Emerita Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, Senior Fellow at CDD-Ghana, has urged universities in the country to mainstream human rights studies in their academic curriculum and activities.
“Mainstreaming human rights in the curriculum of law, political sciences or sociology studies will help in training of future legal practitioners, civil servants and public managers,” she said.
Prof. Manuh said this during a presentation on “Addressing Human Rights, Inclusion, and Diversity in the University” at CDD-Ghana’s Human Rights Workshop on Protecting, Respecting, and Promoting Rights on Campus with Deans of Students, Counselors, and Student Leaders.
The event discussed how the rights of minority students in the universities could be recognised and protected against discrimination and targeting.
Prof. Manuh said university students were adults and mature enough to express their views and state of being, adding that, the universities were supposed to create an enabling environment for them to thrive and not suppress them.
She said it was time for universities to address and educate their community on issues of diversity and open up to students of varying backgrounds and orientations.
“On expanding on how they define inclusivity and diversity, I think that they have to expand it such that they account for all manner of differences among the student body. Within our context, it would be gender, it would be inclusivity or may even be social demographic,” she added.
Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, Board Chair of CDD-Ghana, urged university authorities not to be too “authoritative” to students, saying, that prevented students from opening up and discussing their challenges with them.
She said rather they should create an accommodative environment where students would feel free to confide in them, whenever they faced challenges.
Prof. Gadzekpo said they needed to disabuse their minds of prejudices and biases to protect the confidentiality of students who approached them with their issues.
“When you are a public officer in a public space, you need to make a separation of your personal biases from the position that you occupy to be opened to engagement and discussions with prejudice or biases,” she added.
GNA
