Campaign to educate students on the rule of law
Published: Wednesday, 23 January, 2008, 02:13 AM Doha Time
This is a republished article! The original can be found at: www.gulf-times.com

Staff Reporter

The first meeting of the civic education initiative in progress at QU

The College of Law at Qatar University, in collaboration with the American Bar Association (ABA), is launching a civic education initiative to spread awareness among primary and secondary students in the country on the rule of law.

"The initiative has found positive response and national institutions concerned have expressed readiness to participate," the College dean Hassan al-Sayed said yesterday.

Addressing the first meeting convened in this regard, ABA's Qatar programme director Karen Kendrick said that the ABA has worked with governmental and non-governmental organisations to support this national campaign.

This initiative is to be implemented through a Qatari and ABA working group composed of Qatari government officials, educators, members of the legal community, and media, who together will design and implement the programme.

The initiative would be developed and tailored to the Qatari context, but it is anticipated that the core elements would include a rule of law portal, an electronic tutorial on the rule of law, public service announcements, a pilot classroom-based civic education programme, and National Law Day.

The rule of law portal, intended as the home for this initiative, would store a variety of resources and information for students of all ages and teachers alike regarding civic education on the rule of law.

The electronic tutorial, structured as a 'game' would give young students the opportunity to learn about the rule of law through role playing key rule of law actors such as judges, police officers, and lawyers.

The tutorial is to be primarily designed for students between grades three and six, though a different version could be developed for older children. Public service announcements comprise messages to be disseminated by television or by distribution of DVDs that provide information about the rule of law to the public.

The pilot classroom-based civic education programme would be composed of a series of school-based activities. These might include drafting a mock constitution as citizens of a newly established country or legal 'Olympiads' where teams compete on exercises designed to show their understanding of concepts learned through civic education courses.

The National Law Day is meant to celebrate and provide information on the rule of law, underscoring how law and legal process have contributed to the rule of law.

The Law Day activities would include student visits to courts, police stations, and other legal and judicial sector related institutions.