Child Rights, Classroom and School Management

The ITP programme started in 2004 and during the years 2004-2009 330 change agents have completed it, most of them are still working for Child Rights in their countries. In 2010 the 12th and 13th batch started the programme which has been redesigned after a public tender. 

Following the provisions and principles contained in the Child Rights Convention, Sida’s development policy on Education and other internationally ratified instruments in the areas of child rights and education, Lund University Commissioned Education was in 2004 given the task, after public tender, to create and administrate a programme on “Child Rights, Classroom and School Management”. The programme is oriented to target persons holding a position from where they can initiate processes of change in their home countries and who can participate in reform processes of strategic importance on different levels of action.

The overall aim of the training programmes is to contribute to capacity development and processes of change in developing countries by offering key persons training. The International Training Programmes are specially designed for persons qualified to participate in reform processes of strategic importance on different levels and holds a position in the home organisation with mandate to run processes of change. In the long-term perspective the programmes should contribute to institutional strengthening and capacity development in the participants’ countries. Training is focused on support to individual or team plans for change.

The child rights programme centre around the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours required for the participants to understand, respect, claim and defend child rights. Further, the training programme also promote the examination of child rights principles and instruments as well as the promotion of critical reflection and inquiry. Finally, the training programme encourage its participants to take action and become agents of change in their domestic contexts.

The Child Rights, Classroom and School Management programme was one of the first International training programmes funded by Sida that had a clear change focus. One of the key elements in the training programme is to initiate and support change processes in the participants’ home organisations and countries. The training programme has so far initiated close to 120 change processes in the participating countries.

Programme objectives and goals

From a development perspective, the overall objective of the programme is: “to improve participating countries’ capacity to offer and ensure everyone's right to relevant and quality education, an education that is safe and secure, inclusive, student-centred, democratic and problem-solving and that creates opportunities for all, regardless of background, to participate in community life as active citizens”

The programme objective is that: "changes will take place that contributes for the realization of the intention of the Child Rights Convention in policy as well as in practice".

The goals of the training programme are for the participants to gain:

• Increased knowledge and understanding of the CRC. 
• Increased knowledge and understanding of the Education for All (EFA) and MDGs targets, relevant international concepts such as child-friendly schools, inclusive education and education for democracy and human rights (EDHR) and other relevant international instruments. 
• Increased knowledge and understanding of experiences, methods and tools for organizational change in general, and rights-based (participation, inclusive and transparent) and democratic methods and tools for change in particular.
• Knowledge and understanding of Swedish and other international methods for translating children's rights and democratic values into practice in schools and in the classroom.
• Expanded international and national networks to work with the CRC and other relevant international conventions and other instruments. 

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