Teaching about Child rights (at Batumi State University)

Abstract

The relevance and importance of child rights protection has risen significantly in recent 100 years. It was preconditioned by the lack of standards on child protection in the industrialized countries at the beginning of the 20th century. The standards on child rights have undergone a complicated process of development, which started with adoption of the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child in 1924. In 1989 the United Nations General Assembly adopted The Convention on the Rights of the Child, being ratified by the majority of the countries around the world and is deemed to be the fundamental document (https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/history-child-rights). In Georgia, the issue of Children’s rights protection drew increasing attention in 1994, after the country had become a part to the Convention on the Rights of Child and therefore, had undertaken the obligation of protection and promotion of children’s rights and their freedom. On September 20, 2019 one more significant step in this direction was taken when Georgian Parliament adopted The Code on the Rights of the Child - very first Article of which reads as follows: The purpose of this Code is to ensure the welfare of the child by promoting the effective implementation of the Constitution of Georgia, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its supplementary protocols and other international legal acts recognized by the State (https://www.matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/4613854?publication=0).Proper mplementation of the Convention on The Rights of the Child in the country implies formation of a child as a full member of the society, preparing him/her for life challenges and independent life – being the very objective of gradual introduction of the children’s rights and the mechanisms of their defense in the sphere of education. The present article overviews the educational programs of state universities in Georgia, particularly Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University and reveals the actual state of teaching about children’s rights. The research methodology includes the qualitative and quantitative methods, in particular, collection of information – the syllabus of all the educational programs, their classification, analysis, in-depth interviews with the lecturers/teachers, comparing the outcomes of the program with its aims and revealing the results according to the components. Basing on the outcomes of the research, it will be possible to define the future perspectives of integration of teaching of the children’s rights into the educational programs at Batumi State University and the strategic planning of their implementation procedures.