Cyber Human Rights Education Is Promoted in 2007; More than 10,000 Trainees Participate
Over 10,000 Koreans took part in cyber human rights education offered by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) in 2007.
The NHRCK introduced cyber human rights education in 2005, building on the foundation of the Internet that is growing in tandem with the advancement of information and telecommunication technology. The education program was conducted on a pilot basis in 2006, and the NHRCK firmly established it in 2007.
As part of such efforts, the NHRCK offered a training program utilizing cyber human rights education contents in 2007. The program was devised to enable autonomous participation by trainees at any time and place in an online environment, and it drew about 8,000 participants.
The most popular cyber human rights education contents were (i) "Understanding Human Rights" that delivers basic understanding and knowledge on human rights; (ii) "Preventing Sexual Discrimination" that is aimed at promoting a comprehensive understanding of, and thwarting, sexual discrimination, the sex trade, and sexual harassment; (iii) "Preventing Discrimination against People with Disabilities" that is designed to prevent discrimination on grounds of disabilities by enhancing human rights awareness concerning disabilities; and (iv) "Administration and Human Rights" that deals with possible situations and judgments regarding human rights in the process of executing administrative policies.
The education programs targeting government employees who are directly or indirectly involved in human rights issues of the public, were provided on the cyber human rights education center for government officials (cyber.humanirghts.go.kr). According to statistics, 4,895 government employees participated in the training, and 4,006 completed courses.
Cyber education for teachers also reaped great results. A total of 1,430 teachers took part in the two courses, "Preventing Sexual Discrimination" and "Preventing Discrimination against People with Disabilities", and 1,264 people finished the courses, recording a completion ratio of 88.4%.
A satisfaction survey showed that 98% of the respondents considered the education program "extremely useful" or "very useful" in understanding and handling human rights issues. They also responded that the program strengthened their knowledge of human rights and ability to put human rights into daily practice rather than merely promoting sensitivity to human rights. Moreover, 96.3% of the respondents expressed intention to attend other courses. This attests to their high satisfaction with online human rights education.
In 2008, the NHRCK plans to proactively utilize cyber human rights education for government employees or teachers who cannot undergo collective training due to time constraints. It also intends to expand human rights training for students who attend schools in remote areas by a remote video system.
