November 22 2015

Teachers support new campaign for children’s rights

22 November 2015

NZEI Te Riu Roa is backing Unicef’s new campaign for children’s rights, Make My Future Fair- Meinga tōku āmua kia tika.

The campaign and interactive website were launched today, highlighting children’s rights in the following areas:

Education: The right to a broad education that develops children’s personalities and talents.

Health: The right to the highest attainable standard of health.

Violence: The right to live free from violence.

Family: The right to know and be cared for by parents, with both parents sharing responsibility.

Justice: The right to be treated with respect and dignity, in a manner that takes account of their age.

NZEI President Louise Green said the campaign aimed to challenge New Zealanders to take action on behalf of children.

“Make My Future Fair uses digital storytelling to tell the story of New Zealand’s progress on children’s rights, focusing on education, health, violence, family and justice. We want ordinary New Zealanders to understand the issues and lobby their MPs,” she said.

“It’s important that every child has a really good education. Eighty per cent of the factors that affect achievement are outside the school – there is a direct link between socio-economic factors and achievement.

“Education, health, violence, family and justice are all intertwined when it comes to outcomes for children. It’s really important to look at the whole child and everything that will make learning easier for each individual.

“Education is about more than creating citizens who will enhance an economy. This about developing people who will live meaningful lives and can participate in a democratic society. It’s about educating for a society, not an economy,” she said.

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