NIOS and Amnesty International launch human rights course for Bihar community health workers

Patna, March 25, 2017: Over4,000 community health workers in Bihar will receive training in human rights over the next three months as part of a new certificate course launched by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and Amnesty International India.

The ‘Self-Learning Human Rights Certificate Course' aims to promote human rights values and principles of equality, dignity, inclusion, non-discrimination and participation inthe public through community health workers.

At a workshop organized at the NIOS Patna regional office for key stakeholders, Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Director, Academics at NIOS, said, “We are very happy to introduce the self-learning human rights course as a pilot project. It is important to empower people with correct knowledge of laws and provisions. It is important to build a culture of respect, dignity and civic responsibility, and this course provides an opportunity for learners to empower themselves and others around them, ensuring smooth redressal as well as prevention of human rights abuses.”

“By introducing a comprehensive course about human rights in simple language, we hope to provide participants with information on human rights and relevant provisions in the Constitution of India, laws and state policies, with a special focus on women and children,” said Somya Dimri, Programme Coordinator at Amnesty International India’s Human Rights Education Programme.

“We hope to see participants empowered and aware of their rights and responsibilities, while also being more perceptive to rights-based issues around them,” she added.

The three-month course is designed for community workers working in the fields of health and education - including Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHAs, Anganwadi workers, MAMTA government health workers and private health workers -in rural and urban Bihar. The course aims to help participants learn about various human rights issues and violations.

The course also detail srights and remedies available within the legal framework. Participants are expected to work on community-level human rights issues and run local awareness campaigns after the completion of the course. The certificate course will eventually reach out to over 1625 women and 2375 men across Bihar.

Mr. Sanjay K. Sinha, Regional Director at NIOS, said, “This course is provided free of cost to participants from all 38 districts in Bihar. We have ensured that atleast 40% of the participants are women. 25 master trainers will conduct personal sessions with over 4000 learners that will help learners to clarify any doubts about the course content and the programme roll-out.”

The inauguration was attended  Mr. Vijoy Prakash (Senior IAS, Patna), Dr. Sheela Sharma (Retd. HOD, PMCH), Dr. D.C. Mishra & Dr. Vijay Kumar (Director, Abhilekh Bhawan,Patna).

Press release