Education Minister Kader Asmal has shot down the idea that South Africa's Constitution has been inherited from the West. Speaking at a conference in Johannesburg yesterday, Prof Asmal said such ideas were "historically inaccurate" because South Africa called attention to liberal ideals, democracy and equality and the country saw the West as violating those ideals. "It is bad history. It is historically inaccurate to assume that liberal ideals, such as human rights, were a product of the West. The notion of human rights is truly universal because it arises whenever and wherever people are oppressed and struggle for liberation. "...our leadership often called attention to liberal ideals of citizenship, democracy, and equality, not because they had 'inherited' those ideals from European colonists, but because they saw their colonial masters consistently violating those ideals," said Prof Asmal.

He said when the country drafted the Constitution and a Bill of Rights for a democratic South Africa, they were derived from historical struggles to decolonise the country.

Prof Asmal said the only way that the country's democracy could flourish, was if an inclusive education system was created and that was done through the National Curriculum Statement for Grades 10 - 12.

He said the statement ensured that values and a human rights education were infused in every subject to empower students to make sound judgements that would contribute to equitable and sustainable development of human society and the physical environment. "The subject equips and encourages students to challenge social and environmental injustices. Knowing the devastating effects of apartheid geography in the history of South Africa, this approach was the most logical and most appropriate to adopt," said the minister. Prof Asmal said the new curriculum also advocated the approach that teaching was only effective if it was action-oriented, where learners would "learn through doing".

An active human rights education is based on action-oriented, 'learning through doing' approaches that provide opportunities for young people to experience the lessons of human rights that come from participating in real life issues in communities.

"For example, learners can be active in creating a human rights barometer for their neighbourhoods and then organise to address whatever human rights abuses they might find. "Or they can be active in volunteering at various community development projects and documenting what they learn," said Prof Asmal. – BuaNews.