Date of first review: 4 November 2010
Date of 2nd review : may 2015
Date of first review: 4 November 2010. The troika consisted of Thailand, the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation.
Honduras has been reviewed at the 9th session of the Universal Periodic Review on november 4th 2010. The delegation was directed by the Vice President of the Republic of Honduras, María Antonieta Guillén de Bográn.
Excerpts of the national report (points 42 to 49 p. 8) on the right to education. References to Human Rights Education are green in the text
42. According to the Constitution, “education is an essential function of the State in conserving, promoting and disseminating culture, the benefits of which must be transmitted to society without discrimination of any kind; public education shall be secular and based on fundamental principles of democracy. It shall instil and promote in all students a deep feeling of Honduran patriotism and shall be directly connected with the country’s economic and social development process”.
43. The Ministry of Education is responsible for administering the national education system. A process of educational change and reform was launched in 2000 with the aim of ensuring that children and young people acquire the necessary basic skills; a national core curriculum with corresponding syllabus was devised, in order to ensure quality education with social and gender equity and allow the social and cultural development of communities. The National Core Curriculum includes human rights education with an emphasis on participatory democracy, which aims to provide an education based on ethical, moral and civic values, in a framework of equality, justice, interculturality and sex education.
44. As to higher education, the State universities such as the National Autonomous University of Honduras and the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University have introduced postgraduate programmes in human rights at the diploma and master’s levels.
45. Through the Ministry of Education, around 32.28 per cent of the national budget is invested in preschool, basic and lower secondary education, a relatively low figure by comparison with national demand.
46. The biggest effort is being made in primary education, where net coverage is 86 per cent of the population of primary school age; gross coverage is 99.25 per cent, however, which includes children under 7 and over 13. A large sector of the population has no access to primary education, particularly in rural areas.
47. Illiteracy remains a priority issue for the national education system. Various programmes have been implemented to eliminate illiteracy, including EDUCATODOS, the basic education support programme PRALEBAH, “El Maestro en Casa” (“A teacher in the home”), Telebásica and “Yo, sí puedo” (“Yes I can”). Non-governmental sectors also make a major contribution with educational programmes on radio and television to facilitate access to basic and lower secondary education in the areas most remote from schools, like those broadcast by the Institute of Radio Education. All these projects are supported by the Honduran Government.
48. In terms of progress in 2006–2010, there have been percentage gains in student numbers, in the establishment of schools across the country and in the creation of new teaching posts by the Ministry of Education. Comparative figures show that total student enrolment in 2006 at all levels was 2,054,612, while in 2009 total enrolment was 2,089,901, an increase of 10.17 per cent.
Following NGOs have submitted reports mentioning education.
Coordinadora de Instituciones Privadas por los Derechos de la Niñez. Suscriben como miembros:
IMA Instituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice, Geneva (Switzerland);
ME ANNA THERESA CRUZ (Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice delle Salesiane di Don Bosco) has recoognized efforts made by the Government of Honduras in protecting children's rights. However, the low quality of education in the country remains worrying. Although 90% of children are enrolled in primary school, it takes an average of more than 9 years to go from first to sixth grade, mainly because of the poverty of the families, the schooling conditions, absenteeism and inefficient teaching methods. The government has been asked to adopt measures in order to insure education for all and improve schooling conditions, in particular in rural areas. The persistence of corporal punishments, child labor and the situation of street children, which are estimated to amount to 10'000, are also sources of concern. The Government of Honduras must react and provide housing, food, health care and education to these children according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Honduras is a party.
Education has come up only three times in the HRC Summary.
Right to education and to participate in the cultural life of the community (p.9)
64. COIPRODEN señaló que hay avances en materia legislativa orientados a garantizar el derecho a la enseñanza primaria gratuita y universal, lo que ha contribuido a un incremento de las tasas netas y brutas de matricula en la educación básica.
65. IMMA (1) recommended to ensure equal access to quality education, literacy, healthcare and facilities; to provide subsidies for families and implement a program to reduce the poverty level among the communities of indigenous people; to devote more and bettertargeted resources to education in the national budget; and to strengthen controls over public schools.
66. COIPRODEN indicó que a pesar de contar con políticas públicas de educación para niños/as y jóvenes con discapacidad, aun no se abren las puertas de los centros educativos a dichos niños/as y no se están capacitando a los maestros y maestras.
Corporal punishments, which are explicitly forbidden in schools, are also mentioned (p.6, point 32).
(1) IIMA Instituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice, Geneva (Switzerland);
(2)Coordinadora de Instituciones Privadas por los Derechos de la Niñez. Suscriben como miembros: Aldeas Infantiles (S.O.S.), APANJE, Asociación Nuevo Amanecer, Asociación Brigadas de Amor Cristiano (Hogar Renacer), Asociación Compartir, Asociación Hondureña de Apoyo al Autista (APOAUTIS), Asociación Juventud Renovada (Hogar Diamante), Asociación Libre Expresión, Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa. (ASJ), Asocian Cristiana de Jóvenes (A.C.J.), Casa Alianza de Honduras, Casa del Niño, Casa Domingo, Centro de Formación, Capacitación y Gestión Social (CENFODES), Centro San Juan Bosco, Fundación Abrigo, Fundación Desarrollo, Amistad y Respuesta (FUNDAR), Fundación Hondureña de Rehabilitación e Integración del Limitado (FUHRIL), GOAL, Hogar San Jerónimo Emiliano, Instituto Psicopedagógico “Juana Leclerc”, K.N.H. Honduras, Médicos sin Fronteras, Muchachas Guías de Honduras, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, Olimpiadas Especiales, ONG-GAVITOA, PREPACE, Prevención de Discapacidades (PreNatal Honduras), Proyecto Alternativas y Oportunidades, Proyecto Victoria, REPAHDEG, puerta al Mundo, Save The Children Honduras, Visión Mundial Honduras. Colaboradores: Plan Internacional, Honduras, Honduras.
Recommendations on educational issues which Honduras has accepted.
A - 82.14. Incorporate strategies for human rights education and training, focused in particular on the armed forces (Costa Rica);
A - 82.15. Promote human rights education and training, particularly among such administrators of justice as police officers, judges and prosecutors (Thailand);
A - 82.16. Devise programmes of human rights education on behalf of the police and the security forces, and constantly monitor the effectiveness of such programmes (Italy);
A - 82.17. Improve the policies for the protection of the rights of children, and guarantee due access to justice for child victims of violence (Brazil);
Source : http://www.upr-info.org/IMG/pdf/recommendations_to_honduras_2011.pdf
No intermediary report has been published up to now.
Date of 2nd review: May 2015
Deadline for sending in the national report: november 1st 2014