The St. Joseph’s College has plans to start, with assistance from University Grants Commission, certificate/diploma courses in Human Rights.
At the end of its recent ‘Human Rights Sensitisation Programme' for college students and community leaders, the college also resolved to start a Human Rights Club and to start Human Rights Associations in the villages covered by its SHEPHERD (Science and Humanities for People’s Development) programme.
During the programmes, over 500 participants were given exposure to various dimensions and issues associated with human rights and their duties. A large number of police personnel from Tiruchi and surrounding districts participated in the programme. They came for the programme on instructions from the National Human Rights Commission.
Their programme was facilitated by drawings and paintings on select human rights themes created by students under the aegis of a competition. The college had also organised poetry competition for students on the theme.
According to the Principal Rev. Fr. R. Rajarathinam, topics on Human Rights sensitisation must be integrated into the higher education curriculum. Inaugurating the programme, the Rector Rev. Fr. P. Susai observed that human rights sensitivity was part of ones human formation.
During the interactive sessions that followed, Rev. Fr. Cyril, Human Rights Educator provided a perspective for discussions on the topic through his presentation on the topic ‘Human Rights – An Overview’.
S. Martin, Advocate and Human Rights Activist enlightened the audience on the Right to Information Act and its implications with interesting success stories.
S. Suba of the Centre for Women’s Studies, Bharathidasan University, espoused the need to promote gender sensitivity and gender justice. The panel of resource persons later engaged the audience in group discussions.
