Chapter 1 - Report of the Education and Public Relations Group To monitor implementation of the programme, the Commission visited 15 of the 17 original participating schools to observe progress and, where necessary, to provide guidance and advice. (i) There has been noticeable improvement in implementation. Teachers and students are more involved and seem to be more aware of human rights and child rights in their practices. Most of the schools highlighted the programme on special days such as Hari Kemerdekaan, Maulidul Rasul, Co-curricular Day and Sports Day. The Commission observed that there is now much better understanding and cooperation among principals and teachers. (ii) Most schools have documented their HRBPS activities for evidence and reference purposes. This good practice helps to disseminate knowledge, thereby extending awareness to teachers and students who are not yet involved in the programme. (iii) There are insufficient human rights materials and HRBPS resources in schools. Most still depend on the Commission for materials. It has assisted in this endeavour by launching a ‘Human Rights Booklet’ competition among these schools, distributing pamphlets on the HRBPS programme to the schools visited and sourcing additional material, especially for Tamil and Chinese schools. (b) Tertiary Institutions On 2 April, the Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage invited the Commission to deliver a talk on human rights to students of the Faculty of Fine Arts. The Commission worked on the challenge of conveying the human rights message in a creative way. The effort was well received and the Commission gained valuable experience in taking a different approach to the subject. To encourage universities to be pro-active in the field of human rights, the Commission had proposed to several institutions to establish a Human Rights Centre. The University of Malaya accepted the proposal and has since set up a centre under its Social and Behavioural Science Cluster. The Commission looks forward to collaborating with it. (c) Schools for Orang Asli Children (i) Influence of parents and the community The involvement of parents in child development, as prescribed in Article 5 and Article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), is well recognised in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Preschool to Post-Secondary Education).1 The MOE has indicated that it will engage with parents, the community and private sector as partners. The Commission has long advocated the idea of parental participation in the education of children, as parents wield the biggest influence in the lives of their children. Apart from close relatives, the community in which we live in also plays a part in the development of a child. As such, both groups must be active in fulfilling their obligations. 1 20 Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Pre-school to Post-Secondary Education), pp 20-28