Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 516: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the UN General Assembly proclaimed the year commencing 10 December 2008 as the International Year of Human Rights Learning; his plans or initiatives to mark this occasion through supporting the development of human rights education here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6089/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the declaration by the United Nations of 2009 as the year of International Human Rights Learning. Human rights and active citizenship are issues which are fundamental principles which are at the heart of the curriculum at all levels.

In the primary curriculum, Human Rights is reflected in Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE), which plays an important role in developing an understanding of the democratic way of life and individual and group rights and responsibilities and provides opportunities for children to learn about, and actively participate in, the various communities to which they belong and to develop a sense of a shared commitment. Within the Secondary Curriculum, human rights are reflected in History Geography, Religious Education, Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE), and Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE). CSPE is a Junior Certificate course in Active Citizenship, based on Human Rights and Social Responsibilities. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child are key documents which underpin this course.

My Department, through the Second Level Support Service (SLSS) has put in place a support service for CSPE. During 2008, in association with Amnesty International and the City of Dublin VEC Curriculum Development Unit, the CSPE support service produced and distributed "Celebrating the Universal Declaration on Human Rights". The 2009 program of activities of the CSPE support service will include a focus on Human Rights Learning and will link with non-governmental organisations in a campaign focusing on displaced peoples. This campaign will also draw attention to other existing human rights resources.