KARACHI, Feb 23: Speakers at a seminar on Sunday demanded that human rights be included in the curricula at the primary level so that children would grow as good human beings having respect for the rights of other people.

They were speaking at the seminar on human rights and education organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan at the Community Centre, Labour Square, Rahseedabad in Baldia Town.

They suggested that teachers and the education department officials be sensitized about the issue by being provided training in human rights.

They urged that the class-based education system must be done away with and every child should be provided with equal opportunities and quality of education. The also recommended that children should be given education in their mother tongues but at the same time they should be taught other national and international languages.

HRCP director I. A. Rehman, speaking on the occasion, said that when human rights were taught in the schools, that would end the biases in the young generation and increase the level of tolerance in them; and when they grew up they would be able to coexist peacefully, respecting each other’s points of view.

He said that laws that were discriminatory towards any section of the society were not good laws; besides, having different laws with different penalties and punishments to deal with and penalise the same crimes could not be accepted in any civilised society.

He said political parties were the means through which change for the better in the society could be brought about, but it was a pity that here the bureaucracy and non-political forces that usually ran the country formulated laws and rules of how political parties could be formed or run.

Senior journalist and HRCP council member, Ghazi Salahuddin, in his speech said the standard of education had deteriorated over the years owing to different causes, and gave suggestions to improve it.

A representative of the schools on the Board of Secondary Education, Mohammad Iqbal, said that owing to shortage of funds school buildings were in bad shape. Akhtar H. Baloch, Qazi Khizer and others also spoke on the occasion.