The best practices of human rights (Atham) programme in selected secondary schools in Malaysia

The World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005 – ongoing), set up by United Nations General Assembly and coordinated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to promote a common understanding of basic principles and methodologies of human rights education, to provide a realistic framework for action, and to strengthen partnerships and cooperation from international to grass-root levels. Aligned with the World Programme for Human Rights Education, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) in partnership with the Ministry of Education Malaysia implemented the first phase of the Best Practices of Human Rights programme, known as the ATHAM programme in five selected secondary schools in Malaysia. A research study using mixed method sequential exploratory design was conducted to examine the schools’ experiences with the ATHAM programme in terms of participation, implementation and challenges. The respondents consisted of school administrators, teachers and pupils; in total, 103 respondents were interviewed and 798 respondents answered the questionnaires. Drawing from these schools’ experiences, this article discusses the best practices of human rights or ATHAM programme in selected secondary schools in Malaysia.