier years will not be consolidated. What is worse is that in most secondary schools no formal HRE programme exists - only some confessional schools with their emphasis on ?human values? come anywhere close to giving this type of education.

As a result the majority of school-leavers embark on adult life without a clear set of values to guide them. Not knowing one?s rights and the rights of others ( and being able to stand up for them!) is surely a very poor way to start adult life! And a poor recipe for social harmony?

<B>Beti PEERUN</B>