OSCE supports improving human rights and civic education standards in Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK, 26 May 2011 – A two-day OSCE-supported roundtable on reforms related to human rights and civic education in schools and universities in the Kyrgyzstan started today in Bishkek.
The roundtable is part of the OSCE’s continuous contribution to the improvement of the quality of human rights and civic education in Kyrgyzstan’s schools and universities, in line with international human rights and civic education best practices.
“The OSCE wants to make use of the current political will and other existing opportunities such as the government’s draft concept for ethnic policy and consolidation of the society of Kyrgyzstan which encourages relevant educational approaches,” said Lilian Darii, the Deputy Head of the Centre in Bishkek.
“This is the right time to clarify where each of responsible institutions in Kyrgyzstan stands at this moment in human rights education and learn from the experience of other countries in the OSCE area.”
Guljigit Soronkulov, the Deputy Minister of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic, noted: “This roundtable, organized with support from the OSCE and other international organizations, represents a valuable opportunity to evaluate and to implement in our country the latest methods of human rights and civic eduction, as presented by international experts.”
Tursunbek Akun, the Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic, said: “The roundtable will contribute to shaping the modern system of civil education in Kyrgyzstan and to form a mature social conscious among the citizens of Kyrgyzstan, and to raise the level of social and moral culture that will result in consolidation of civil society and the enforcement of human rights protection.”
Participants will discuss the necessary steps for the development and integration of human rights and civic educational standards among educational policy actors and practitioners.
More than forty representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Institute of the Ombudsman, the Academy of Education, relevant staff of universities and schools, civil society, international human rights and civic education experts and representatives of international organizations attended.
The event is supported by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Regional Office for Central Asia of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Education, Ombudsman Institute and Academy of Education.