Instruct Pupils on Judicial System --SC
Published in Today
(January 30, 2000)
IN a bid to underscore the importance -- if not improve the tamished reputation -- of the judiciary, the Supreme Court now wants elementary and high-school students to include in their subjects the study of the judicial system and process.
In a resolutions, the High Court in banc has asked the Department of Education, Culture and Sports to incorporate in school programs "the study of the Philippine judiciaiy as an institution that protects and enforces the tights of citizens and compels the performance of their duties and obligatajons."
'There is a need to educate the youth on our country's judicial system and the judicial process ... [and] the most effective means of imparting the importance of the judiciary to the children would be by including its study in the curicula of the elementary and secondary schools, both public and private," the resolution dated January 25 read.
The proposal noted that children should be informed of the efforts of the Supreme Court to improve the administration of jusfice and introduce reforms in the Philippine juvenile system to comply with the standards set by the United Nations Convention on the Rights Of the Child and other international agreements.
The Philippine Judicial Academy initially proposed this move to the Judicial Reforms Committee, which forwarded the recommendations to the Supreme Court's Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court which then endorsed it to the in banc.
The proposal anchored its claim on the fact that judges and the judicial process "have not had the best public relations" for the past few years and young children are "contaminated" by their elders' "negative view 'of the judiciary.
Such low regard for the judiciary is stimulated by media reports that do not educate the people on the judicial process. The media also do not take pains to make the public understand the problems that beset the judiciary, it noted.
"Contempt, rather than respect, for members of the bench results ... The belief of the poor that courts exit only for the rich and that judges can be bought is buttressed by news stories about wealthy convicts who recieve special treament even in jail," the proposal read.
The Supreme Court said DECS can carry out the proposal in the elementary level by including a chapter on the functions of the judiciary on the subject "sibika" or Civics, the High Court said.
Field trips to the different courts within their locality should also be included in the course, the justices said.
For high school, they recommended a "more detailed" study of the workings of the judicial system and its relation to the other branches of the government.
The Supreme Court said the subject should be presented within the children's level of understanding and should use layman's language, whether in English or the native tongue.
Copies of the resolution were furnished to,Prisident Estrada and DECS Secretary Andrew Gonzales.
KAREN TIONGSON
Reporter
